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Since others are reliving last year’s #Indy500, I thought I’d share my day in photographing that day.
The day is long but passes in a blur. After biking to the track sometime before 5am to set up and attend photo meetings, my first assignment was the Snake Pit. No coffee can give you a jolt quite like that place. I call this shot of @gritzpics “Preparing for Battle”.
On the golf cart ride over there, I noticed @DaleJr and @RutledgeWood filming from the back of the Pit, so that was my first stop. After that I put myself in the middle of the mayhem. 9am, and they were already going hard.
By the time we came back from the Snake Pit, you could feel the intense of the day picking up. The countdown to the race was in its last hours. I made my way onto pit lane for some of the festivities.
Shooting the start is as much about tradition as the rest of the race. There are a few iconic shot spots that get trusted to a few photographers. For someone like myself it means that you can try other places. I decided to try inside of turn 1, arriving just in time for the flyby
Part of my reasoning for choosing inside of turn one was to provide coverage of the start if it wasn’t clean. Thankfully, for the drivers, it was a safe beginning to the 103rd #Indy500. Being so far away, it wasn’t a great action angle so I moved on after 5-10 laps.
Using the first caution to make my move, I hustled to inside of turn 2. One of the things that makes the Indy500 so special is that it’s the most attended sporting event in the world. 300,000 people pack the stands and grass on race day.
One thing I learned when I first came to the 500 as a fan in 2014: TV really doesn’t capture the size of @IMS. It takes a lot of time to walk from one place to another. Carrying 40 lbs of camera gear doesn’t make it any easier. A photo that a fan took of me:
Another aspect that TV can’t capture is how fast 230mph is. Outside of turn 1 is one of the scariest shooting spots in racing. One error and a spinning car can be at you in milliseconds. Watch Kyle Kaiser’s practice crash to see @ChrisOwens500 jump out of the way just in time.
At this point, the race is about a third over. Do I know who’s winning? Not really. It’s different than watching as a fan. I’m more concerned with getting coverage of the cars in situations unique to race day in case one of them wins. Also trying to take photos of fans.
At halfway, I head to the media center to dump my photos off the card, down a bottle of water (thankfully not as hot as 2018) and change batteries. Just in time to head out for pit stops. I love the leading lines that the stands and paddock create.
I move to the back of the media center, which opens up at the top of the pit stands, to try some slow pans. I’m starting to pay attention to who’s leading and might challenge. At Indy though, so much can change so quickly.
There’s a deck to the left of the victory podium that is almost perfectly across from the flag stand. With about 30 laps left, I head there for my “finish shot”. After squeezing in between VIPs, I watch @simonpagenaud and @AlexanderRossi duel it out until Simon takes the 
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As soon as Simon crosses the years of bricks, I’m gone. Sprinting down steps and through people. I’m not assigned to Vircle Circle so there won’t be any milk shots from me but I’m tasked with getting reaction shots of the other drivers.
But, then I notice that @simonpagenaud has stopped on the track and is getting out of the car. Another photographer has been tasked with rushing out there in the event this might happen but I can’t see him anywhere. I make the split second decision to go. *he was there as well*
For the kissing the bricks shot, I climbed through the photo hole underneath the flag stand to get a different shot than the official shot. This photo has been used a lot in marketing and coverage of the event. :)
Once the festivities had died down a bit, I made my way to the photo room. For the day, I had over 5000 photos to sort, pick selects & edit. Starting with the victory shots, it takes hours. I think I left the track around 8 and continued on the couch. Had some friends help.
The day-after shoot is always fun. The pressure is off, everyone’s happy and there’s some weird traditions. I took my 300mm lens to the same photo hole to try to get something unique.
