Tamron Blog: It's Not Just About Cars

When you picture the Nurburgring in your head, the smell of petrol and the sound of car engines probably fill your imagination and rightly so - it's one of the most famous motorsport complexes on the planet. However, if you can take your eyes away from the track for a few moments, you'll actually see there's ample opportunity to photograph beautiful landscapes. 

Magnificent views of the Eifel landscape can be seen right around the track and they make amazing backdrops when you want to capture a wider shot of the famous track in its stunning surroundings. 

The above image was captured at the Wehrseifen photo op spot (see the map in this article for more information on exactly where it is). It's actually where drivers take very different, and sometimes dramatic, lines which is exciting for the spectator and gives the photographer ample photo opportunities. But for those who like a little more nature in their frame, you can pay homage to the track by featuring the tight right bend in your wider capture of the lush landscape surrounding it.

The naturally shaping of the valley draws the eye to the manmade track which is juxtaposed and almost cradled by the natural landscape around it. We were lucky and visited the region in early summer/late spring so the trees are a lush green but the area looks just as good during the colder seasons when snow or the colours of autumn have painted the landscape.

As you probably guessed, we switched from the much-used telephoto end of the Tamron 16-300mm to the wider focal lengths when our focus was away from the track to capture as much of the picturesque landscape as possible in one frame. Another bonus of using a zoom lens is that we didn't have multiple lenses in our rucksack so the walk up the hill wasn't quite as tiring as it could have been with more weight on our backs. 

We've not quite finished with this area of the world just yet so you'll be seeing even more Nurburgring themed photography in our next blog entry.