With FIA APRC Rally Hokkaido 2015 about to run in September I thought I would share with you my story from the 2014 event from a photographers move up from local motorsport to the international stage.
Rally Hokkaido 2014 I had the privilege to have full media accreditation (pass) for the fifth round of the Asia Pacific rally Championships held in Hokkaido; the northernmost island of Japan. This media pass granted me full access to the stages; you could even reccy the stages before the rally to find the best photo spots if you wanted to (I chose not to as I couldn't afford to damage the rental car).
A lot of people think it's simple you have a camera, you go out there push a button and take a photo or lots of them; then post them on social media or the web, or sell your photos to different outlets of the media or the teams. Reality is far is far from it. Just like the rally teams a lot of planning goes into an event as a photographer/media representative. As for me this event was a big learning curve, as it's a big step up from doing WA Rally Championships for myself and my web site, and helping Paul Van Der Mey with event photos for RallyWA and the series. Moving up to an International FIA APRC rally event in a foreign country, in an area where not much English is spoken (and my Japanese is pretty weak).
It all started with my decision to do the event, so I did a bit of research on the event and put my media application in the hope I'm privileged enough to be granted event media accreditation as a photographer. In my case I didn't know if I would have a media pass until I landed in Japan. Then I organized flights and accommodation, a rental car and an international driver's license. Next task was work out what equipment to take, knowing I had to watch my baggage weight for flying and make sure it was properly protected.
Once I arrived it was down to business; pickup my rental car then go to the event headquarters to sign in and get my media pack. This included a safety vest and lanyard to be worn at all times around the event; a road book with safety manual/maps; and the event sponsor's promo bits. Next double check camera equipment after travel then it's off to do reconnaissance just like the rally competitors so I knew where I had it go + how long it takes to get to my photo points and any good shooting positions (Regardless whether you drive through the stages or are only going to the gazetted media pots this is a must or you will pay the price later on).
By the start of the event I had a plan with running schedules that would get me to my positions early enough, knowing that in a lot of cases the spectators use the same roads slowing the flow of traffic. As for the event itself, I found it a little overwhelming. I don't know whether it was the fact I was jet lagged and over-tired during the entire event, combined with a pressure put on by myself and just outside my comfort zone doing something I love. I had never quite caught up on sleep lost on the flight from Australia, as I can't sleep on planes. Thanks to this my brain wasn't functioning at 100%. While some of you will say you have done this before servicing on international rallies with Race Torque Engineering, it's not the same with this event; I had to fend for myself without the benefit of having everything laid out in black and white and not having someone setting you an itinerary or someone to bounce ideas off. So it was a lot of independent ideas and learning on the fly.
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Thursday
The day of Rally Hokkaido pre-rally reccy day it rained and it rained, however, thanks to the event way points I got to most of day 1 spectator spots. It then fell apart as I popped in one digit incorrectly into the GPS/nav finder, which took me a long way out of the way. I figured I'm here on holidays as well' so I set myself a drive time , once I reached this time I would turn around and reset the way point and head back. This took me further north through some very spectacular scenery. I hit my return point, reset the GPS and headed back to Rikubetsu spectator point. (One thing I won't do again if I have a media pass, as I paid the price on the Sunday for not finishing reconnaissance due to this lost time).
As for the event itself Thursday evening it was off to the welcome party which was a meet & greet BBQ with organizes officials, sponsors and teams + local dignitaries with local produce. Everywhere I walked to take photos I had food/drinks put in my non camera hand, (a very friendly fun evening was had).
Friday
The day started with scrutineering for the competitors followed by shakedown. There was a quick super special stage between the service park and the river, a 1 km stage that was almost straight piece of track with basically a90 right followed by a sweeping left corner in the middle. Lie all night stages you have to work twice as hard to get good action shots.
Day-1 of the Rally
Saturday the start of the real Rally Hokkaido with a long hike out to SS2 Pawse Kamuy 1 spectators spotsleaving at 6am, for a good 90 minute hike. (One good thing about having a media pass you could drive right up to the stage where the spectators had to walk up to 1/2 km). It was worth the drive with a fast sweeping downhill right hander into a 90 right bend with a metal railing down both sides across a bridge into an uphill sweeping fast left hander. I chose a spot just outside the guard railing to catch the cars coming out of the right hander into the 90 right which made for some good photos. I hung around here too long waiting for the JRC cars which had a 20 minute + gap from the APRC cars, which meant I missed a lot of the next stage and 1 of the JRC cars coming off the road and blocking the stage there wasn't much to see off SS3 Rikubetsu; a big spectator spot with lots of viewing points from very fast to slow technical corners with a water splash thrown in. It was back to SS6 Pawse Kamuy 2 for another run, this time I positioned myself between the 90 right and the fast left hander with a bridge crossing in between.
