best place for photo's at the 24hrs

[monkeynuts]

Can anyone tell me the best place for photo's at Le-Mans ,I am going on the first day of practice (wednesday) also i have never been before. I am staying in normandy for 2 weeks so any travel info would be a help.......Steve

[Paddy_NL]

plain simple, for the best shots you should get in front of the bl00dy fence, but without a press-card that will be a no-go area

I'd suggest the esses (after the Dunlop Bridge) and Mulsanne. Maybe Porsche aswell if you have a proper camera

[Fab]

Not agree Paddy : ask Sander, Bernard, Ayse... and a lot more

Sometime you'll have to but your lense across the fences, sometime above...

Spots :
- pits GS : free for PQs, and no fences
- Dunlop GS (above fences)
- Maison Blanche GS (above fences)
- Tertre Rouge (thru fences)
- Porsche curves : look at the right place, there's plenty at PQs...

... and open your eyes... you'll have soon your own "secret spots"...

Enjoy !

[vandijk]

Originally Posted by monkeynuts

Can anyone tell me the best place for photo's at Le-Mans ,I am going on the first day of practice (wednesday) also i have never been before. I am staying in normandy for 2 weeks so any travel info would be a help.......Steve

Steve,

It really depends on the time of the day. Take a look at Bernards new webiste: http://www.zoom-24.com or in my gallery. All these pictures were taken without accreditation and with some luck you can avoid the fences (the new Photoshop is also great ;-) ).

I always like the new area in the esses, close to parking vert, in opisite to GS1: link.

Also on Wednesday sometimes you are lucky and can use the GS's. I prefer the ones close to the Ford chicane.

Sander.

[MikeHoyer]

I've found that if you get close to the fence you can focus through, it or get through the gaps with a bit of luck. Hopefully be better with my new (ish) camera this year.

[Aysedasi]

I'd echo what the others say.

There are a few spots to look out for...

The inside of the Esses (on the mound at what used to be the bottom of the run down from Dunlop). There is a spot there where you can avoid the fence.

Likewise up at the Dunlop Chicane there are one or two spots (other than crowding up to the fence on the bridge... ) which can be good.

The inside of Tertre Rouge in places.

The Porsche Curves spectator area in places.

But the best of all is to get into the Pits Grandstand. Brilliant for pictures of the start and the parade (if only you can get there in time....... )

[bernard b]

as an ordinary spectator, there are plenty of spots (well, at lest 10-15 ...) for pictures at LM, but most of the time you'll need a long lens (300mm or over) or a bit luck

through a small hole inside the Dunlop bridge

[bernard b]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

But the best of all is to get into the Pits Grandstand. Brilliant for pictures of the start and the parade (if only you can get there in time....... )

you surely have a reverse view of on-track action

[rdjones]

Nice photo's bernard, it's given me a few ideas. I'm looking forward to trying out my 10D at Le Mans in 13 days time....

[PascaLM]

Very nice Chassis, Bernard !

[Fab]

What Bernard doesn't mention is the way he takes his pics... acrobatic, some time !

[mgilvey]

Definately, bring 300 mm or longer for track shots. If you can open up the aperture to f4 - 2.8 range, you should be able to minimize the effects of an ugly fence that is in front of you. Here are my other suggestions:

1. Friday is open pit lane day, be there with wide angle - medium telephoto and a flash for fill.

2. If you get a membership to the ACO, I think it will pay for itself. The tribunes either above or across from the pits are reserved for members i believe. The walk ways to the tribunes on the Pit side tower over top all the trucks, giving you a good birds-eye view of things going on below.

3. In addition to that, buy a pass for some tribunes somewhere else just so you don't spend all your money on seats that are only on the start-finish straight. Again, 300mm or longer.

4. There is a white building at the end of the pit lane on the right.
Click here.

Your ACO membership should get you into this building and access to the roof, I'm pretty sure of that but I would ask the ACO. Anyway, This photo was taken from the roof of that building. It's a great spot, just about any time of the day. You have the pits on the left and the esses going up to the Dunlop bridge on the right. AND, since the cars exit the pits right below, you can get a good shot of their exit. Also, just behind that area is the compound where they put all the broken down cars and all the finishers go into this "pen" at the end of the race.

5. See if you can get a paddock pass. I don't recall if they offer one or not but it's an excellent way to get real close to the back of the pits where the crews are cleaning body pannels, preparing tyres etc.

