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Going to Daytona 500 on Sunday, Photo tips needed...

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wjwncpro_Ds

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Got (2) tickets to the Daytone 500 this weekend (my Valentines Day present), the seats are high up (Lund, 'I' section, row 52,) on the backstretch grandstand coming out of turn two. If anyone watched the Budweiser shootout this past weekend, all the carnage was between turn 2 and turn 3. I'll be able to see about 90% of the track from there although turn 4 will be about a mile away. I'll be taking my backpack camera case with the K5 + grip, Sigma 100-300/4 EX + 1.4TC, DA 17-70, DA 15, and maybe the DA 12-24 along with plenty of memory and batteries. While the race is going on I'll be shooting mostly jpg in continuous AF and may switch back and forth to RAW+ if any wreckage is in front of me.

Any and all photo tips would be appreciated as I have never photographed such an event.
Thanks

--
My Pentax galleries http://www.pbase.com/wjwncpro
PPG http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/WayneWasilewski
 
If I were you, I'd use the Sig with and without the converter. Shoot f/11 or so and probably around 1/1000s or 1/1500s. The lowest ISO I can get away with. When I feel artistic, I would slow down the shutter for a few shots.

When you shoot continuous AF, make sure you are on continuous burst mode too. And, if you have a monopod, bring that too. That 100-300 can get pretty heavy after awhile. Petty sure they won't allow tripods, but monopods are usually okay.

--
Steven
GMT -8
 
Thanks Steven for your tips,
volosong said:
If I were you, I'd use the Sig with and without the converter. Shoot f/11 or so and probably around 1/1000s or 1/1500s. The lowest ISO I can get away with. When I feel artistic, I would slow down the shutter for a few shots.
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I'll have at least a little more then 3 hours of race time to try different things but when the action gets hot mainly near the end of the race I don't want to be fumbling around for the best settings.
volosong said:
When you shoot continuous AF, make sure you are on continuous burst mode too.
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Good tip
volosong said:
And, if you have a monopod, bring that too. That 100-300 can get pretty heavy after awhile. Petty sure they won't allow tripods, but monopods are usually okay.
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I'll have a mono with me (but I am used to carrying that beast around with me all day) and also my 540 flash for anything indoors prior to the race, I'll be getting there about 3-4 hours before racetime.

Thanks again Steven

--
My Pentax galleries http://www.pbase.com/wjwncpro
PPG http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/WayneWasilewski
 
Hi Cindy,
Cynthia FarrWeinfeld said:
I agree with the suggestions in the first response--sounds like a blast! Have a great time--I am super into high speed action photography at the moment, so I cannot wait to see what you come up with! Cindy
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This will be my first time shooting this kind of event and the only other high speed stuff I've ever done were slow moving BIFs. I am totally looking forward to the excitement of this race as it's been many years since I've gone to a big race such as this is.

I have been to the Daytona 500 before back in the late 70s and early 80s and I also rode in the back of the pace car during The 24 hours of Daytona IMSA race back in 81. I was using a Minolta MD11 back then and there wasn't much room for a big guy like me and that camera in the back of a Camero... ;)

--
My Pentax galleries http://www.pbase.com/wjwncpro
PPG http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/WayneWasilewski
 
not to bring you down but they may not let you in with all that gear things have gotten a little weird these days.
 
wjwncpro_Ds said:
I have been to the Daytona 500 before back in the late 70s and early 80s
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I have absolutely no advice to offer you -- much better experts here than I.

But I couldn't pass up asking whether you were there for the Bobby Allison / Cale Yarborough fight in 1979?

So be honest -- are you hoping for a big ol' wreck like the one at Talladega a couple of years ago? I don't feel quite as guilty hoping for things like that these days, now that NASCAR has made such great advances in driver safety.

--
-- Joe S.
'The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God.' ~ Euclid

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/josephschmitt
 
math guy said:
wjwncpro_Ds said:
I have been to the Daytona 500 before back in the late 70s and early 80s
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I have absolutely no advice to offer you -- much better experts here than I.

But I couldn't pass up asking whether you were there for the Bobby Allison / Cale Yarborough fight in 1979?
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I was at Daytona in 76 and 77 and the 80, 81, 82 The my wife decided to have babies... ;)
math guy said:
So be honest -- are you hoping for a big ol' wreck like the one at Talladega a couple of years ago? I don't feel quite as guilty hoping for things like that these days, now that NASCAR has made such great advances in driver safety.
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Too be honest, who doesn't want that, and at 200+ MPH, it's going to happen! But I also know that it's a lot safer then it was 35 years ago when they were going faster. That's part of the race unless you want to see me drive around on the track for 4 hours in my Ford Explorer... ;)
math guy said:
--
-- Joe S.
'The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God.' ~ Euclid

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/josephschmitt
Click to expand...
--
My Pentax galleries http://www.pbase.com/wjwncpro
PPG http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/WayneWasilewski
 
wjwncpro_Ds said:
Too be honest, who doesn't want that, and at 200+ MPH, it's going to happen! But I also know that it's a lot safer then it was 35 years ago when they were going faster. That's part of the race unless you want to see me drive around on the track for 4 hours in my Ford Explorer... ;)
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I agree entirely. Have a great time at the race!

