BTCC - Donnington Park - Anyone going? / tips etc.

[Unlocker]

We're off to our first BTCC meet at the end of the month and will be camping inside the track for the whole weekend.

Having never shot an event like this before I have a lot of questions but the main ones are going to be:-

Which lenses would work best (see sig)

Best spots for shooting from with current fencing etc.

Anyone camping fancy a beer in the evening!?

All tips greatly appreciated!

 

[RichardC27]

We're off to our first BTCC meet at the end of the month and will be camping inside the track for the whole weekend.

Having never shot an event like this before I have a lot of questions but the main ones are going to be:-

Which lenses would work best (see sig)

Best spots for shooting from with current fencing etc.

Anyone camping fancy a beer in the evening!?

All tips greatly appreciated!

All of your lenses could be used in some form, but if I was going to pick any I'd take the 24-70, 70-200 and definitely the 400 f4.5.

Donington is pretty good for photography, don't be scared of the fences, you can get pretty close to them at most points around the track and with your body and lenses you can make them go away no problem. The infield is largely fence-free, but I find the outside of the track gives you more interesting angles. It's a nice compact track with a couple of tunnels so it's reasonably easy to get around and cover the whole circuit. A few examples below, shot on a 100-400mm lens on a Fuji APS-C body

This is through the fence:
GT Cup Donington Park April 2023 by Richard Crawford, on Flickr

GT Cup Donington Park April 2023 by Richard Crawford, on Flickr

British GT Championship 2023 by Richard Crawford, on Flickr

This is also through the fence. The circuit has been recently re-surfaced so the asphalt is very dark, which gives issues with heat haze if its sunny
British GT Championship 2023 by Richard Crawford, on Flickr

Through the fence
British GT Championship 2023 by Richard Crawford, on Flickr

Through the fence at the chicane if they are on the GP circuit
British GT Championship 2023 by Richard Crawford, on Flickr

Best thing I can say if you're there all weekend is walk around, particularly on Saturday when it won't be quite so busy. If it's sunny the light can be a bit of a pain due to the way the circuit is oriented. If it's bright then do the outside of the circuit in the morning and the infield / chicane in the afternoon so you're not shooting into the sun.

 

[Unlocker]

Hi Richard, thanks for the tips, just what I was looking for!

Camera bag has already been packed exactly as you described, so hopefully that means I'm on the right wavelength, though I'd be lucky to get anything as good as these on my first attempt, thanks again.