Then it was off to SS9 Kunneywa 2. This was a fast left hander on a narrow piece of road with thick overhanging foliage. This spot had a lot of photographers: a bus load of rally photography students on a canon sponsored rally photo workshop with Naoki Kobayashi were set up here. Once the APRC cars and some of the front running JRC cars had passed I decided to move down the road to the 90 left to take more photos as all the good spots had been taken with so many people in such a small spot. Unfortunately no photos were taken as car 51 the Subaru of Norihiko Katsuta/Sayaka Adashi had come off on the corner while trying to take the corner with a flat right rear tyre and got bogged. With lots of digging and some fancy jacking, and a bit of pushing Kobayashi san and myself helped get the crew going again. We then then had the long drive back to the service park to do some photos before heading off to the media centre to sort the days photos and backup the files, grabbing some food (from the quikie mart which for quick food wasn't bad) before finally arriving back at the hotel just after midnight to charge everything up for the next day and get some much needed sleep.
Day-2 of the rally
The last day of the rally was an early start, leaving the hotel at 5am for the long drive with the Nav finder taking me a way I had never driven, a problem having not done a proper reconnaissance. I got to the area on time but couldn't pickup the road to go down as the map not showing everything and my limited Japanese language skills were showing, so I drove until I picked a road up that had some signage for the rally. This I found and it took me to the second spectator point. I had missed the top 8 cars, but I bumped into Malcolm from APRC TV, to whom I shared the morning' issues. Thankfully he said not to worry, finding a place to leave my car: we headed to the next camera point in his car. This was great as Malcolm knew exactly where to go and had the exact points on his GPS for the spots we needed to go.
The first spot we stopped at was a series of bends starting with a 90 left into 90 right into a sweeping left back into a sweeping right, I chose the 90 left for my photos while Malcom moved around for different angles with his big TV camera as there was plenty of good spots (during the media briefing , we had been warned not to go here alone as bears had been sighted in the area). After the final APRC car went though, we moved onto our final spot for the day, back out near day 1 stages which was an open sweeping right hand bend that must have felt like it went on forever for the competitors. both Malcolm and I chose to position ourselves towards the end of the bend taking turns on the inside and outside of the sweeping bend. The best part of this bend was that the slower cars had a little sideways drift.
Most probably the strangest thing for the rally was seeing a car driving across the farm paddocks from a long distance away (like over 1/2 km away) coming towards us thinking it was just a local coming for a look, as it got closer it turned out to be car 13, the Faith Craft Subaru Impreza, who had come off the road and couldn't get back on. On reaching us they stopped, changed a flat tyre before joining the course again.
after this section had finished we picked up my car and headed back to Obihiro for the podium finish and allthe other bits that go with the end of an event.
Conclusion #
Taking photos at a rally isn't just a case of turning up pointing a camera and pushing the button, then going home and posting them on social media, a website or publishing in the main stream media, there is a lot of other parts to the equation to make it work.
1. Once you decide to attend an event, do your homework and research! This will include # a) How to get there, what's required to get there, and how long it takes (add a little time just in case there's the unexpected). b) Get all applications off early (media accreditation; Visa/international drivers licence; medical requirements) and have the appropriate insurances for yourself and your equipment. c) Know what is in and around the event area - points of interest, maps, weather, access and culture.
2. Most importantly make a plan and stick to it where possible - The plan will depend on the photos are for and the market's requirements of the photos (the requirements will change if you're doing them for an event or team to main stream media or a web site). You may only doing it for a single team; the top 10; a single category; main stream media; or a wider coverage of the whole event. Make sure arrival time gives you adequate time for pre-event functions and reconnaissance, or if you're travelled long distance just settling in and getting some sleep.
3. Now that you have made a plan for the event, make all your bookings/reservations (accommodation, travel, transport etc.) Remembering anytime there is a big event things book out fast.
4. Send out any letters/press releases letting people know you will be there (this will help if you don't have a pre-set marketplace for your photos apart from your web site).
5. Make a list of equipment you will need to complete your assignment including items such as clothing (look professional).
6. Make sure you have a stash of business/naming cards to hand out.
7. On arrival, once you have checked into your accommodation, and collected your transportation, make yourself known to the parties you will be dealing with.
8. Check the area out for any points of interest e.g.; tourist spots/what makes the area special.
9. It is good to attend any pre-event functions e.g.; welcoming parties for sponsors and crews; event displays etc. (You should attend these events as you get to meet people, which will make it easier to photograph them as they will be more relaxed around you).
10. The event plan and reconnaissance: by the start of the event you need to have a plan with running schedule that would get you to positions early enough, knowing that in a lot of cases the spectators use some of the same roads so traffic can be a little slow. And in your plan know which cars to photograph before moving on as you might miss the next position. (This might only be the first 15 cars or the whole field or just 1 class).
11. Be prepared to work long hours to get your work processed and out there before everybody else.
12. Quality, not quantity, is more important. Nothing worse than looking at hundreds of photos of almost the same thing because somebody put all their motor drive photos up (people lose interest very quickly).
13. Be creative, be original and develop your own style and play safe (Cars hurt).
14. And don't forget your light and composition unless something happens in front of you.
Overall Rally Hokkaido was a big learning step in my motorsport photography, made easier by the organizers and participants of the event and people of Obihiro with their help and friendliness, I'd also like to thank Isoa Kono (Rally Hokkaido's media officer and his team) and a big thankyou my good friend Osamu Yoda and the guys from Asia Pacific Rally Championship TV and Media (Brian, Malcolm and Tony).
