Circuit guides

[Ingsy]

I was wondering whether anyone on here thinks this would be a good idea, or if anyone would find it useful:

A ciruit guide but purely for photographers. When looking into going to Silverstone I found it hard to come up with info about where is good to shoot from, or lense lengths needed etc, on the general internet. Thankfully the helpful people on here sorted me out.

Is it worthwhile creating a sticky or something, so that people who've shot a circuit can put info like:


Suggested focal lengths needed
Spots more likely to get action than others
Places where there's less fencing in the wayThen, if someone is going to a circuit for the first time, they've got a load of info to hand.

Would anyone find this helpful? Would anyone be willing to contribute.

There's a lot of knowledge on here, so why not put it all together.

[Lowner]

Insy,

I totally agree with you.

Any moderator like to suggest a format or should we all just pile in with our own random knowledge? The snag with the latter is accessing the information when required.

I have limited experience of the following tracks (as in - I've not been everywhere):

Spa
Magny Cours
Le Mans
Thruxton
Monza (a late edited addition because I'd forgotten it)

And even more sketchy knowledge of (as in - I've shot from one or two spots only):

AI Ring
Monaco
Nurbergring
Donnington

I am also able to warn that Valencia the first year was a total nightmare. The cars ran behind concrete barriers and were invisible. Heard but not seen, thats from the grandstand! And the "security staff" were completely obnoxious.

[Ingsy]

That's quite a variety of tracks!

I hadn't really thought of the format it should take to be honest. I kind of had the initial idea and put it straight on here.

If anyone has any ideas, please drop them in.

[neilattopspeedtuning]

Bump for Monza. Ama be there in September for Formula 1. I'm hoping for a cool day....NOT a hot day at all.......

[mzman]

Anyone gone to Barber Motorsports Park, in Leeds, AL?

Going there this weekend(July 18-19) for the Porsche 250, and would like some shooting spots.

[Lowner]

I've shot at Monza from "downstream" of the first chicane(outside of the track), through the fence and actually managed to poke the lens through the chain link. Also over the fence from the grandstand at the second chicane (inside the track) and the concrete seating just before the parabolica (outside the track) on Saturday. All were OK. I have not tried elsewhere, but the locals used to go equipped with kit to climb and hang seats from the high chainlink fencing, with the same tools, this might work.

Be aware that you need time to find your way around Monza, especially inside the track it is a very confusing place.

[scermat]

Insy,

I totally agree with you.

Any moderator like to suggest a format or should we all just pile in with our own random knowledge? The snag with the latter is accessing the information when required.

I have limited experience of the following tracks (as in - I've not been everywhere):

Spa
Magny Cours
Le Mans
Thruxton
Monza (a late edited addition because I'd forgotten it)

And even more sketchy knowledge of (as in - I've shot from one or two spots only):

AI Ring
Monaco
Nurbergring
Donnington

I am also able to warn that Valencia the first year was a total nightmare. The cars ran behind concrete barriers and were invisible. Heard but not seen, thats from the grandstand! And the "security staff" were completely obnoxious.

ill be going there in 3 weeks time. we'll see. made sure to pick up seats in G25 grandstand where there's a huge runoff so fencing shouldn't be an issue. hopefully its not that bad. coupled with the fact that ticket sales have been slow we will hopefully have some space to roam around and they raised all grandstands by at least 1 meter.

previously been to Circuit de Catalunya, Hungaroring and Silverstone for F1 events. all from a spectators POV (no photographer passes or anything - i can only dream hehe). as long as you take a grandstand and sit anywhere above the middle section you should be okay for photos although i always make it a point to check youtube for videos from that section to get an idea of the view. Catalunya T1 had cars hidden behind fences while theyre coming down the straight but it wasnt very bad as the best shots could be taken when they attack the corners and you can really see them work the car from there. the start alone was worth the price i payed. you are not allowed to roam around the circuit though as most of the areas are covered to prevent people from watching anything from there. i think a 70-200 is perfect here. Hugnaroring (Last Corner) was very good. i had a 100-300 but found i mostly used it round 150-250 mark. Silverstone sat at Becketts and while we were a bit far away from the action and the closed grandstand doesnt give the same feeling as an open one, with a long lens (400) it should be decent, altough not the best. i think the other stands are better there (like woodcote). you can certainly see more action at luffield for example. cant say for sure when it realtes to photos as i only had a crappy P&S with me though.

