Super Weekend at the Brickyard

[wpmegee]

Anyone going to the Grand Am race at Indy? This year they're having Grand-Am on the roadcourse on Friday, Nationwide on Saturday and Sprint Cup on Sunday.

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/brickyard400/

I've never been to Indy, are there any decent areas for spectators to shoot from the infield (i.e., no catch fencing in the way) for the road course? I know that spectator shooting for the oval is pretty much impossible due to catch fencing on the outside AND the inside of the track.

[DC Fan]

Originally Posted by wpmegee

Anyone going to the Grand Am race at Indy? This year they're having Grand-Am on the roadcourse on Friday, Nationwide on Saturday and Sprint Cup on Sunday.

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/brickyard400/

I've never been to Indy, are there any decent areas for spectators to shoot from the infield (i.e., no catch fencing in the way) for the road course? I know that spectator shooting for the oval is pretty much impossible due to catch fencing on the outside AND the inside of the track.

There will be a fence in front of you, regardless of where you go. After previous experience with the Speedway's methods, you can expect that even credentialed photographers will need to stay behind the fences. With a very long lens, 400mm or longer, you may be able to minimize the fences' effects.

The Grand Am cars will be apparently running the opposite direction thst has been used by MotoGP, running the road course clockwise and using the infield section on the inside of the oval's first turn. It'll take some walking around to find a useful location, and with the size of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that could mean useful locations may be a half-mile apart. Since this will be the first race for a revised road course configuration in the clockwise direction, no one can be certain in advance exactly what to expect.

[wpmegee]

Road Atlanta has spoiled me with its Jersey Barriers everywhere and zero catch fences

[dinanm3atl]

I shot MotoGP event for BMW M last year at IMS. I watched the race and did a little bit of shooting. There are a FEW select spots that you can shoot at and get no catch fencing. These areas are few and far between and will be extremely crowded. During MotoGP there was almost a line to get up to the outside 'spectator fence' at these locations.

I'll be there shooting for some clients so should be fun. On a plane right now for the Indy Test Weekend.

[DC Fan]

From having been at the start of the Grand-Am test, the most useful location available was north of the track's museum, facing north. Examples:



Focal Length: 340.0mm
Aperture: f/10.0
Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB



Focal Length: 500.0mm
Aperture: f/10.0
Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB




Focal Length: 300.0mm
Aperture: f/7.1
Exposure Time: 0.0020 s (1/500)
ISO equiv: 125
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: program (Auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB

These images were framed through a narrow horizontal gap in the fence at the infield right-left switchback. Expect that credentialed photographers will block the view through this gap during race weekend. Obviously, a long lens will be needed. A short distance east of this location, is a larger opening in the fence, which will will eventually attract crowds of photographers. The north end of the infield was not open to spectators for this test, and additional useful locations may be available there.

[e.shell]

haha i like the 3 wheeling kia, never thought I'd see that.

[theboilermaker]

500MM! That's a seriously long lens

[dinanm3atl]

You need it here. Even some of the shooting location for media are extremely far away. And since it is so flat you lose a lot of the use of terrain to frame shots.