I have a more subjective criticism of a lot of the photos I have seen; not just from this rally but ever since I became actively involved in photographing the sport. Most of the photos just aren’t very interesting. They are basically snapshots taken from a standing position a nice safe distance away. Take a close look at this shot from Desert Storm:

I shot this while seated on the berm at the edge of the road. When the cars drove by, I had to quickly turn away to protect my camera (and other important parts of me) from flying gravel, but the lower angle, head-on angle makes for a very dynamic shot that is, frankly, one of the best rally photos I’ve produced (so far).

The point is, I made full use of my yellow media safety vest, got out on stage and put my body on the line to get something more interesting than I would have captured if I had just stood around and pointed the camera at the cars as they drive by. To be fair, my first shots of a rally just a year ago were basically just that, but then I didn’t have media vest the first few times, either.

Taking the time to edit my shots and select only those that best represent the action means throwing 90% of my work for the day, but part of being a photographers means knowing when you’ve hit the bulls-eye and being willing to admit when you’ve missed the mark.

Photos after the break.