Part of the reason why I take images of motorsport is the challenge. I like the idea of the variety, the creativity and the thinking behind the images.
But occasionally, like with many things, you have to know when to stop; to call it quits and take make an early trip home.

My visit to the GT Cup at Rockingham my first disappointing visiting to a circuit, but I’m glad I did try to persevere.

I thought that visiting a new circuit for the GT Cup would be a challenge: fresh angles, different scenery and more practice at shooting a grid of cars that I enjoyed capturing at Brands Hatch back in May.

But on arriving at Rockingham and being confronted by that imposing grandstand, I wasn’t really aware, nor expecting what I was about to be photographically challenged with.

In case you haven’t had the pleasure, Rockingham is a speedway, NASCAR style, with a secondary circuit layout within the infield.

It’s set up for many spectators to get the best view of the action from a series of banked terraces that dominate one side of the facility. The main building provides great views of the circuit, so following the action is easy for those that like to observe from a static position…but it makes for lousy variety of photos.

As I found out upon asking a member of staff, only certain areas of the main grand stand were accessible on this particular day…and not a lot else.

There was no path to walk around, nor could you access any of the other peripheral grandstands to the sides for a different shot.

Access to the infield was passes only, so me and my £16 ticket were stuck on two levels of the spectator area – up high or down low behind the fence.

For sure, I found a few angles, but also very quickly found that due to the relationship of the stand to the track and the very tall catch fence, opportunities for variety were slim. It was all too similar, no matter where you stood.

Images of the same cars, taken from slightly different angles isn’t quite the creative photography I would like to practice, so I was pretty quick to call it a day.

A dissapointment, as the same cars produced some images I was very happy with back in May. I am certain that if I were able access the infield, or even walk around the circuit, I would have been able to produce far more varied results, but at this particular circuit, that all important access was fleeting.

Unfortunately, my first visit to Rockingham is one I am all too happy to write off as experience.