I made the drive up on Friday, and took root in my swanky hotel suite at the Holiday Inn Airport near the Long Beach Airport. It was a solid $35.00 cab ride from the race circuit but, because I waited to book a room, I had to take what I could get. I still got "swanky", I just got it five miles from the circuit.
I woke up Saturday at 5:15am, got dressed, and had the front desk call me a cab. Will Call opened at 7:00am, and I wanted to make sure I would avoid the inevitable line that I'd encounter.
Mission accomplished:
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| No lines here. |
I got my pass and began the hike (and, trust me, it was a "hike" to the circuit. Although it was still early, I could feel how hot it was going to get. There were four locations I would be shooting from, and I wanted to go find them. The first two, at turns 1 and 6, were easy enough to find, and each had unobstructed views of the track. That was a plus, because I hate shooting through fences. Of the other two areas, one meant shooting through not one, but two fences, and the fourth was just too damn far to walk to. It was at a hairpin, so it's not as though I'd be getting any high speed shots anywhere.
But those first two areas were money. I was able to get some shots that I'm pretty happy with. These were shot at the end of the front straight:
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| This guy missed making it into turn #1. Twice. That was surprising, because "this guy" was Paul Tracy, who's no stranger to Indy Car racing. |
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| The "Go Daddy Girl", Danica Patrick, going into turn #1. |
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| Mr. Ashley Judd, Dario Franchitti, heads into turn #1. |
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| Tony Kanaan screams into turn #1. |
I probably spent more time at turn 1 than anywhere else. It offered the best view and, so I thought, the best shooting opportunity. I did get a couple of shots through the fence, and that was the only turn where that was really possible.
But, as happy as I was with the turn 1 photos, imagine my surprise when I found the photographer's platform at turn 6. From there, I could look down the track and see turn 5. It was a bit far to get decent shots of the cars coming out of turn 5, but I gave it a shot:
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| Danica Patrick comes out of turn #5. |
Yeah, not the best shooting of the day. But when I concentrated on turn 6, though, I got what I think are some of my best shots of the day:
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| Oriol Servia heads into turn #6. |
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| 2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach winner Mike Conway. |
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| Rookie Sebastian Saavedra leans into turn #6. |
And it was turn #6 where I got my favorite shot from the day:
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| Ryan Briscoe going through turn #6. Briscoe finished the day in second place behind Mike Conway. |
If I've learned one thing about shooting motorsports, it can be expensive. When I shot in Daytona, it was $80.00. This time around, I start to cough and wheez when I say it was $265.00. Granted, that allowed access to the photo platforms, and allowed me to avoid shooting through nothing but fences, but I'm not sure I would do it again. If nothing else, it cost me $265.00 to learn that I don't want to spend $265.00 next year.Next up, if everything goes as planned (well, racing-wise, anyway) will be when I head to Mosport International Raceway, in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada in July...
AN ADDENDUM!!
I'm normally not a fan of addendums, but there was really no way to work this in anywhere else. If you enjoy a nice Bloody Mary as much as I do (hey, breakfast is the most important meal of the day), do everything in your power to avoid getting one at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Long Beach, California. All I can say is that it was, hands down, the absolute worst tasting cocktail I've ever had the displeasure of drinking. It was a truly horrid experience, from which I can only hope I one day recover.
That is all...
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