Alone Without Water

[Karalee]

This is awesome. I really think the angle adds to the picture. The upward slope gives it the feeling that the firefighter is fighting an uphill battle.

Well done. Nice capture.

Great way to see it!

 

[terri]

The angle doesn't bother me at all. I agree with Toby's "uphill battle" comment. The light hitting the hose is very dramatic, as is the billowing smoke. Very good job here!

 

[Nagala]

i would be interested to know how you exposed for this shot

I wish I had the EXIF on this one but I actually left my main body at work and had to use the emergency film Rebel in my trunk with some Fuji 400. A lot of times, with fires at night, I try to meter off as much flame as I can get, and then go for the sillhouette. (I tried that at this fire also). For this picture, which was actually one of the first I took that night, I didn't think I would get as much light through the wall as I would from straight flame so I metered off the glowing wall and slowed it down by a stop. Hell, might have been two at the time, I was trying to hurry. Luckily, the guy stopped for a second and I was able to hit him crisp. Also, as if I wasn't lucky enough for the framing, the lights from one of the firetrucks lit him up beautifully from the left without drowning out the color. As dissapointed as I was with the night fire from the week before, this image alone made up for it. Want icing on this cake? Too bad, there is none. This image never got published. A staff photog made it and they ran hers. (I'm not hating though. I credit her with so much of my inspiration and encouragement early on. Wouldn't have rather shot it with anyone else.)

 

[tsien]

I wonder whether the tilt can go the other way so that the first impression is on the overwhelming fire. To me the fireman is a hero not because he is standing high, but because, dwarfed by the fire, he still stays the ground. I don't know really.