It's not very often that your favorite international racing series decides to hold a motor race practically in your backyard, but I'll take it! It's taken me years to make it to a live Formula 1 race, but it finally happened and was better than I dreamed. The last time I was at Circuit of the Americas was in March, and it was still mostly dirt and expectations. My, has it changed. The facility is incredible, and almost overwhelmingly huge. It takes a while to get anywhere, so you tend to stake out one spot and stay in that area for most of the day.
I only brought my camera for Friday practice, and only brought my 50mm lens because I was more interested in capturing the atmosphere than pretending to be a Pro Action Motorsport Photographer. But, of course, eventually I found myself panning and shooting cars on track with the 50mm anyway. My friends and I found a great spot on the straight between Turn 9 and 10 where the cars are right up the guardrail and they scream by in full force. The dramatic elevation at Circuit of the Americas allows you to see the drivers take Turn 10 and down into the hairpin from this vantage point. The whole experience was almost surreal — I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.