House Fire - Artys vs. Newsy - And a Lesson

Greetings all! My first post, I'm so excited!

Coming home last night, we had the stomach-sinking view of black smoke coming from the neighborhood. Lived through the gut-wrench when we learned it was not our home, but another in the neighborhood. Had camera, started shooting. I enjoyed the way my eye went from the 'news' aspect of a house fire to the 'art' aspect of the same fire. Here are two shots I took. One artsy, one newsy. Thought I'd open myself up for the comments and criticism.

And I'd like to remind everyone of the lesson here. My time stamps start at 5:23pm. The house had nothing standing by 6:12pm. This is a scary reminder to consider off-site backups of your important files (financial, photos, etc.). Everything in this house is gone - furniture, pictures, kitchen, clothing, everything. Sobering, to say the least.

So enjoy the pics, be nice to me, this IS my first post!

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Welcome, thanks for posting.

KAC

Yep an external and a safety deposit box is a must.

Man, that is really sad to see someone's burned down. Thanks for sharing these. Welcome to POTN.

Great second shot. Glad no one was hurt.

Yea I agree with the guy above me. I like the second shot better.

Something about the first one seems a bit gaudy. the angel is in focus, so thats the "subject" and I dont think it fits as a subject in that pic. Second picture is great though. Lots of contrast and very dramatic and eye-catching.

oh, and welcome to the forums.

I agree the angel is a bit much!!! There was such irony to it, with her back turned on the smoking ruin of house. Guess she was doing her nails when their house caught on fire!

For the second, you could see that billowing smoke for miles in a clear blue sky with little wind. Being Oklahoma, it's easy to imagine Indians sending smoke signals and how effective that could be!

And I had to laugh, I read somewhere that if you just show up with a big camera and a tripod, people assume you're 'official.' It worked in this case, to the point that the Fire Chief asked one of the ladies auxillary who I was!!!

Thrilled to be back and able to shoot again, looking forward to being an asset to this forum!!

Welcome Great first showing bud.

About the angel, If it was OOF and the background in focus as the real subject it would have been more ironic. Then it would have appeared as the angel was ignoring the fire.


Yes I know how that is. I showed up at a local WNC Jazz Society concert (they are monthly and have some big names) with my camera and they "hired" me to be the official photog because of my gear. Now I get in free to the concerts I would be going to and photographing anyway. Don't get paid but I get free exposure in the magazines and free tickets for me and the fam.

I burned my hour's worth of shots for the volunteer fire department and dropped it off at the station. Figured they'd like to see themselves in action!

Thanks everyone for your comments. Just got back from an exotic wildlife preserve -- 160 acres. Wow! Nothing really popped out, no tripod, but I will be going back!

For your first shots, i'd say you did well. So about this Angel, i looked at the picture after reading the story, the one about a family that lost everything. I say BS, they lost NOTHING, nothing that can't be replaced. Other than pictures. I thought first that Angel was looking out for the family and the men and women who would have died saving the people inside that burning hell. Sure she has her back to the flames, but everyone lived, that my friend is all that matters.

Maybe a larger lens would have helped, you did very good staying out the way, but a little closer would have been great. Maybe some action shots. But you only posted two, for your first shots i'd say good job, keep up the work. But mostly stay back a safe distance. And post some more. Thanks for posting.

I went to some classes for training on how fast a house can go up in flames it would really suprise you.

Our local volunteer fire dept has never, never lost a foundation!

Good pix...thanks for sharing.

Then go to a class on B.L.E.V.E. see how close u wanna be when that happens.