So, you were thinking about being a sports photographer......

[Steve M.]

I watched the last half of the Monaco GP yesterday and caught the Indy 500 right after it (Sato, my favorite, came in third), and this morning I saw this pic of the photographers at Monaco. They are out of their minds! No barrier whatsoever at this part of the track, except for them! These are 900+ hp cars that weigh very little and can run over 200 MPH, go from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds and 0 to 100 in 4. Things happen on the track in the wink of an eye. See those long lenses on the cars? That means you can stand way back there guys, not on the roadway.

https://www.planetf1.com/f1-races/monaco-grand-prix/hamilton-saved-mercedes-after-wrong-tyre-call/

 

[wwfloyd]

I think the direction of travel gives them some measure of safety... until the thoroughly unexpected occurs.


In the 80s, I did some county fairground clay track shooting, from inside the oval. That was a bit crazy, with cars sliding out of control, through the infield.

 

[Steve M.]

I was looking at that, and it's cutting it way too close. The cars only need to bump each other a little before this point, or spin, or have the driver miss the braking point, and the photographers will be toast. They positioned themselves in a place where two cars could easily arrive in the same place at the same time side by side trying to outfox the other guy and gain an advantage coming out of the apex. I'm sure the drivers would never stand there.

There IS no safe place on a race track. They even had someone spin, slide and hit the wall in the pits at Indy yesterday, something I have never seen. Stuff flies off the cars all the time. In racing the thoroughly unexpected often does happen, and it happens very, very quickly. It's sheer luck whether you hit the barriers, other cars, or just spin harmlessly into the grass.

Yep, ovals will usually see some serious power slides, both intentional and unintentional. Dirt tracks are the best.

 

[Dralowid]

Somewhere there are some interesting pics of one famous photographer covering Monaco with M, Telyt and Visoflex

 

[brbo]

I was looking at that, and it's cutting it way too close. The cars only need to bump each other a little before this point, or spin, or have the driver miss the braking point, and the photographers will be toast. They positioned themselves in a place where two cars could easily arrive in the same place at the same time side by side trying to outfox the other guy and gain an advantage coming out of the apex. I'm sure the drivers would never stand there.

I'm sure they would. The F1 support personnel (medics...) all stand exactly on this spot during every session of the GP. If you want to be within 10m of a racing car (and no barrier between you and the car), this is one of the safest places in Monaco.

 

[DanskDynamit]

if you know the track (and I do) you know this is the chicane after the long straight out of the tunnel. The direction of the race goes in a way that it can't be dangerous for those photographers to be there and there is no barrier because this is where the medical services are with ambulances, fire fighters, marshals and a crane to pull cars out. It is also a "slow" section.

Anyways, we don't know if this photo was taken during the race, in Monaco GP weekend they have free practice sessions and many times when the cars run slow going back to the pits.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I'm considering it as sport. Sport is done with muscle. GW was injured while on the front line of the game field.
Sport photography is done close or remotely. Remember this UWA shot from the top of the boxing ring?

 

[LCSmith]

What a good death. Shutter rat-a-tat-tat. Chaos. Flames. Silence. No whimper.

You could not put me close enough.

 

[Takkun]

Well, I give them credit; I was filming up at the Evergreen Speedway and that was harrowing enough for me, and those guys were driving BMW 2002s..

Looking at the photos DanskDynamit provided, it does look like a relatively protected spot on the track, but still. Some kind of spinout and I'd be too close for comfort.

I think most injury I've sustained in the name of photography was at the Massachusetts HS state soccer championships, where I was shooting with a D3 and a 300/4 on a monopod: a player returned an attack with quite a bit of force, and I couldn't quite ascertain it's trajectory through the finder at that kind of focal length. Turned out to be headed straight at me and popped the end of my lens-dead on, knocking me backwards and leaving a good bump on my nose.