I just have to say, other than the last couple hours of the trip home, this trip was pure awesome. My wife surprised me with VIP motorcycle in-field parking, tower terrace seats right next to the podium, and a parade lap pass for our 5 year anniversary. She is just awesome. I got to take my bike for a lap on the actual track and even left a little bit of my bike behind… lol.
Here is the video for now while I go through all 800+ pictures and pick out a few to post… don’t mind the slightly homosexual squeeling in the video. I was giddier than a school girl the whole time. lol.
And the “aftermath” on the bike… love every bit of it.
And finally, the pics. WARNING… as with many of my posts, there are a ton of pics. Although, this barely even skims the surface of the total amount of pictures I took… lol.
And the autographs I was able to get. I also got a picture with Cal Crutchlow along with an autographed poster, but Spies was the big one because of his unknown future with MotoGP.
Autograph on my absolute favorite picture from last year along with my tower terrace ticket which just happened to be Seat 11. He actually sat talking with my wife and I for a few minutes regarding the picture because he was so impressed with the picture… actually made me feel pretty awesome since normally the autograph sessions are “here’s your autograph now leave”… lol.:
The turn pictures were taken at turn 6. There is a break in the fence and if you get there a little early on practice and qualifying days you can usually get a spot on the fence. Getting a spot there for the race is nearly impossible and you will have a hell of a time trying to get decent shots because the professional photographers will stand right in front of you and not give a damn.
The straight away and podium shots were taken from the tower terrace seats (section 37). The seats were nearly empty so even though our actual seats were row X, we were able to pretty much go wherever we wanted in the section. The podium is literally about 25’ from the edge of the stands (section 37 is the end) and the riders walk within about 10’ of the stands so you can really get up close for the podium.
My setup is very basic… its just a Canon digital rebel xti and the cheap $200 75mm-200mm (or whatever it is) zoom lens. I shoot in complete manual and most of the pictures were taken with ISO 100 or 200, F 5.6 - 6.4ish, and a shutter speed of 1/1000 - 1/2000 iirc. At first I had the focus set on single shot and later on I changed to the Al-focus I think it was (the one that continually auto focuses). And unlike quite a few of the people taking pictures, I usually follow the rider through the turn and snap the picture at a certain point (usually the grass because it gives a better backdrop than the pavement). I don’t just hold the shutter button and take 500 pictures at a rip… lol. At most I’ll take 2 or 3. The only time I would take continuous shots was for the start/finish line shots. My reaction wasn’t quick enough to get the right shot with just one shot so I had to take a bunch and hope I got the bricks in the shot… which isn’t easy at 200+ mph. lol.
It really doesn’t end up being that expensive for the weekend. Because its not a HUGE event, tickets are fairly cheap, the hotel is relatively inexpensive, and the gas kinda sucks, but when split by 4 people it was about $60/ person each way.
lol. We try to go every year and bring the bikes. My goal for next year is to get a small (class C) diesel motorhome and do the camping. From what I’ve heard its a giant party all weekend.