I only had a DSLR with me for hungaroring last year, here's a shot i took that i quite like. it was a pretty good spot i think. for the support races we also could move around as there were a lot less people and we could see the start

http://matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/IMG_5797.jpg

taken at 185mm and its bearly cropped.

this was on the entry of last corner taken at 170mm (this is were you'd need more than 200mm to get a close shot of one car)

http://matthewscerri.com/gallery/HungGP08_Sun/images/IMG_8859.jpg

hope this "helps". i'll try to post my experience for the supposedly updated and quieter valencia in a months time!

[Jamie Holladay]

Perhaps a good format would be taking a jpg of the track map and making notes on it such as the example in my next post.

[Jamie Holladay]

Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
Shooting as a Spectator

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3494/3720539605_01ace88948_b.jpg

Example:

382445

[Jamie Holladay]

If there is enough interest and DESCRIPTIVE post (mine is just an example of format) then I'll see about making this a sticky.

[Ingsy]

I'd actually forgotten I'd started this thread.
I'll try and get round to finishing this off as well. Not had chance yet, I thought I'd just put down an example of what I had in mind for these guides.

I was thinking that maybe something along these lines might work:

Track: Brands Hatch - Full circuit
Track map: Here (http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/images/circuits/brands-circuit-large.pdf)


Apologies for poor example photos by the way - they look crap and I don't know why :(. If anyone has any better ones please let me know!

I've only shot from Brands twice, so if I've got anything wrong, please shout.



Turn 1: Paddock Hill Bend. Fencing around this corner can make shots tricky, but if you move down the hill on the exit of the corner, you should be able to shoot back torwards it. There is fencing that runs alongside the track going down and back up Hailwood Hill, but some shots are possible without the the fencing in the way. Usable focal lengths - anything upwards from 75mm I should think. Example up Hailwood Hill (http://media.freeola.com/images/user-images/1657/img_5463-1.jpg)

Turn 2: Druids Bend. You can shoot the entrance and exit of this corner from inside the bend - no fencing at all in the way. Going into this corner you can often get overtaking moves or drivers locking wheels - so action shots definitely possible. Focal length - quite short if you want to get the entire car in as you're quite close to the track - around 50mm should be fine.75mm was too long for this shot (http://media.freeola.com/images/user-images/1657/img_2476-2.jpg)

Turn 3 - Graham Hill Bend. You're a bit further away from the track here, so a longer focal length needed, probably over 300mm if memory serves. The same goes for most of the Cooper straight.

Turn 4 - Surtees. You can get closer to the track here, and very low fencing means it doesn't ruin shots. Watch out for PA systems mounted on poles - though they are spaced far enough apart that it's not an issue. Possible overtaking & lock up spot here as well. Lockup (http://media.freeola.com/images/user-images/1657/img_2604-2.jpg)

[scermat]

Here's my "review" on Valencia Street Circuit (Spain) which held the European Grand Prix I attended. Shooting as a Spectator.

contrary to Lowner, i think my home work payed off as I had no fence obstructing the cars and while we didnt get to see as much action as the other guys (altough we did get to see a big biiiig shunt in GP2), it provided a couple of good photo opportunities.

