F1: Spa - Worth taking camera?

agent orange

agent orange

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Hi,

Is it worth taking the DSLR it to the Spa GP?

Bar Monaco a couple of times I’ve not been to another F1 race. Bizarre though I find that I am off to Spa this month for the GP and will be there all day Saturday and Sunday. I’ll be taking the camera for Brussels but is it worth taking it to the GP?

We’ll be in Eau Rouge Gold 3 stand, so might be able to shoot from the stand straight down Eau Rouge towards La Source, but I’m not entirely sure how much freedom you get at an F1 race to move around once in a stand or in general. At Monaco we were “stuck” in a road side café at Sainte Devote behind fencing unable to move from the café or around the track. Great for spectating but awful for photography.

Cheers
 
Id say yeah, you never know what opportunities will pop up :)
 
there are plenty of raised areas around Spa above fence line and barriers where you can get good unhindered visibility of the track, depends if you'll stay in the grandstand or wander round a bit. I guess the nearest track crossing point will be under eaurouge but have no idea about access on a gp weekend.
 
you will see this is in a sub forum in
Photo Critique and Sharing
Share your photography, galleries and images here, and invite discussion and comments on your work to get helpful advice on how to improve
talk is in the heading
Main discussion area. Talk about all aspects of photography and its related subjects.
 
Chaz Photos said:
you will see this is in a sub forum in
Photo Critique and Sharing
Share your photography, galleries and images here, and invite discussion and comments on your work to get helpful advice on how to improve
talk is in the heading
Main discussion area. Talk about all aspects of photography and its related subjects.
Click to expand...

The thread is in

Talk Photography > Photography Discussion > Talk Photography : Speciality Discussion -> Talk Motorsport and Transport

?? Am I missing something obvious? :shrug:


Anyway my question isn't so much about vantage points etc. more will I be allowed the freedom to move around given we have grandstand seats and with the amount of people will I realistically be able to take any shots of note?
 
agent orange said:
The thread is in

Talk Photography > Photography Discussion > Talk Photography : Speciality Discussion -> Talk Motorsport and Transport

?? Am I missing something obvious? :shrug:
Click to expand...

I moved it :)
It was in the critique section.. no biggie

there are plenty of circuits where i would suggest leaving your camera at home, but if you are in a stand at eau rouge / raidillon i reckon you should get some good shots.. enjoy!
 
Gary said:
I moved it :)
It was in the critique section.. no biggie

there are plenty of circuits where i would suggest leaving your camera at home, but if you are in a stand at eau rouge / raidillon i reckon you should get some good shots.. enjoy!
Click to expand...

Ah that explains it - thank you.

Thanks for info. I should have a clear line of sight from Eau Rouge to La Source so I'm hoping so.

In at the deep end with first motorsport since returning to slrs after 20 years so will be interesting to see how I fair and how many mistakes I make!

Looking to hire a 70-200 2.8 non is for it. Should be enough reach to cover eau rouge I think.
 
Yep pretty happy with the location. we debated for ages which stand. La Source would be a good spot I think. though might be challenging to capture the cars at full chat through Eau Rouge if I get it right it should be quite rewarding.

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I'd say take the camera, otherwise you'd only regret it if you missed something.
 
I'd definitely take the camera. You are very free to move about and you may get lucky with a nice spot. That said the stand is pretty good too!
 
you'll have to stay in your grandstand seat for qualifying and the race but you are free to sit anywhere on the track for friday practice

spa has plenty of hilly bits next to the track where you can sit and take photos over the security fence so definitely worth it
 
I rememeber someone on here or another forum stood on top of a bin and got some good shots, got a few funny looks from the locals though.
 
Walked the track on Saturday and found a number of official and unofficial camera holes in the fences. Couple of high points you can shoot from but I found I was struggling with just a 200mm and a x1.4. I seriously need to invest in a monopod too. IS had its work cut out this weekend when I used it!

Although I know I made a load of mistakes I learnt a lot this weekend.

I will say this too. I absolutely love the 1D!

At one point at entrance to Eau Rouge there was an almighty downpour in the GP2 race. Everyone ran for cover except me. 1D took a serious bath but shrugged it off.

In Brussels but hopefully there'll be one or two shots I can share in the next couple of days.
 
Definitely show us what you've got and we'll try to help (y)
 
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