Best Places to shoot from at Silverstone

[lemansfan]

Will go in April for the WEC Race the first Time to Silverstone . Would be nice to get some Informations for the best Places to shoot Photos .

[tonyC]

Firstly you will generally need a long lens. There is a lot of debris fencing around the circuit, but there are a few gaps the give clear views of the track.

A couple of places at Luffield, you can just see over the fence.

A good spot for panning shots (if you can get in) is the grandstand opposite the pits (the new pits)

Another usefull spot is on the outside of the circuit at the entrance to Club Corner - clear of fencing etc You can get reasonable shots with about 200mm focal length.

Hope this helps

[lemansfan]

Thanks for your Infos . Look's that it will be ok for my 70-300 Lens .

[bella]

you might find 300mm to be a bit short aside from around luffield?

it's definitely worth exploring as many grandstands as you can, there's quite a few where you can see over the fence if you climb high enough!

[M Greenslade]

Originally Posted by lemansfan

Thanks for your Infos . Look's that it will be ok for my 70-300 Lens .

I would go for a 70 - 300Km lens if I was you........

Bladders...

[Peat]

My favorite place to shoot-up is behind the toilets at Stowe. There's never any spectator marshals to move you along.

[Aysedasi]

70-300 will be fine Walter - assuming you're digital (pretty safe ), you're running longer than that anyway. As bella says, do investigate the stands that they bother to open. Those at the final corner and along the start finish straight are actually pretty good. For the last 2 years we've watched the start from the final corner stands and aside from avoiding the stand metal-work itself, the view is unobstructed for good panning shots.

Also check out the small grandstand on the infield on the hangar straight. Very good indeed - you can get close in to the cars with an interesting angle. (See attached). I'm only using 55-250 these days and I was very happy with my stuff from Silverstone last year.

Knowing you, you'll wander around the entire track and you'll see plenty of other good spots where you can get your lens up above the fencing - even as an ordinary spectator. Silverstone is actually a far less photographically challenging circuit than Le Mans for those ordinary mortals like us without media bibs.....

Keep an eye out for us - the normal 'Le Mans Team Dot' crew will be at Silverstone for the full weekend.

[lemansfan]

Thanks Andrew . Sure that we will have contact before the Race .

[Aysedasi]

No doubt Walter

[Tim the Grey]

As Ayse said, plus...
The narrow section between The Loop, on one side, and Maggots/Becketts, on the other, is OK, if they let you take some there. Sometimes, yes, sometimes, no. It depends, I think, on the head marshal in that sector, on the day, I think.
You can get shots head on, panning, going away, all within 50 yards! Often, with lovely holes provided in the fencing, for the F1 boys...
As with Ayse, I'll be there, so happy to show you some favoured spots. (Sorry, I have been ill, and not thinking right, for 3 days. I'll respond to your email/msg tonight!)

[Alfaholic]

To add to the above - there's also the infield section from the exit of Stowe into the Vale where the banking is (or was at the end of last year) higher than the fencing. On the outside exit of Stowe it's also possible to (just) shoot over the fencing from the banking next to the old commentator's box . There's also a photographer's hole on the outside of Becketts which is usually open, unoccupied and usable from the spectator area.

[frostie]

Silverstone is pretty good for photographing from the spectator areas. Here's a selection of some of my stuff from the 2011 MotoGP and F1 races. Each of these was taken from areas open to the public. The quality of the images are pretty poor, I had a terrible camera at that stage-pretty much a point and shoot full auto which in the bad weather was an absolute nightmare to calibrate! These images should give you a bit of an idea of the kinds of areas where you can get shots.
You can get quite close to the action at the outside of Copse, Beckets, down the Hanger Straight, entry to Stowe and then the inside of Club (down beside the hospitality units). The new complex is really good, they've cut out areas of the catch fencing to open spectator areas to get decent photos. The first and last images here are taken from those spots.
Down at Priory and Luffield you can get shots with Luffield's spectator area high enough so that you can shoot above catch fencing

[Tim the Grey]

I'll be taking Walter round on Friday... Show him what's there, and see if he can find anything new I don't know about...

[Aysedasi]

As you will have gathered then Walter - loadsa places!!!

[lemansfan]

Thanks for all the Infos and Offers .Hope we will be early enough on the Circuit on Friday that we can make a Walk around .

[rdjones]

I know its a little bit naughty but I quite like the end of the disabled enclosure on the entry in to Woodcote.

[Aysedasi]

Nah, that's only for parents with children...........

Oops, I forgot.........