Firefighter's Intensity (Caution 10 Images)

The Chicago Fire Department made an incredible stop yesterday in an old warehouse currently being renovated into loft condominiums. They made an incredibly aggressive interior attack and saved the building. I think you will be able to get a sense of just how intense these men and women are, and just how serious their work is, from some of these shots.

1. You can see the intensity in his eyes. They have just discovered another pocket of fire on this floor and he is about to inform the incident commander the old fashion way, with a very loud voice.

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Excellent shots, I really like the first one.

Mills, I work at UIC and heard the fire call go out over our radio when the CFD had CPD cordon off the streets around the building. I was wondering if you were there, but never had the chance to drive by and see for my self. I was glad they were able to save the building. I alway liked the mural on the side of it.

Great shots as usual!

Another great series capturing the passion and drama.

Looking at No.8, I think part of the urgency is they have a charged line with no ones hands on it yet. I never realized just how dangerous a charged line can be until I "played" with one at Great Lakes.

No.1 is a geat shot.

Thank you very much. I really enjoyed being able to get their faces.

Thanks. This building had a very interesting paint job that provides an almost surreal backdrop. You can see the urgency in hi eyes though.

Thanks Joe. Wish you could have made it. I would like the chance to shake your hand. If you ever do, just look for the 6'5" 270 pounder with a serious crew cut and a 1D MKII and 5D around his neck. Not too hard to pick out.

great captures of the men in a dangerous situation Mills
they never know what can happen from one minute to the next

thank you, I see the shamrock on the fireman's gloves



there must be many men there who are of Irish (and other) extraction.
have they a choice of helmets as regards patterns and favourite 'teams' ?

glad no one was hurt
the fire engine in the third shot especially looks great

great shots as always! thanks mills

Mills,

Just curious do you do much post processing? I do some fireground shooting. Just curious what your work flow is?

I shoot exclusively in RAW. Photoshop CS2 and ACR. I try to do as little as possible. As a general rule, Curves, Levels and USM. I will also bump the saturation ever so slightly. Each incident is so different, it is hard to have a set workflow.

This fire was very interesting because of the building. It was very large. 80% of the work was in the shade. And the building is kind of like a big mural like RuggerJoe said. The first picture in this series looks to me like Marie applied her magic to it but that one was only curves & levels. Those were the colors around the window. I think I actually pulled the saturation back a little. Nighttime stuff is similar but I try to reduce noise where I can. Thank God for my two cameras on that.

Many people here have heard me say I started fireground photography because of the challenge. It does not stop when the picture is taken. It extends right into the digital darkroom. I still have a ton to learn.

marie wrote:

great captures of the men in a dangerous situation Mills
they never know what can happen from one minute to the next

thank you, I see the shamrock on the fireman's gloves



there must be many men there who are of Irish (and other) extraction.
have they a choice of helmets as regards patterns and favourite 'teams' ?

glad no one was hurt
the fire engine in the third shot especially looks great

Thanks Marie. The first one reminded me of you because it almost looks "painted" because the building was really a big Mural. As for the firefighters, they add decals from many sources. I always like Christmas time because you see Santa Clause all over the place.

Thanks Jaws. Or should I call you Hurst?

I'll bring my camera to work tomorrow to get a shot of the side of the building. Basically the whole south side of the building that faces the expressway and university is painted to look like an "art deco" building (best I can do to discribe it). From a distance and in the right lighting it can be hard to tell you are not looking at the side of a warehouse.

the mural took some amount of time and talent Mills

must be beautiful to see looking up at it from the street
thanks a lot


"I always like Christmas time because you see Santa Clause all over the place"

I can imagine


red and white everywhere

Mills,

Thanks for sharing the photographs, very intense
One question: when you shoot RAW do you download directly into CS2? I am only using photoshop 7 (which I dont think has a RAW converter) and I use PSPX. I also use Picasa to sort and file my photos.
Any help would be appreciated (sugestions) on post processing, file management.
Again thanks for sharing.
Keep up the awsome work.

Jas

I really enjoy this set.
One question though...
How do you people afford so many "L" series lens?
You must have a REALLY nice paying job.
I want one so bad, and simply cannot afford it.