From rally stage to Serengeti and everything in between

How it began

I am Robin Verheggen, born in Milheeze and now living in Beek en Donk. As a small boy I stood at the side of the ELE Rally, taken along by my father. That fascination with rallying grew up with me, but in 2008 something changed. I picked up a camera. What started with a simple compact camera along a German rally stage grew into a passion that would take me to the Dakar Rally, to Cross Country races across Europe and the Middle East, and eventually to the wildest places in Africa.

After that compact camera came my first real body: a Canon 350D. A 1D Mark III joined it later, the 350D made way for a 5D and that one eventually for an EOS RP. These days I stand at the side of a stage with a Sony A7C II and an A9. Every step came from running into a limit, not from something new appearing in a shop window. The hobby became expertise, and rally kept pulling at me. But something else came along.

The Africa connection

In 2023 I came face to face with African wildlife in South Africa's Addo Elephant Park. Kruger Park followed a year later, and in 2025 the Northern Circuit in Tanzania, twice. What was meant as an introduction became an obsession.

Photographing animals is something I always did. In zoos, anywhere I could point a camera. But in the African bush everything fell into place. That leopard in a tree, the golden light over the Serengeti, an elephant herd at sunset. This was what I had been looking for without knowing it.

In 2025 I completed the FGASA Nature Enthusiast Workbook, not because I had to, but because I wanted to understand what I was photographing. Every detail of behaviour, ecology and conservation makes me a better photographer. It also made me see more clearly why conservation matters so much. That is one of the reasons to photograph wildlife too. It is why I donate part of the proceeds from wildlife print sales to Stichting Wildlife.

Two worlds, one lens

Rallying and wildlife. It sounds like a bizarre combination. But both ask the same thing: anticipating movement, understanding behaviour, recognising the perfect moment before it happens. Whether you see a rally car coming through a hairpin or a cheetah accelerating, it comes down to timing, composition and light.

Rally stays accessible and close to home. I combine my photography with my regular job, so travelling to Africa often takes planning and time. For now I keep doing both worlds, and that is exactly what makes me sharper in each of them.

More than photography alone

Alongside photography, I write. For years I handled communications for rally teams, from Van Loon Racing to various Dakar competitors, and I publish through RallyTracks.nl. I now bring that skill in storytelling to companies and organisations that need content that genuinely works. From articles for the Royal Dutch Archery Federation to commercial content. No marketing talk, but stories that land.

I am also a percussionist. Playing percussion since I was eight, for many years in Milheeze where I was born, and in 2022 world champion with the percussion group at the WMC. Music asks for the same precision and timing as photography. Perhaps that is why they fit together so well.

What now?

Right now I am working on wildlife prints that tell stories, rally galleries that capture energy, and content that helps businesses and organisations grow. But also on passing on what I know, which is why I started working with De Rooij Fotografie. Together we will be teaching a number of workshops and courses, including the beginners course.

My goal? To organise and host photo tours in time. Taking others to the places that move me, helping them make the images they see. That is what I am working towards.

You will find me in the desert or the bush as often as in the Netherlands. Camera always within reach.