A Grand don’t come for Prix
I may have mentioned before, but I bloody love cars. My previous post about my track day eluded to my enthusiasm for petrol-burning banter, and I also enjoyed taking photographs whilst I was waiting on my turn in the car. So, this weekend past, my pa's latest outstanding idea for a Chrimbo present - a pair of tickets for the British GP - lunged into relevance, as the F1 circus rumbled into the sleepy hamlet of Silverstone.
Fittingly, the whole trip began with me behind the wheel, blasting the six hours down from Scotland to whatever bit of England Silverstone is actually in (roughly Milton Keynes distance for those as useless at English geography as myself). Unfortunately, due to the timing of work, myself and Tim, who nabbed the other ticket, had to leave at about 2am, in order to hit the camp site in time for opening... not a fun drive.
Still, regardless of the hellish hours, we arrived to blinding weather - clear skies, sun, soaring temperatures, and rocked up to the circuit at about 9am, ready for some hard racin'. Of course, with it being Friday, all we got was F1 practice and various other support racing events, but it was still epic. Our general admission tickets meant we could saunter around all the expensive stands for the day, so I managed to grab a few decent shots from the raised seating - the safety clutter of catch fencing and runoff areas means that it's a bugger to get any good photos as a punter, which is a shame really. Saturday was more of the same, although not being allowed in the stands, we explored where we could sit for the race on the Sunday.
The night brought a lot more fun - live music at the campsite, with Eddie Jordan turning up on stage to swear a lot and play the drums, and a hearty selection of scrumpy from the on-site bar. The campsite itself was fantastic, and compared to the crap that people at festivals get shafted with, the difference is staggering - parking your car next to your tent is a much more adult way of organising things, although it's obviously not going to work with the T in the Park chavs...
The race itself was epic - the atmosphere amongst the fans was brilliant, and being so close to the blasting noise of the F1 cars as they battle on the circuit is incredible... you have no idea how loud these cars really are until you hear them flying down a straight, jumping onto the brakes, and listen to the engine blast and rumble as it gets cycled down through the gears. It is a sound that is totally sterilised by television, and one that any F1 fan would love.
Getting any shots on race day was an exercise in futility, due to the number of fans crammed in at the fences and the sight lines being full of chain link fencing, but I didn't really care by that point; watching Webber win was brilliant, seeing Hamilton keep right on him, despite having an inferior car, was great, and watching Vettel and Button haul themselves up the field was inspiring.
So why have I written a photo blog about this? Well, there's a few reasons. Firstly, it's a great sport to photograph, and as a punter, you can certainly get some good photographs of the F1 cars, if you have patience, a vaguely long telephoto lens, and know how to pan. Unfortunately, it is a sport that has a vast, yawing chasm between what the pros can shoot, and what the public can - and that's not going to change, given that the best spots are in front of the catch netting, where only marshals and press photogs are even allowed.
Secondly, it gave me a sharp poke with a stick. Motorsport photography is something I've always had an interest in, ever since I got a run round Knockhill in a Ferrari 360, and took loads of pictures with my wee digicam, but this weekend made me realise something that I feel about a lot of the things I photograph, but couldn't quite put my finger on - I like to be involved in what I photograph. Don't get me wrong, I loved watching the GP, but I know that I would love it even more if I was there working, doing something creative and productive - it's the same way I feel about music photography, and also shooting mountain biking. I think it's to do with knowing my subject, and the confidence it gives me to shoot it, but also that I don't like sitting back and letting things just wash over me... I need purpose!
So next year, I want to be at Silverstone again, but wearing a vest, and shooting from inside the track. It's a big ambition, but now that I'm shot of uni, I can really apply myself and see what I'm capable of achieving, without worrying about how photography's going to ruin my grades... Just have to figure out who to badger to sort out a pass now. Oh, and if you're an F1 fan, and haven't been to a GP, then in 2011, go to Silverstone. And take your camera, because even if you can't shoot the F1 race, there's a hell of a lot of other good stuff to shoot, even if it is just an Irish former team boss playing the drums to Cocaine, for a crowd in a field. It is festival season, after all.