I was located at Grao G4. top 5/6 rows are very good, and only the first 8-10 rows had a fully obstructed view if memory serves right. after the race we managed to sneak into the Paddock Club area (P2/P4) and the location was horrible so I can perfectly see what Lowner was about. tons of fencing, and a bridge in the middle. can't say for the other locations as i havent been there but from what I read they should be avoided.

map
http://www.matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/vsc_map.jpg

quick pano i did to roughly show you the view i had...
http://www.matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/Grao_G4Pano.jpg

Lenses: anything above 100mm... the 100-400 was perfect. proved very useful in capturing them as they come blasting through the corner. longer lenses can even be useful as you can capture the cars hitting the outside kerb closer.

few examples. straight from cam and uncropped of course. using 40D... EXIF intact

@400mm
http://www.matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/_MG_8382.jpg


@100mm
http://www.matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/_MG_8508.jpg

@200mm
http://www.matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/_MG_8172.jpg

@340mm
http://www.matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/_MG_8301.jpg

@340mm
http://www.matthewscerri.com/gallery/directlinks/_MG_8305.jpg


i found using relatively higher shutter speed than i expected. it is a very fast section though. on the last pic i can see the dial on reuben's steering wheel saying 230 :)

I certainly enjoyed it. was sort of scared at first given all the bad reviews i read but G4 seemed like a good choice. If i'd have to hazard a guess on the other best grandstand its the new G2. the run off here is wide enough to clear the fence out of your way.

As for security I did get a bit of hassle on friday when I opened the bag. they were mostly concerned with bottles with taps though (they made us throw the taps away)...

anyway... hope this helps!

[Lowner]

Mathew,

I'm glad you found a good spot. Your shot of the grandstand shows it much closer to the track than N2 was last year. I'd heard a rumour that the grandstands were to be raised, but I don't know if it actually happened.

How did you find the organisation? Or more precisely, the "security" that myself and others found so totally a law unto themselves last year? Better managed I hope.

We watched the race on TV and it was certainly more interesting this year. Curiously, your diagram does not show another grandstand that was located to the left of N2 last year, next to a temporary pedestrian bridge.

[scermat]

apparently they did listen. indeed one of the changes was that they raised all stands by and they also altered the location of a few grandstands (they added and removed a few). again, i couldn't check other stands out so i cant say but when we did manage to sneak to paddock club stand after the race (thanks to none other than Marc Gene lol) all we could see was fencing.

Security was a bit of a pain but nothing worse than what i experienced at barcelona (Circuit de Catalunya) 2 years ago. they seemed obsessed with bottles not having taps on as they could be "used as a weapon". I did get a bit of a stare on friday when i opened my bag and they saw the lenses but when i assured him they were for personal photos (and not videos) he let me in no problems. on saturday i just got a "nice camera" comment. :)

organization seemed okay. nothing stellar, but okay. I guess the fact that there were less people this year helped. there were people in charge of sections of the stands and the girl in charge of our area was nice helpful. She didn't tell us anything when we went to various parts of the grandstand (as long as the seats were vacant of course) which was a plus given the stand was rather big. circuit accessibility from what i read was also greatly improved this year. we used to travel by tram everyday, just a 20-30 minute walk to the stand. gate was also close to paddock entrance/exit so we got to see a few of the celebs as well...

lets put it this way... If i have the chance to go again I would. but i'd probably stick to the same stand. nothing beats the roving seat policy they had at silverstone for photography from a spectator standpoint though, in my opinion.

[Stav_98]

Off for to Silverstone again tomorrow, this time without the wife! Will be the first time I can have a good wonder without sitting at Luffield. I'll try to rattle something together.

[jamesb84]

Can I suggest Google Maps...

Most circuits appear on there with good quality aerial imagery, and with a bit of work, it should be quite easy to include the necessary info. It would also allow people to add their own photos and suggested locations.

this link (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=103683080286127722203.00044ef0415f1f42d9fed&gl=uk&hl=en) contains a link to a user-created map of Castle Combe which has been devised for Marshals. It's obviously not quite the same as what we as photographers would need, but it's very good template to use...I'm going to Castle Combe on the 3rd Oct so I'll probably design my own map to re-post here as an example...have a look around at other circuits and have a play around!!