Back in January of this year I went to the Rolex 24 at Daytona with my dad. It was a great time, minus the blisters on my feet from walking all over the track and paddock.
The drive down from Alabama was long and largely uneventful. The next day was when the fun began, a short walk down the beach(even if the wind was insane), lunch, then getting to the track about 3. Hearing the cars roaring around the banking on the north end, walking under the track and into the paddock was almost an out of body experience, especially when the Mustangs and the Cadillacs thundering around.
The International Horseshoe was the spot to be for fans, especially the entry. I preferred the exit. It was a sight to behold, the drivers turning in and then accelerating out towards the kink.
Wandering through the paddock and seeing the Lamborghini SC63 already out of the race was a bummer. But I got a pretty cool photo out of it so I wasn’t too upset. It was also around this point I discovered that shooting through bracketing wasn’t the thing to do and switched over to burst.
Not being able to get any photos durning golden hour I did snag a few at night. I also snagged a few hot dogs for dinner. This is where the 70-200/2.8 was really worth it, faster shutters prevailed with the aid of increasing ISO. Looking back through the photos I realize that I probably had the iris open too much thinning out the focal plane and only getting parts of cars in focus.
There were some happy accidents though.
Leaving the track to sleep at the hotel was a cold affair, the wind was still whipping. My sweatshirt, jacket, and beanie were great ideas to bring. Waking up hours before dawn to get breakfast at Dunkin before going back to the track to try to shoot sunrise was not fun, but very rewarding.
I had much better luck in the morning golden hour. There was something about the track around when the sun was coming up that was peaceful, well as peaceful as it can be when every 2 minutes you hear what sounds like drumline roars past. It’s hard to put into words how loud and almost violent sounding the Mustangs and Cadillacs are. You feel it in your chest while your ears are overwhelmed.
All in all I didn’t get to stay for the whole race, but hopefully next year I’ll be able to, even if it means sitting in the grandstands editing pictures. Stay tuned to follow along on more trips, tracks, and adventures.
WC Fulks 