I've seen rally cars cartwheel through the air, smash through farmers'
gates, through hedges, through walls, down ditches, intro streams, limp
along on 3 wheels, no windows, bent roofs, you name it! And it never ceases
to amaze me just how many rally cars limp into service only to speed away
20 minutes later as if nothing had happened. How do they do that?
Taking pictures during the moments of a crash is always something of
a problem for me. The excitement of what is unfolding through the lens
sometimes bleeds me dry of any photographic knowledge I might have, and
the shot of a lifetime is often slightly blurred or shakey or I miss it
completely. Your natural instincts take over and I think subconsciously
you panic a bit. I do anyway and, as you lower the camera, you are stunned
and relieved to see the driver and co-driver walk away from a smoking
wreck with hardly a scratch!
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| FRAME
ONE |
FRAME
TWO |
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| FRAME
THREE |
FRAME
FOUR |
Look closely at the 4 frames above and you'll see that only frame number
4 is in focus. Why? Two things, firstly (as mentioned earlier) the Canon EF100-400mm
lens finds focus in its own good time, only when it is good and ready, it
won't be rushed. There should have been an extra frame before frame number
1 but the speed with which the car flew by at close quarters was pushing the
focusing capabilities of the lens way beyond what could be expected.
Rally photography
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"First and
foremost let me thank you for sending the e-books, which
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Second, obviously I couldn't predict this car was going to roll and with
no time to mess about with the camera you just hope for the best and use whatever
settings you happen to have on camera at that moment. You fire off as many
frames as you can but typically you run out of film or data storage just when
you least need it and you want everything to work spot on.
These ultra-high-speed situations also shows up a problem with the Canon
EOS 50E camera body. It is too slow at firing off frames when you really
need them, and when you do hold the button down and fire away (using AI-servo
autofocus), chances are about 1 in 4 - or even 1 in 5 - action shots will
be in sharp focus, the rest will be slightly out. It's not the camera's
fault really, it's not a professional camera, you're just trying to push
it beyond its capabilities and that's why, for me, when the photography
became more than just a hobby, equipment like the Canon EOS 1V, capable
of up to 10 frames per second (not that you need 10fps), was important.
You need equipment that works well within its limitations. All the above
frames would probably have been pin sharp with the Canon EOS 1V HS or
1D mkII with an EF70-200mm f2.8L lens, equipment which is fast at every
point in the picture-taking process.
Crashes involve real people
The crash sequence has my good friend Rory Galligan at the wheel with my
brother-in-law Jonty Bolsover co-driving, which is why stood close to me as
I was taking these pictures were family and friends, including children, who
burst into tears as the incident unfolded in front of us. People I knew well
ran the 100 yards down the stage to the smoking wreck fearing the worst, only
to be welcomed by a driver and co-driver screaming at spectators to get the
car back onto its wheels.
Rory was absolutely furious with himself. A championship was at stake and
he desperately needed a points' finish on the event. I could hear Rory shouting
at himself from where I was stood. The spectators got the car back on its
wheels and Rory promptly reversed into an extremely sturdy Belgian lamp-post;
through the 'red mist' that was clouding his vision, he just couldn't figure
out why they couldn't drive any further backwards! You can see the lamp-post
in frame number 1.
The car limped out of the stage and the service crew did everything possible,
and a whole lot more, to try and resurrect the team's chances of continuing.
It wasn't to be, and the retirement probably cost Rory and Jonty the championship
that year.
How did the crash happen? The car clipped a shallow ditch on the inside
of a slight left-hander on the flying finish and the front leftside dug in,
flipping the car up and into the hedge. So they did manage to cross the stage
finish and they did collect a time but retired in the process! That's rallying
for you!
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