Brands Hatch - where to stand for bikes?

Tobers

Tobers

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Andy
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Howdy,

I'm at Brands Hatch for the British Superbikes in a couple of weeks. I've ridden around the place enough times but never photographed there so I'm after a few tips on where to shoot from.

I'll have an "all areas" media pass so can get about fairly well. They are on the Indy circuit so I guess it saves me walking a lot! I'm after a specific shot if I can get it - shooting uphill to get rid of the fences & armco and just have grandstands/sky in the background and a hard cornering bike leaning into me as the subject. I'm reckoning on the inside of Paddock Hill Bend just down the hill a bit from the apex of the bend itself. Is it possible to shoot from there?

The other possibility is the exit of the Druids hairpin, shooting from low down further down the hill, but I think I wouldn't get the angle from the inside of the track and might need to be on the opposite side (inside of the next bend whatever that's called) and shooting up.

Also, any info on shooting at Brands gratefully received. What are their rules, where can you go, where cant you go, how early to arrive on race day, where to sign in etc.

Cheers!

Tobers
 
Email the circuit press officer with the above questions. That's what they are there for.

They usually have a map of red zones too(The areas where you can't go).
 
Hi Tobers

I have seen photographers standing on the raised brickwork on the inside of the fences near to the bottom of paddockhill between the axo signs and the fence in this photo

Dont know if you could get down next to where the marshalls are stood. You could only ask.

DSC_0314-1.jpg


Wull
 
hopefully you got my PM tobers about locations and the post by wull shows the rough area of the first spot i mentioned and you can go down the bottom of the wall and is probably easiest access by walking down from druids.
 
Yep - thanks for the pms guys. Very helpful.
 
Hello!

Tobers said:
I'm after a specific shot if I can get it - shooting uphill to get rid of the fences & armco and just have grandstands/sky in the background and a hard cornering bike leaning into me as the subject. I'm reckoning on the inside of Paddock Hill Bend just down the hill a bit from the apex of the bend itself. Is it possible to shoot from there?
Click to expand...

I don't think you'll get that combination of shot anywhere at Brands...

Generally, the rule of thumb is that you need to be behind the arnco at the very least...

There is a place which I rejected as being to flippin dangerous the other week pretty much where you describe, but getting an angle with the grandstand in the background is going to be hard, as they will be quite a wide angle (the bike will be maybe 2m in front of you) and you won't be able to see it/track it... bearing in mind the speed they'll be going into that corner.

You could probably get a shot that meets your requirement from Surtees... although you might not think you could.

A tight full bike shot inside of Druids in another possibility, a popular shot too! But you'll need to get your timing right with the sun position as for some of the day it will be smack bang behind the bike! You might struggle with the light in fact for all of the forthcoming meeting, the August one might be better!

Its just a tight shot leaned over towards you with a clean background yes?

Probably your best bet is to look for the shot you want on people's websites etc and then ask someone where they think it was taken.

Out of interest, what do you want the shot for? Be a little careful if its any kind of commercial usage as at that level rights issues start to get sticky...
 
Hi - thanks for that desantnik.

Looks like I'll need to have a good wander around during practice. I reckon the top of Druids looking back looks to yield a nice clean background, though I do fancy really close in with a wide angle as well, panning. Your "flipping dangerous" spot sounds just the ticket - end of the pit straight into Paddock I'm imagining?

I've checked the rights usage and I'll be fine with that. It's editorial but specifically for one of the riders.

Cheers!

Tobers
 
Yes, there is a marshalls post right on the inside of the corner - pretty much over the top of the pitlane vehicle access tunnel.

I've just had a rumage through to see if I had any shots showing it, but I don't - which is bad for you, but at least means I have kept the crap out the background of my photos LOL!

I'm not convinced the shot will be all that... but do come back and show us how you got on :D
 
Depends on your lenses really.

Indy circuit is great. Druids, Inside the circuit at the hairpin so you can shoot up the hill, if you're lucky then inside the fence/outside the armco on the outside of the hairpin.
Outside at clearways is always good.

P.S. You lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, insert expletive
 
:D

I'll be shooting with a 300 2.8 and a 1.4x extender if I need it. I'll also have a 17-40 and a 24-105 in the bag. I'm badly missing my 70-200 but I'll just have to live with that.

Will 420mm at the long end be enough to reach up to the top of Paddocks Hill from the magic spot between the AXO signs in the pic above? I'm on a 1DIII so have a 1.3x crop factor thingy.

Cheers
 
Tobers said:
Will 420mm at the long end be enough to reach up to the top of Paddocks Hill from the magic spot between the AXO signs in the pic above? I'm on a 1DIII so have a 1.3x crop factor thingy.
Click to expand...

Depends how big you want the bike in the frame :D
 
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