The Need for Speed

I went to the Long Beach Grand Prix today. I’ve never been to a racing event before and didn’t know what to expect. I don’t even watch it on TV because, frankly, I don’t really get it. Cars driving fast? In a circle? That’s it?

Well, now I can say that cars driving fast in a circle is actually kind of cool. They are incredibly loud – I had to buy earplugs after I got there. And they go really fast (duh). The above shot was taken at a shutter speed of 1/100. I still need to edit the pictures I took, but so far this one is my favorite.

Yeah, it’s a blurry mess. But it’s one of the few pictures that I didn’t have to try to shoot through a fence. I could have bought a Super Photo Pass for $250 (!) and stood in special bleachers that were above the race track and fences, or bribed one of the press photographers to let me wear their silly blue vest for 20 minutes.

No, instead my brother and I wandered around the track, trying to get views of what we could. We ended up near the hairpin turn, which was the place to be when they had the drifting competition. I held my camera up above my head for this picture, meaning I only had to shoot through one fence instead of two.