Hi Mike,
Great opportunity congrats. NASCAR can be a tough nut to crack because it is in its own way a very closed community. I was in the same position you were in during the 2004 season when NEXTEL took over the cup, not necessarily a fan but thrown head first. You most likely will become a fan after your experience.
I did a lot of handheld and we tried to do some steadi, but due to our particular productions’ time frame and logistics, we found it to be more beneficial to stay on the shoulder. A couple notes of warning to someone who hasn’t had a lot of “inside the field” experience” a lot of it is common sense but ALWAYS have someone watching your back. The cars enter and exit the track to the garages at high speeds and are not designed to break or even avoid cameramen Steadi or not. Ear protection is key. There is always a Red/Green signal at the entrance to the track that lets you know when a car is coming into the garage area keep one eye on it but don’t count on it always have an escape path. It is like a bad game of Frogger. Dodging the cars is your responsibility.
You have a lot of great shot opportunities in the garage area following the various cars around coming off the haulers and going to certification. Inside the garages is usually pretty tight. Tracking with the war wagons going to the pit is always a good one to bank. Especially if you put a POV on one you will always get an interesting view of the track that way. During the race if you can get in the pits there is always interesting foreground elements like stacks of tires colorful fuel cans etc. The hard mount on the golf cart is great if you can get in front of a car. Before the race the drivers line up all the cars on the field for final check out and everyone mingles you can get a great tracking shot of all the cars and drivers/ celebs mingling around. During the race if you can get to there the spotters are up on the roof of the track stands you can get the cars going round. And of course positioning yourself at the turns you will get the cars coming right at you.
Camera types for the job? You will find with the distance you walk on the track everyday the lightest one possible is the best choice. It’s really up to you. I used the SDX-900 at the time. NASCAR is a very colorful sport so I recommend using a set up that really pops the colors. I had a lot of fun with an enhancer and various color filters.
Hope this helps let us know how it turns out, good luck and fly safe!
Cheers,
Dave Kanehann, SOC
Looking to get a Stanton Zoom/ Focus Handle only. Anyone got one they want to unload? Thanks in advance. Dave@cinekane.com