A few times I've been out shooting an event and decided I've had enough and went home early, because I can. No one gets paid by PistonClick as we are mostly amateurs and no one is going to die if a report isn't written and that's the way we like it. Enjoy the event, get your pictures out there and above everything else have fun doing it.

On the drive over to Snetterton I was in a good mood. BSB is a great event to be a spectator photographer; the riders are always available to the fans, the bikes are of the highest standard and the media coverage is huge, so I was looking forward to photographing and reporting the circus that is BSB race day.  

The fact that I was in my wife's underpowered city shopper of a car driving down the worst road in the UK, the A17. The fact that this road is so bad it massively frustrates drivers to the point of them making overtaking manouvers no sane person would consider. The fact that tractors the size of my garage towing a trailer the size of my house containing tons of dribbling produce from the flat boring fields of Lincolnshire couldn’t dampen my enthusiasm, its race day.

Arriving at 08:30, the first warm up lap was just after 9. I was expecting big queues to get in and a mad dash to get a half decent location. No queues to speak of and the Snetterton staff were doing a good job of getting everyone in quickly, and there were a lot of people turning up. 

The car park turned out to be right next to Nelson, one of my favorite corners at Snetterton, so that’s where I set up camp for the warm up laps. At the BSB rounds, if you want to get good pictures of the racers, it is advisable to go on the practice Friday. 

Taking photos on the Friday is easy. Only a few people come out to spectate and it's mainly photographers, so it's not such of a bun fight to get into the best locations. On race day it can be a challenge, but one I was up for. The die hard fans had got in early and set up camp quite literally in the best spots. I understand bringing camp chairs to sit on but the rise in popularity of the wind break / mini tent is worrying. 

These were taking up a lot of room at Nelson and it was packed with fans that were making a day of it in one location. Small trollies with the days' food and drink were in abundance, again taking up a lot of room. However I didn’t let this get the better of me, I expected it as this isn't my first rodeo. 

Planning ahead, I had only had two lenses the 200-500mm and a 80-200mm, and one body to keep the weight down. No mono pod as these can be difficult to use in a crowd, but I did bring my small foldable stool. This is the best bit of kit you can have at a big sporting event. I'm a tall fella but an extra six inches will give you the edge if you are going to shoot from different locations during the day.

The advantage of the stool is you don’t need to push your way to the front and annoy the fans that have come to watch the same race as you. Also, being at the back lets you get out quickly so you can get to the next location easily. But the main advantage is that you get to see more of the track from your elevated location. Let your superzoom lens do the work. 

Standing at the back of the crowd on the raised bank and using the step at Nelson, I had no problem getting some good shots. The light was nice and coming over my left shoulder, falling on the riders head on as they took the corner. This is important - always check the light and get it behind you if you can, rule one of photography. 

A lot of photographers had got in early to stake a claim at a good spot and were jammed up next to the low fence with some powerful optics. This is not a bad thing but it is very difficult to get a good panning shot with a superzoom being that close. Panning is a lot easer the further away you are from your subject. 

During the warm up laps I took a few shots to make sure my settings were correct and was prepared for any fallers, of which there were a few. I'm not a crash vulture but recently I had a lot of riders crash right in front of me, more of that later. 

If you are in shutter priority and you see a crash happening, spin your rear command wheel to the right as you are pressing the shutter. This will increase your shutter speed and with a bit of luck freeze the crash sequence. 

I decided to sacrifice the last race of the morning to head to the pits. Joining the queue for the pit walk was a good decision as there was a massive queue to get in and meet the riders. Whilst waiting, keep an eye out as the riders will be coming from their motor homes that are located infield near the Bomb Hole corner. You can get a few good shots of the riders on pit bikes.

In the pits the teams had the garage doors open with the bikes on display and the riders were giving out signed pictures and posing for selfies. This is why I had the 80-200mm lens with me. It’s a great papping lens. The first picture is my favourite shot of Jason O'Hallaran from the day, lol, his promo girls are more than happy to see someone with decent kit and if you are respectful and smile you can get a few nice shots to mix up your portfolio of the day. 

Next stop was Murray's to watch the first BSB race and the side cars. This is a great left hand corner for the sidecars as they will be lifting the passenger side wheel as they take the last corner before the finish line. 

If you compare the shots to the right hander that is Nelson you get a better action shot, and as the bikes throttle off you can also get a few nice flame shots. 

