Trackside passes for non professionals at Le Mans

Original Poster

Original Poster

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Chris
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A few friends and I are off to Le Mans this year in June.

Having been reading up it seems there are very few spots to get decent shots unless we get trackside passes.

Is it possible for amateurs to get these passes and how would we go about getting them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
You might win the lottery easier.:):LOL:
 
Don't waste anymore of your life on that idea as it will never happen.
Get caught trying you'll have a free ride to a cosy police cell and on the spot fine
 
There is a reason there are not many images from Le Mans posted on here............no passes
 
Original Poster said:
A few friends and I are off to Le Mans this year in June.

Having been reading up it seems there are very few spots to get decent shots unless we get trackside passes.

Is it possible for amateurs to get these passes and how would we go about getting them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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well the true answer is actually yes.. there are plenty of amateur photographers with passes.
So long as you are covering the race for media (and not just for fun) then you can get a pass.
this is where you apply http://presse.lemans.org/public/index.asp
 
If you are covering for the media then you're not an amateur surely?
 
admirable said:
If you are covering for the media then you're not an amateur surely?
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if you like taking photos of cars as a hobby and some fansite says it will get you a LM media pass if you give them some photos, I'd put you in the amateur category (i.e. 90% of accredited LM photographers)
 
Gary said:
by that, i'm guessing you class yourself as a pro? :cool:
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Do I make my living from photography - no.
Have I had professional outlets for my stuff in the past - yes

Puts me somewhere in the middle I reckon?!
 
Gary said:
so if you are an amateur, and you got a trackside pass last year..... see where i'm going with this?
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Yes I do but that's not how I interpreted the original question
 
If it's anything like UK circuits, make sure you have a big chunk of public liability insurance to present at sign-on.
 
Gary said:
did you apply for LM accreditation for your job, or so you could get trackside and get better shots than you would have from the spectator areas?
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Depends how you define 'job'!

Was I commissioned to shoot for the organisers then no. Did I have existing professional series related clients who would use my stuff IF accredited then yes. Did I apply utterly for monetary gain then no

I thinks it's with every event with a watching crowd the crowd will always prefer to be much closer to the action then sometimes allowed.

As you know accreditation in this field is sometimes luck and is often over subscribed by people who links are tenuous. If you put me into that category then I'll live with that but I do put myself over and above someone who just wants to get better shots but far from being a Pro. After all I have shots published that were taken from the public domain as well!!

I considered the original question to mean a group who just fancied being trackside without a justified press/news/media cause. If they have just cause then they can apply like you and I will
 
Steve Smith said:
A fine for what offence?

Steve.
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Being somewhere you shouldn't be. Know someone who stupidly went on the track in the stadium complex one evening during the week when the cars weren't running (so no cars going round) - got nicked €1000 fine!!!
 
ranksy99 said:
Don't waste anymore of your life on that idea as it will never happen.
Get caught trying you'll have a free ride to a cosy police cell and on the spot fine
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just to explain myself, what i meant was that you said to the OP that it will never happen, yet you were in a similar position and succeeded.
 
:)(y)Well i hope you do get it,best of luck with it.
 
I've seen some terrible excuses of media in the past few years at the 24h - eg. someone trackside taking panning shots with an old canon powershot compact, flash turned on. Its got to be down to who you know as well as previous accreditation IMO.
 
Nope, its just down to what you put on the application form (backed up by supporting evidence)

If the New York Times or National Geographic wants to send someone armed with a 20 year old point and shoot that's never taken a photo of any sort, then thats fine.

This comes up time and time again, its got nothing to do with your kit or your skill or your experience and everything to do with actually being a representative of an appropriate media outlet that the organisers believe may publish some publicity material.
 
Original Poster said:
A few friends and I are off to Le Mans this year in June.

Having been reading up it seems there are very few spots to get decent shots unless we get trackside passes.

Is it possible for amateurs to get these passes and how would we go about getting them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Unless you meet the criteria for a press pass, you won't get a trackside pass. They aren't for sale or anything like that!

Best advice is not to worry about taking photos too much, and go and enjoy yourself. I work as a motorsport photographer, but I've been to Le Mans plenty of times as a spectator, and just enjoyed the atmosphere, and the beer! There's a few places you can get reasonable pictures from, but there's far more to the event than that.
 
Yeah there have been a few "classes" like that from time to time
 
A regular snapper I know from Castle Combe took his camera along in 2011 specifically to prove it's possible to take decent shots at Le Mans as a spectator, he had the basic access available to anyone with a general admission ticket, and didn't sneak into any places he shouldn't have. The longest focal length is 400mm (APS-C), my favourite shots are actually the ones he took with his 24-70.

http://sbkmotorsport.com/p762738495
http://sbkmotorsport.com/p1044778595
http://sbkmotorsport.com/p712973419
http://sbkmotorsport.com/p427559596
 
ukaskew said:
A regular snapper I know from Castle Combe took his camera along in 2011 specifically to prove it's possible to take decent shots at Le Mans as a spectator, he had the basic access available to anyone with a general admission ticket, and didn't sneak into any places he shouldn't have. The longest focal length is 400mm (APS-C), my favourite shots are actually the ones he took with his 24-70.

http://sbkmotorsport.com/p762738495
http://sbkmotorsport.com/p1044778595
http://sbkmotorsport.com/p712973419
http://sbkmotorsport.com/p427559596
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thing is why would you want to? there are more fun things to do there than take photos :)
 
Gary said:
thing is why would you want to? there are more fun things to do there than take photos :)
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4 days, more track time than any reasonable person has camera batteries for...I'd say you could comfortably mix photography and, erm, pleasure.
 
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