A Shooter's Guide to the Isle of Man TT

Asphalt & Rubber readers have been enjoying Tony Goldsmith’s work for years, but how does the Manxman approach his home race?

The Isle of Man TT is a race unlike any other, and for A&R’s Tony Goldsmith, it provides a unique challenge. Having grown up on the island, Tony has only missed a couple of TTs in his life, and for those he has a good excuse, “I was doing my exams in school so I had to miss a TT when I was a kid.”

Other than that, his experience offers him a massive benefit during a fortnight of practice and racing, where his native land becomes the centre of the motorcycling world.

With a 37.73-mile circuit, one lap of the TT circuit is more than half the distance of a MotoGP race, and that places a real challenge on the photographer.

“I don’t really prepare for TT, by saying what days I will shoot at different sections,” says Goldsmith. “Maybe a lot of that is because I spend most of the year talking to my friend Stephen McClements about places that I’ve not been to before, and where he’s been that’s good.”

“I do try and not go to the same places every year, because I want my library of photos to be as complete as possible for the whole TT.”

“Some places are unavoidable though, depending on what you’re having to shoot and who you’re shooting for. I think that it’d be easy to get into a frame of thinking that on each day you’ve got to be at specific places, but you can’t really plan the fortnight.”

“We’ve seen already this year how difficult it can be with the weather, and that will really dictate a lot of what happens for us. I do have a rough idea in my head about where we might want to go on any given night, but there’s so many variables.”

“Whether it’s the weather or road closures, or whatever you can’t make up a full plan. We actually found this already this year because of traffic. Our plan was to get out to Gorse Lea, but the light wasn’t great with clouds starting to come in, and it was a bit uncertain if we should stick that that plan.”

“Ultimately, traffic was bad and we ended up with no choice, and went to that corner. We got in a about 5.50pm, which was only ten minutes before the roads closed! That’s pretty typical of the TT, and it’s one area that the locals do have an advantage.”

“You need give yourself enough time to get to where you want to be. Being a local helps because I know the back ways to get to places, whereas most people have to stick to the flow of the circuit. I know that as I get to a certain point, before they close the roads, that I can get to another area that I want to be at for the session.”

“I don’t have to be there an hour before to beat the crowds, because I know where the restricted zones are for photographers can get into as well. It all adds up, but knowledge does make a big difference.”

Getting around really is one of the biggest issues for photographers, and one that shouldn’t be underestimated. For newcomers to the TT, it also means that they need to do their homework.

We always read about the work that Milky Quayle does to get riders up to speed, but photographers also need to do their homework. Whereas riders search out on-board videos to try and learn the sections of the track, snappers need to start looking through books.

“The TT is a very difficult race to get your head around, but it’s not impossible, you just have to put in the work. I’ve spoken to some people in MotoGP that are a bit daunted by coming over because – it’s such a big place, but you can easily figure it out.”

“There’s so many books now and you just need to study. Once you know corner names you can figure out if it’s a shoot from a practice evening or a race day and then map out where it is and how to get there.”

“Looking at stuff from people that I would say are well-established, and accomplished short-circuits photographers, it looks as though some aren’t doing their homework before they come over. If you did no homework, and just turn up, the results aren’t going to be good.”

“We’ve seen a lot more photographers come over from BSB in recent years, and for some of the guys that do come over they just seem to go to stock, standard places. Obviously some of that will come down to what they have to do, in terms of going back to take pictures of podiums and other shots for clients, but it does seem that some haven’t done a great deal of homework.”

A failure to prepare means that you should prepare to fail, and the TT certainly throws some spanners into the works for the unprepared.

The weather is crucial to the event, but also to photographers. The harsh light of a mid-day sun can ruin some sections of the track, whereas the soft glowing light of sunset can transform an image. For Goldsmith, the key is knowing where and when to be at specific sections of the track.

“There are certain sections of the track that you know not to go to at the various times of day. Because of the location of the sun at that point of the day, you know that it would be good for practice or racing.”

“For practice, you could have fantastic light at particular sections, such as Greeba Castle, when the sun is shining for an evening practice, you can get some great pictures that you just wouldn’t get on a race day because of where the sun is.”

“Those evening practice sessions are a real challenge for photographers. With so many bikes on track, and up to three classes in action at any given time, it can be very difficult to prepare for what’s coming over the crest in front of you.”

“It’s such a long lap here, and you can hear the bikes coming for a couple of miles down the road. You get yourself ready and prepared, but sometimes you have to wait another minute before the bike actually comes!”

“There is so much time waiting for the shot, but you might only see riders come through three times in a practice session, so you need to be ready to shoot it straight away.”

“You just don’t know when they’ll come and it can be quite stressful. It’s a little easier at the start of a practice session, because they tend to put the faster guys out first, but as the session wears on, guys go in and do changes and it gets very difficult.”

“Compared to a short-circuit race, the TT really is so different to get pictures. At a short-circuit, you might get twenty or thirty opportunities in a session to get your shot, but here, particurly during practice, you have no idea what order people are going to come around in.”

“When they pit during practice, and change bikes and even leathers, it makes it really difficult! You are always on alert and ready to shoot, and if you’re waiting on a blind corner, it can put strain on your neck and shoulders because you were waiting for them to come around. If you’re like me and not the fittest, it can really put a lot of strain on you.”

“That’s only one of the differences between short-circuits and the TT. It really is night and day, when you look at the two of them side by side.”

“At a short-circuit, you approach it very differently. At the TT there’s so many more factors that are brought into a shot. Obviously a MotoGP bike is faster than a superbike at the TT, but they don’t often use their speed to the same extreme, where here they could be full-gas for two miles, and coming through a corner at over 150 miles per hour corners, and that makes it a real test for your camera equipment.”

The equipment used is also very different for photographers. At a typical MotoGP event, the 500mm is the stock choice for photographers with many using 600mm or even 800mm lenses, but at the TT the choice differs.

With different requirements for his photos, the 70-200mm lens gets a workout throughout the fortnight by Goldsmith.

“At a MotoGP weekend my favourite pictures are from pitlane and the portraits. Here at the TT though, I think that it’s about trying to get out on track. I want my images to convey what the TT is all about, and for me it’s about the speed and how close the fans are to the bikes. It’s about the scenery as well as the people.”

“People have asked me in the past what makes a good picture, and for some people it’s about getting as much of the bike into the picture as possible. That can be the case in short-circuits, but for me at a road race it’s the opposite.”

“I want to be wide at the TT, and show the backgrounds. At a MotoGP, I’ll use a 500mm lens, maybe with a converter. But at the TT, I’ll use a 70-200mm lens, quite often because it’s ideal for what I want in my photos from here.”

“I want the background, I want the track furniture, I want the crowds, and I want people to see what coming to the TT is all about.”