subaru_terrence wrote:
i regret i didnt pick up my media pass that day

the spots were much nicer and i didnt have to fight for open space
I'm having a feeling where I shot, will be off limits next year because of the close call I had with Richard (I did manage to send him a message thanking him for keeping the car on the road somewhat and not hitting me!).
For the last run through iron bridge, I wanted to shoot on the inside of where the cars were making the right hander into the big spectator area as I wanted the crowd in the background. I did get in there just in time but later was told to come back onto the other side of the road even after the 0 car came by. Apparently Peter K last year lost control of his Swift and put the nose into where I would have been, and because of that, that whole inside corner is now completely off limits.

I did get a chance to shoot there years ago, it's an awesome spot for pics.
The media pass I have is a "L 1" ... in reality, the only places where we could really shoot is around official spectator areas and even that, there are further restrictions. It does seem that it's getting more and more restrictive to where we can go. I understand why but at the same time it does suck. I didn't even get a map this year as I have with previous years, but did get one eventually after talking to the guy for a while.
Overall, the stages aren't well suited, well, the roads aren't well suited I should say, for media to get in and out quickly in between stages. The only exit points are really at the start or end of the stages, nothing in between. There are tons of opportunities with upper and lower Old Hastings, but once you're in there, you're not getting out, so it's not ideal if you're the only photog for a magazine or something, you really need a couple guys to get great coverage. You'll get the same shot more or less when they come through again if they run the same direction.