The photo MUST tell a story or convey what you felt when you took the photo. Look at your own photo and ignore the emotion/excitement you felt when you took the photo. Now imagine what someone else will experience when they look at your photo. I often thought a certain photo is exciting but then others found it boring. The reason is that I had an emotional connection with the moment the photo was taken but nobody else did.
I'll be looking at photos that are different from the normal point-and-shoot type. Try some different angles and viewpoints than everybody else. Photos of vehicles from directly in front or back hardly ever makes for a good photo because it just cannot tell the full story of what was happening. Rather move more to the side of the vehicle than taking another photo of the radiator grill or tailgate. Get yourself into a position where you can capture the difficulty of the obstacle and the effort that it takes to drive it.

Seeing that we are talking about a 4x4 challenge event action photos are always nice. Wheels spinning, flying dust and vehicles jumping into the air makes for great photos. Taking action photos are easier if you have a camera with fast focus and manual adjustable shutter release but with a little know how it can be done with most cameras. Anticipate the moment of pressing the shutter and capturing the moment. See how other vehicles behaved on the obstacle and then catch the next one in the act. You will quickly learn how to 'read' an obstacle before any vehicles drive on it and you can pick your spot for a winning photo. If you use a too fast shutter speed all the action will be frozen and the impact of the photo will be lost. I have found that anything between 1/160 - 1/250 of a second normally works well.

If you don't have a fancy fast camera all is not lost. You will have to concentrate on photos that your camera is capable of. There are often moments that any camera can capture. The winning photo from Rayton could have been taken with almost any camera but the photographer put some effort in and got down on the ground for a better angle. Your mik-en-druk can take the photo but you must put in the effort. If you are not able to capture the action then look for something else. Take a different viewpoint that includes everything that is going on and capture the reaction of the spectators. Perhaps try a wider view of the obstacle showing where the competitors have to drive. You can even zoom in on some detail like the faces of the competitors and their emotional distress!

Something else that does not make for a good 4x4 photo is of a vehicles on a flat surface, whether stationary or moving. It is not to say that a photo of a vehicle on a flat surface is always boring as long as you zoom in or get close enough to hide the fact that it is on a flat surface. Look for some nice detail in a vehicle and concentrate on that. That way nobody will know that was an action 4x4 on a flat surface.

Photos of vehicles hidden behind vegetation or anything else and can simply not be considered, it does not matter how great the action was. I understand that sometimes a small part of the vehicle might be hidden but it will all depend whether the story is still told.

Also, photos of vehicles that has fallen over and lying on the side was often taken on an emotional high but in essence for anybody else it is just another photo of a vehicle on its side. Getting that action photo before the vehicle becomes stationary is the one I'm looking for.

Lastly, all the technical things like focus and exposure must be spot on. Be aware that sometimes the colour of a vehicle or the reflection of the sun can cause the light meter of a camera to be fooled and ruin your photo. Learn to override your camera's auto setting and get the photo!

Keep the photos level! Nothing ruins a photo like a skew horizon or spectators looking like the tower of pizza!