6. If you are clever enough, you may be able to get a good shot of the cars coming down from the Dunlop bridge from...the top point of the Faris Wheel. You do get a good view from there and it doesn't move too quickly.

Other important things to photograph: Just one...the Hawaiin Tropic Goils. I think they make there appearance on the start-finish straight just before the beginning of the race (only press accessable unless you are in one of the tribunes above the pits where your 300-400 mm lens will be invaluable). I went to Le Mans in 1999 and 2000 with press passes and I missed them both years so maybe someone else can verify their arrival time.

There is sooooo much to photograph and there is lots of time to photograph it. Bring your laptop to download your images to or lots of memory cards. I think I shot 30 rolls when I went on either year.

For the end of the race there IS only one place to be, some place where you can follow the throngs to get a position in front of the podium. You will need to be somewhere near the Ford chicane and then just follow the masses.

Last thing, be sure to show us your photos.

P.S. I built this race up in my mind since I was about 16 when I saw the movie Le Mans for the first time. That movie is what got me into photography and interested in sports car racing. When I had the opportunity to go in 1999...all I can say is, to actually be there was even bigger than what i had built it up to be for 30+ years. I remember, it was around 2 am, I was walking from the Ford chicanes to the start finish line, I was listening to Radio Le Mans when they read an email from a friend of mine living in Atlanta Georgia telling me he was watching the race. I stopped just in front of the last turn and shot a panoramic image of the start-finish straight with the pits and the exit at the chicanes as several cars came by during a time exposure and I thought to myself...I'm finally hear!

Don't be supprised if a tear comes down your face when it's all over. I have one now, just knowing I won't be able to go this year. Enough of that, pound some beerz and get jiggy with it.

Have an AWESOME time!

Mark Gilvey
THE UNOFFICIAL SPECTATOR

[monkeynuts]

Cheers mark that was one of the best summing up of the whole race .The trouble is i think i am only going on wednesday practice cos is in the middle of my vacation,so i will try to cram most in to one day(that will be a laugh)just a few pics and soak up the atmosphere ,i think the practice times are 7-9pm and 10-12pm if any one knows differant i would like to know .........Steve.......

[MikeHoyer]

Yeah, those are the practice times.

That is the good thing about Le Mans, it's not always the easiest place for photos, but you've got so much time you should come away with some good ones!

I've got one of those mass storage things for this year, it holds 40gb and fits in the palm of your hand, downloads a 1gb card in 8 minutes.... so aslong as I can keep my batteries charged I shouldn't have any problems regarding photography!

[iucrmh]

Originally Posted by mgilvey

4. There is a white building at the end of the pit lane on the right.
Click here.

Your ACO membership should get you into this building and access to the roof, I'm pretty sure of that but I would ask the ACO.

That is part of the Welcome Area, and you usually need to pay to get in there. I think it was 15 Euros last year. Great place to watch from at about 2 in the morning.

[mgilvey]

Originally Posted by MikeHoyer

I've got one of those mass storage things for this year, it holds 40gb and fits in the palm of your hand, downloads a 1gb card in 8 minutes.... so aslong as I can keep my batteries charged I shouldn't have any problems regarding photography!

Folks, be careful with 1gb cards, particularly 1gb Microdrives. They can get damaged just but dropping them on a pillow. I have one 512 80x card that I really like. One of the nice things about the 512 is you know you can fit all the date on a single CD for those of us who are anal about workflow.

For those of you shooting digital, you might want to download Adobe's DNG converter. I always backup my original images to CD and then do a batch convert using the DNG format which will also let you embed the original file into it. Oh, this is for for folks shooting RAW. Here's the Mac version. Here is the Windows version.

[peter parker]

I had a seat on tribune 34 above the pits. You could lean over and make beautifull pit stop pics. Ansd with the presentation you can see all the cars go by, and the Trop girls!

[vandijk]

Originally Posted by mgilvey

Folks, be careful with 1gb cards, particularly 1gb Microdrives. They can get damaged just but dropping them on a pillow.

Should be in the photo forum, so feel free to move Fab, but I do not agree at all. I use nine MD's, all bought a while ago due to price/capacity at the time, and none of them ever let me down. 80X is not relevant unless you review alot on your camere or shoot huge ranges at 8fps...