A big step toward the dream was entering the Photographic Arts program at Connestoga College. To refine his skills and practice what he was learning in school, Bill shot his brother's motocross races. Bill soon fell in love, first with motorcycles and later cars. His career has been ruled by his passion to get the best shot whether it's for news, entertainment, advertising or public relations.

Best recognized for his action photography, Bill has also earned a reputation for his accomplishments in the studio. Between his location shoots, Bill continued to provide studio photography from catalogue work to vehicles for clients such as Kawasaki, Honda, Yamaha and Toyota. Bill always enjoyed to opportunity to hone his skills in the studio since these were the days before Photoshop.

Carl Bastedo, a former marketing manager of Manley's (Kawasaki), was the first corporate client. Bill donated shots to the Canadian Motorcycle Association magazine and that's where the editors of Cycle Canada saw Bill's work. After 30 years, he's still selling images to Cycle Canada.

Honda & Yamaha (motorcycles) and Toyota Canada (cars) jumped on board soon after.

F. David Stone, former Marketing Manager of Mosport Park - soon to become Bill's long time client and personal friend was looking for motocross photographs for their World Championship Motocross Grand Prix program. An executive at the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency suggested Bill. 'He was totally unknown, young, energetic and passionate about taking photographs. What a combination!'.

It wasn't long before he became a regular name in the Mosport programs - branching out from MX to motorcycle road racing and all manner of auto racing. For Bill, it was like a paid holiday, 'I always had so much fun all those years at Mosport'. 

'One thing for sure, Bill was innovative', said Stone. He scared a lot of people when he rode the twisty Mosport course at racing speed - while sitting backwards - on the saddle of a Kawasaki Superbike, piloted by the great Lang Hindle. Bill was followed by a group of Formula 750 racers. This riders-eye view of racing bikes became Bill's signature shot.

Bill continued to work for when he David Stone became Public Relations Manager at Toyota Canada. Toyota was often looking for high speed shots of exotic cars with blurry backgrounds and tack sharp details. 'They're arguably one of the most difficult action shots to reliably capture', said Stone.

Bill's most interesting challenge was something he had always wanted to do - photograph the Canadian Forces Snowbirds from inside one of their aircraft.

The challenge was actually three parts. First, to get their attention Bill had to come up with a unique angle. Next the approval to do the shoot and third was to go through the training and adapt my equipment to the aircraft. 'I thought that it would be cool to mount cameras on one of the planes to get a different view of the planes',  said Bill Petro.

It took two years of red tape, one military medical and a bit of high altitude flight training and decompression chamber testing. 

The next part was a breeze. The Snowbirds supplied Bill with all the measurements to determine the angles for the camera mount, which was made by the engineers at Cold Lake Airbase, Alberta. The University of Toronto CAD Computer department helped me determine the proper angles, since there is no opportunity to look through a viewfinder to check things out. The camera was mounted in a dummy fuel tank, facing backwards. 

After four days waiting for favourable weather at Comox Airbase in B.C., the weather cleared and Bill was ready for the experience of a lifetime. 'I had a 45-minute flight with the attention of the whole team to do whatever I asked. After the photo session the pilot of my plane took me for a joy ride that I will never forget. Imagine doing some of the standard aerial manoeuvres at close to 500 mph'. 

Bill's got a big list of challenges to tackle so he doesn't like to sit back. He once took a week long summer workshop in High Speed Photography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the famous Dr. Harold Edgerton. 'It was hugely fascinating. I was the only person who was not a scientist or researcher. I learned how to stop a bullet!'

Returning for the third time to the Isle of Man for the 100th anniversary TT, Bill's photographic coverage can be viewed in the racing section of the website.