Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix and my Canon G10

This weekend, Long Beach California hosted the 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix. I’ve gone to a few in the past years, but it had been more than 10 yrs since I last attended. I was able to obtain a few tickets for Saturday, no not as a photographer, but as a spectator. I made it a family event, so I left the DSLR at home. At these race events, unless you have a photographer/press pass, the only pictures you’ll get of the cars will be behind fences. So all I carried was my Canon Powershot G10.

Yes, I know, the G10 is not meant for this type of photos, but I made the best of it. Apparently Danica Patrick didn’t get the memo about meeting me at the race, so this was the closest I was able to get to her. The photo on the left was plastered on the side of a trailer selling her “authentic” items

Since I didn’t have a photo pass, I took pictures of photographers taking pictures of the race cars. Sounds strange, I know, but take a look at this photographer in his “I’m a pro” stance. I found an angle through a fence and zoomed it as close as I could. I then cropped it later in PS to get the tight shot. So you can see how much I cropped it, see the original image.

The crowds were plenty, there was so much to do and see. I spent some time indoors at the Lifestyle Expo at the Convention Center. Of course they had all the usual race car related exhibits, but one unique booth showcased a motorized “thing”. Actually they called it a Skatejet, its motorized and intended to pull a person wearing rollerblades. I wouldn’t try it myself, but it looked like a lot of fun.

The rest of the day was spent eating, drinking and taking pictures of the beautiful Long Beach scenery.

All images were taken with a Canon Powershot G10. The Canon PowerShot G12 is the newest model if you are thinking of getting one.