--
-- Joe S.
'The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God.' ~ Euclid

http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/josephschmitt
 
Very cool! I can't wait to see your pics - please post them when you get back.

I don't have any shooting advice persay but it sounds like you are taking a lot of equipment. I wonder if you would really be using it all. That is a lot of weight, money and bulk to keep up with in that setting.

I know here at RIR, we have to have clear bags going into the race track, so there may be some restrictions and such as a previous poster mentioned. Definitely check on that before you go. I can't imagine taking or using a monopod or tripod in that setting either unless I had special access (of course I rarely use one anyway in most circumstances but that is another story) I also wonder if they'd let you take something like that in.

Of your list personally I'd be looking to lighten up the load and go with just the K5 (no grip, you'll have extra batteries anyway); Sigma 100-300/4 EX + 1.4TC, DA 17-70, and maybe the DA 15 (just 'cuz it is small and irresistibly good!).

sue
 
Did my first race in November last year - Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi. The 1/1000 f11 advice is good, but it's fun trying slower shutter speeds to get that real feel of speed. My advice would be to practice your panning skills, no doubt you will have a pretty sore neck afterwards. Take ear muffs :-), but then you already know that. Have fun.
Andy
--
AndyS from ZA now in UAE
http://andys69za.smugmug.com
http://www.everytrail.com/profile.php?user_id=144526
 
My biggest suggestion since you will be panning all day long is turn off SR. I've found this greatly increased the sharpness of my pictures. SR doesn't seem too friendly to panning. You can checkout my albums below. They are from Pole Day at Indy the last few years. These are all taken with and old 75-300mm manual zoom I have leftover from my ME Super days. Also NO filters on your lens' all they do for me is degrade the images. I currently shot a K200D. Good Luck & Have Fun!

http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/cc337/kkoether61/2009%20Indy%20Pole%20Day/

http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/cc337/kkoether61/2010%20Indy%20Pole%20Day%20Shootout/
--
Keith Koether
 
Been trying to justify making that trip for years.

Take lots of good pictures and be sure to post them here.

--
Chris
=-=-=-=-=-
http://www.pbase.com/sinnettc

 
I was at Daytona in January for the first Cup car tire test on the new surface.

The biggest challenge is the fencing around the track. It is about 12 feet high and hard to shoot through from a distance. The camera will try to focus on the fencing at times. Also, the wall is relatively high, also, limiting the view directly in front of you. You may only be able to see the top of the cars as they flash past.

The way around this from where you will be sitting is to get the cars in the turn to your left. They will be bunched up, judging from the shootout the other night.
Do realize that during the race they will be traveling about 185 through there.

One saving grace is with the k-7 I have and the K5, you can crop pretty liberally and maintain quality.

Here are a couple of pics from the tire test. This is from the Oldfield grandstand at the exit of turn four.

K-7 Sigma 100-300 TAV mode







The next time i go I am going to get a general admission infield ticket. It offers more vantage points and the cars are typically up on the banking, better viewing.

The drawback to this idea is you are pretty low and have a limited field of view.
Here is a couple of shots from the Rolex 24 in January.

K-7 Sigma 70-200 F2.8 TAV mode Some are cropped quite a bit







 
As far as what you can take in, they are very specific as far as drinks and coolers and the like but they are pretty liberal about photo equipment.
 
Sinnettc said:
They specifically say cameras are allowed with no mention of lens sizes.

http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/Fan-Info/Gate-Policies.aspx

if you can fit it in your backpack you can take it in with you.
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They let you bring in a 14" x 14" x 14" cooler + a backpack up to 17" in lenght and my Lowepro backpack is just under that.
Thanks Chris
Sinnettc said:
--
Chris
=-=-=-=-=-
http://www.pbase.com/sinnettc

Click to expand...
--
My Pentax galleries http://www.pbase.com/wjwncpro
PPG http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/WayneWasilewski
 
andys69za said:
Did my first race in November last year - Formula 1 in Abu Dhabi. The 1/1000 f11 advice is good, but it's fun trying slower shutter speeds to get that real feel of speed. My advice would be to practice your panning skills, no doubt you will have a pretty sore neck afterwards. Take ear muffs :-), but then you already know that. Have fun.
Andy
--
AndyS from ZA now in UAE
http://andys69za.smugmug.com
http://www.everytrail.com/profile.php?user_id=144526
Click to expand...
--
My Pentax galleries http://www.pbase.com/wjwncpro
PPG http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/WayneWasilewski
 
At least two Pentax users will be in the stands at the race. I will be in the Keech Tower section for both the Nationwide and Sprint Series races. This year the company, I work for will sponsor a Nationwide car and they are planning a great time for our customers and vendors. A nice hospitality tent, driver meet and greet ,radio scanners for all and for those that wish too a pit road tour prior to the race. Hope for some nice photo during that tour.My Kata is 19" in lenght, hope I will make it in. I might just bring a my shoulder bag instead.
Go JR. and Enjoy the race.
Mike
 
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