Located in between Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA, the track is easy to travel to with I-20 as its’ main corridor to the speedway and an airport adjacent to the property for small to corporate sized aircraft.
With the track being so big, pit road is easy and exciting shooting. With the grandstands facing the south, pit road is lit well for front shooting opportunities. In the middle of pit road, there’s a tower that’s available to photographers and video that will allow you to get a birds eye view of the pit area. But with the frontstretch facing the north, afternoon light is harsh and hard to capture images when the cars are on the frontstretch. The best time to photograph the cars on the frontstretch is in early afternoon light. Late afternoon light casts shadows on the track and it makes for a difficult shot. If you’re looking for the huge pack shot that comes through the dog leg, shoot down pit road towards turn 1 to get a better angle. Lenses from 200 to 400mm are great to capture tight group shots as well as single car images.
The grandstands in Talladega are tall and are a great view of the whole track. From the frontstretch grandstands, you can watch the cars take the green flag and fly through the banks of the big track. Under the main grandstands, there are a few crows nests that are available for photographers that will allow you to capture the pack of cars coming off turn 4 through the frontstretch. But with the addition of the higher fences, it’s a difficult shot to capture without having long lenses of 400mm or more. On the very top of the grandstands, next to the spotters stands, photographers are allowed to photograph from that part of the venue as long as you’re not impeding the visibility of any fans. With this vantage point and a lens of 500mm, you can capture the cars off turn 4 as well as the beginning of the frontstretch without hindrance. This angle makes for great photos of the pits below as well. With this view and the long lenses in your arsenal, you can really capture great imagery that represents what Talladega has to offer.
The garage area may be big, but it’s pretty dark from a photographers stand point. With a walkway in the middle, the garages are hard to capture without fast lenses of 2.8 or more. Using higher ISO’s can compensate for the dark garages, so be aware of the noise you can get with these higher ISO’s.
The roof from the grandstands requires special access in the form of a roof sticker and it has to be requested prior to the event.
Victory Lane is located on the turn 1 side of the frontstretch and faces into the sun, making a great opportunity for beautiful imagery. The floor of victory lane is painted in checkers so it can offer unique reflections on sunglasses.
With the track being so big, it’s very difficult to get around. Talladega does not have a pedestrian tunnel and walking through the main tunnel on foot is not allowed so careful planning of your day is advised. If you plan on starting the race on the inside and want to shoot on the outside, mind you that it will take you some time to get to your position on the outside. With only 188 laps at a normal race, you can easily spend ½ the time just walking from vantage point to vantage point. A free shuttle from the inside of the track to the outside of the track is available, but it is slow and caters to the fans so you’ll have to wait in line for a ride at the trolley pickup points with the paying guests.
On the inside of turn 4 and turn 2, Talladega has installed photographer’s perches that are good vantage points. These “crows masts” can accommodate a limited number of photographers and they’re first come, first served. Walking along the inside of the race track is no longer allowed, so you’ll have to use these perches to photograph the action.
Parking at Talladega is limited as well, but usually accommodating. There’s a media overflow parking lot as well as paddock parking close to the media center. The media center has been updated a few times since the 90’s and there’s room for photographers, writers as well as Public Relations (PR) personnel. In order to accommodate the media, Talladega has a food tent next to the media center for the meals.
A photographers vest is needed to and you will be able to acquire one inside the media center. Victory Lane spots are marked and a VL sticker is needed as well.
