Right place, right time, part 2

Not so long ago, the clock that ticked the loudest for photographers was the one counting down the minutes until the presses rolled for the next edition. So, in the morning, there was always an Echo deadline looming while, in the evening, the Daily Post back bench eagerly awaited your pictures.

Those deadlines still apply but now photographers - or image journalists as we like to call them nowadays - have also got our online service to think about.

If the web editors demand it, an image will go up online immediately because being first is everything. Some things never change.

And some images, like this, will attract online viewers from around the world.

It's not a Merseyside scene, as you can clearly see from the Forth Bridge looming in the background. But it illustrates perfectly the theme of timing again: this car, which overshot the end of a jetty on the Firth of Forth, was inevitably going to sink, or drift off, sooner rather than later.

Fortunately, one of the lifeboat crew who took the occupants to safety had his camera with him and recorded this striking image.

We can forgive him that it's a little out of focus - sometimes it's more important to press the button and get the picture.