This is another of those head on shots that is a no brainer. A high shutter speed of 640th of a second and track the riders from the previous corner on continuous auto focus and you have a winner every time. As this is the last corner before the finish it’s a popular spot with the fans. It has a raised bank viewing area, so standing at the back on my step I was able to get a good view of the action using a focal length of 400-500mm.

After watching the first BSB race of the day it was time to check out a few other locations. First was the massive hill at Palmers. This spot is great if you are spectating as it gives to fantastic view of most of the track. However, it was jam packed. So standing at the top of the hill I had a great view of the action but was too far to get anything usable. Kieth did better on the Friday.

As I was contemplating where to go next I noticed a small access road for the recovery vehicles to the right of the paddock behind the hill at Palmers leading to the Senna Straight. I had not been down there before and it is not in our PistonClick Circuit Guide, so decided to check it out.  

From here you can just see the start line but it is slightly obscured, and as the racers are flat out here it can be difficult to get a pin sharp shot, what with the speed and the heat haze. The 600cc Super Sport Race was just about to start so I hung around to capture the championship leader Jack Kennedy on the number 1 bike. A 1000th of a second froze the action. 

Moving round to Agostini, I had already dismissed the hill here as well as you are a long way from the action. When I had been here last time to cover the rallying I had got some good shots from the road that connects Agos to the paddock. Unfortunately, there were advertising hoardings that even with my step I couldn’t see over. 

For the second and final BSB race of the day I wanted to get the bikes as they wheelied down from Nelson into the Bomb Hole, as I had noticed this from the morning session. Where I was stood in the morning the guys were just lifting the front wheel parallel to me so I ignored the banking and went for the low fence half way down to get a better angle for the shot.

Using the step again it was a little more difficult as there were some tall people but enough gaps to work for me. Also there had a few fallers in this area all day so as it was the final race, and the riders would be giving their all I wanted as wide a view point as possible. You can also get a great shot as the riders depart this part of the track so it is a good location.

A few laps into the race and it looked like I had picked just the right spot. Jason O'Halloran had a massive high side on lap 4 just in front of me, sliding past in a shower of sparks. It was a bad crash, his third of the weekend but the Aussie is a tough guy and will be out for the next round at Thruxton 2nd-4th August. 

Before we get on to the race results a few other riders that stood out for me over the weekend were Peter Hickman, Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon. During the final qualifying session the race day commentator had mentioned that Hickman had not fallen for some time.

Laverty on bike 70 is standing in for Keith Farmer on the Tyco BMW who suffered two broken legs at Knockhill. He is recovering well but there is no news on when he will be back in the saddle. Laverty managed P11 in race one and P9 in race two, not bad for a stand-in rider.

The Tyco team are suffering a massive run of bad luck at this time. Farmer's team mate Christian Iddon also suffered a fractured fibula at Knockhill and was riding with a splint at Snetterton. You can see the green splint taped to his leg up just above his boot; tough guys these BSB riders. 

As for the racing results, it was Scott Reading that dominated the weekend. Winning both races it looks from the outside that it was an easy win for the Brit on the Be Wiser Ducati Panigale V4, but it was far from it. 

Tommy Bridewell number 46 also on a Ducati was leading in race one when he hit the dirt, giving Redding's team mate Josh Brooks the lead. If Brooks was to go on to win he would have picked up £30,000 for his run of wins, but it was not to be as Redding went past him on lap 13 for the win.

Tarran Mackenzie battled hard but couldn’t compete with the Ducati's top speed. He did some excellent last minute braking to keep it interesting but had to settle for third.

In race two Mackenzie lost the back end on lap 11 going down and Tommy Bridewell kept his bike shiny side up coming in third, but it was the stunning red Ducatis of Redding and Brooks taking first and second making it a double win for the Paul Bird Be Wiser Ducati team. 

Later that day he turned up at the Monster Energy tent, having won the Monster Energy Race of Aces award for maximum podium points. Stripping down to his shorts and crowd surfing he was enjoying his weekend out at Snetterton. This sums up Redding. 

That concludes our coverage of BSB Round 6 from Snetterton. I would like to thank Graeme Taylor Images and Keith Adcock for their continued support, helping out on this report, and the cracking images. If you would like to get your pictures published or write a few words about your experience of a motorsports event drop us a line.