Long Beach Race-A-Palooza

Just to be clear... I hate this race/track.

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great shots!!

very nice. I like 7 best.

I share your sentiments - this is a frustrating place to shoot and IMO it gets worse every year - this year, they put a big set of banners along the outside of Turn 1 - the most exciting location or at least one of them, on the whole track.

And you've got credentials, so it's even harder for those of us struggling to "earn" a credential (my sponsoring media body was denied, most likely because they're not a print pub, and LBGPA seems to believe that online media is not credible, apparently).

That said, your photos are tremendous as always !

All very nice. Not sure why you don't like the track, other than it is a road course made from the street with concrete walls/dividers and such

My favorite of the bunch is the 3rd one. Spot on straight. Great job getting that perfect like it is. The rest are very nice. Good sharp focus and eye popping colors and detail.

To be fair... I'll start by confessing that I'm cranky.

The track is a habit trail, lined with fences, banners and porta-potties. Getting where you need to go is two step forwards and one step back. In reality, you shoot one end of the track or the other.

Most of all, however, it is the schedule. We have a two hour session on Friday... then qualifying, then the race. The American Le Mans Series is a sports car endurance race. 120 minutes is not an endurance race. They barely need to do a pit stop.

So, on top of having nowhere to shoot, you can't get to where you want to shoot ... no time.

It's more of a festival than a race.

We'll be at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca next month... now THAT is a race track.

JT

Sorry to hijack this thread. I'm familiar with the track but not too familiar with photographing at it yet. Was hoping an experienced photographer like yourself could shed some light on this photo.

I've seen this shot for years...

http://www.flickr.com …harliekimball/8​678740616/

I believe it's on the outside of the 'Firestone Turn' Turn 9. I know there's a short parking structure in front of a building. Do you know if you have to have special access to that building or is the shot being taken from the top of the structure?

Any help would be appreciated.

It's straight down... I'm guessing he's inside the circuit. But it appears he shot from driver's left. There are parking structures on either side of that straight away coming into that turn. I don't think you can get into the structure without a ticket, though I don't know if you'd be required a credential. I shoot fromt he structure over by the fountain turn.. you do need a credential there.

Just an FYI... you'd give up a lot of time getting to that location for what I'm guessing is one shot. This shooter is shooting for LAT... probably one of five or six shooters they have covering IndyCar at the event. You really need to watch your time getting around Long Beach.

John

Definitely looks like it was shot from the structure by the fountain, the most southwest corner of the track. it's definitely a treck and a half to get there!

JacobPhoto wrote in post #15866924
Definitely looks like it was shot from the structure by the fountain, the most southwest corner of the track. it's definitely a treck and a half to get there!

No. It's turn 9 at the opposite end of the track. It's going the wrong way for the structure by the fountain.

If you look at my shot #3, the location would be behind it.... where the car has just come from... a right hander coming off the straight away that runs from Pine (behind/below the expo center) heading toward the ALMS paddock. In my shot, the ALMS paddock is on driver's left.

JT

John Thawley wrote in post #15865058
It's straight down... I'm guessing he's inside the circuit. But it appears he shot from driver's left. There are parking structures on either side of that straight away coming into that turn. I don't think you can get into the structure without a ticket, though I don't know if you'd be required a credential. I shoot fromt he structure over by the fountain turn.. you do need a credential there.

Just an FYI... you'd give up a lot of time getting to that location for what I'm guessing is one shot. This shooter is shooting for LAT... probably one of five or six shooters they have covering IndyCar at the event. You really need to watch your time getting around Long Beach.

John

Appreciate the info. I noticed that the majority if not all of the photo's I've seen from that location are from LAT shooters. I shot from turn 9 and looked up every so often at the balconies to see if I could spot any photographers shooting down.

I couldn't muster up the energy to walk to the front entrance of the building...left something for next year, I suppose. Thanks again.

cikiri wrote in post #15867536
Appreciate the info. I noticed that the majority if not all of the photo's I've seen from that location are from LAT shooters. I shot from turn 9 and looked up every so often at the balconies to see if I could spot any photographers shooting down.

I couldn't muster up the energy to walk to the front entrance of the building...left something for next year, I suppose. Thanks again.

The way LAT is structured for Indy Car allows them the opportunity to put shooters spread out around the track... ultimately, the images are pooled and distributed to clients and on the LAT server. Indy Car also gets more track time. LAT does a great job ...

JT

TustinMike wrote in post #15863522
I share your sentiments - this is a frustrating place to shoot and IMO it gets worse every year - this year, they put a big set of banners along the outside of Turn 1 - the most exciting location or at least one of them, on the whole track.

And you've got credentials, so it's even harder for those of us struggling to "earn" a credential (my sponsoring media body was denied, most likely because they're not a print pub, and LBGPA seems to believe that online media is not credible, apparently).

That said, your photos are tremendous as always !

I had the same experience with credential denial.

Another decent shot I came across:

IMAGE LINK: http://socalspeedscene​.smugmug.com …248166&k=NrWBWh​j&lb=1&s=A

You may have had to work for it, but these are pretty nice work, John! Which is why it's called "Work"! ; )