King of the hammers, the photo journey.
Oh King of The Hammers, since the first time I saw you, way back in 2014? I fell hard for you, the rawness, the uniqueness, the machines and their capabilities, the racetrack, the challenges… For a photographer like myself, this is some kind of heaven, the kind that tortures you, but you still like it… is heaven the right word?
10 days of hiking on terrain that can’t be trusted.
10 days of climbing thousands of feet.
10 days of cold nights and cloudless sunny days.
10 days with no shower (water heater issues on our RV, wipes ftw).
10 days of non-stopping off-road action, over 20’000 photos taken, but only a handful worth your time…
Here we go, my best frames from this 2026 King of the Hammers.
I can split this gallery between desert, shortcourse and rocks…
DESERT
This was a challenging year. While the weather cooperated in not being a bitch, the race track was the real challenge. Flat, logistically very limited to move around, long stretches followed by wide turns, excuses all around, however, well, this is why they hire professionals…
Using the environment as my main focus of the composition, this photos include lot’s of negative space, I thought it will be good idea to let this frames ‘breathe’ before head out into the tightness of the hammers…
But, before we head to the hammers, we had some fun between the lights and the black sky.
SHORT COURSE
HooptieX, VanPrix, Gambler500 and Class11’s… my people.
And now, the climb starts, here’s why my knees hurt as I’m writing this…
ROCKS
I guess I missed the shot here.
Chocolate Thunder, Jackhammer, King’s Veto, Tumbleweed, Clawhammer, Spooners… I can’t remember all the other hammer’s were I was shooting this year.
Me too tire, me too…
E. Araiza
