Larry Chen Explains How He Photographed the 2018 Long Beach Grand Prix
Turn by turn, Chen takes you through his process.
Larry Chen is one of the most well-known automotive photographers in the world. He is the official shooter for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the Mint 400, and the Formula Drift series. In fact, if you've attended an FD event before, you've probably heard the crowd chanting "Larry! Larry!"
The Drive has covered Chen before. Back in February, he was featured in a video on Hoonigan's YouTube channel when he was shooting the King of the Hammers race. Being a part of Hoonigan himself, he has even brought his own personal ride, an SR20-powered Datsun 240z, by Hoonigan's Donut Garage to play around with.
This time Chen was featured in a video for Hoonigan's behind-the-scenes channel, Hoonigan Bonus. In the video, Chen talks about his main task at the Long Beach Grand Prix, which was to shoot photos of the IMSA Mazda RT24-P prototypes. To get as many shots as he could, from as many angles as possible.
Chen shows Hoonigan Zac Mertens how he shoots the track using a track map. The street course is well used when it is set up for race duty. Turns 9, 10, and 11, for instance, are also used for the first round of the Formula Drift series. He says he starts at Turn 1 and just makes his way around the track. The sportscar Grand Prix at Long Beach was a 100-minute race and navigating around the 11-turn course on foot is tough in that short stint.
To learn how he did it and to get all of the photography tips and tricks, check out Chen's break down in the Hoonigan video below.