Firefighter Eddy

[Destin]

My favorite photo from a quick shoot with a firefighter friend of mine!

This has inspired me to start a personal photo project photographing local first responders, so I'm working out the details on how to go about it, and possible ways that I could use it to raise money or awareness for a cause. I'm sort of thinking of a photo essay that shows police officers both at work, and in their personal lives to portray them as everyday people and help combat the negative public image they're getting lately. Any ideas or input on how to do this would be appreciated! I do have connections in the local first-responder community because I work with them as a Paramedic.

 

[dxqcanada2]

Ask them how they want themselves to be portrayed in a photo.

 

[ZombiesniperJr]

Nice shot

 

[Derrel]

He looks very sad to me. The white balance on this feels a bit cool.

 

[Wildcats1602]

I don't think "sad" is the word I would use. I think the feeling is "heavy." It's like he feels the weight of what his job involves. I was in EMS in an urban area for 3 years before my current career and I think this photo captures the underlying feel of the job pretty well (assuming that's what OP was going for). JMHO

 

[Gary A.]

This is very nice. The expression s compelling and draws you into the image as if you are there. Think about cropping from the left, the bright area off the truck is distracting and the left side doesn't add to the photo.

 

[The_Traveler]

What a fine shot.
I think this is a bit cool and would profit from warming up a bit.
Also, raising the black point, would give his expression a bit more gravitas. (he has a sort of baby face.)

Really nice shot and concept.

 

[smoke665]

It might be nit picking, but one of my pet peeves is to see a firefighter in a photo wearing an SCBA and not have his hood on, SCBA mask in his hand or clipped to the harness, and gloves. I've walked enough miles wearing the equipment to know you don't go for a casual stroll in full gear.

 

[Destin]

It might be nit picking, but one of my pet peeves is to see a firefighter in a photo wearing an SCBA and not have his hood on, SCBA mask in his hand or clipped to the harness, and gloves. I've walked enough miles wearing the equipment to know you don't go for a casual stroll in full gear.

I don't necessarily agree. His mask was hanging from his regulator at the ready, just not pictured. When I was a firefighter, my gloves were the last thing to go on because that's how we were trained. You can mask up a whole lot faster without gloves on, and it's way easier to know your hood is positioned properly.

He had the nomex on and around his neck initially, but I had him take it off because it made it look like he had no neck, which isn't very flattering.

 

[smoke665]

I don't necessarily agree

Not sure I understand what you don't agree with. As a previous firefighter then you know the hood or "nomex" as you called it, goes on as you step into your boots/bunker pants. The reason being is that the tails need to lay flat so that they provide a protective barrier. The routine becomes habit, something your subject apparently had, as he had his hood in place initially according to you. Until health issues forced me out of active status, I routinely went from street clothes to on air in less than 1 min. Yes my gloves were the last item to go on and were always stored in my right pants pocket, but when the tools like the Halligan came off the truck it was assumed you were ready to go to work. As I said it's a pet peeve that there is "Hollywood" portrayal of a working firefighter that is misleading from real life. Every year when we go into the Elementary School in our district for fire safety/prevention week we have people in full turnouts on air, because it can be pretty scary looking for kids. We want them to get comfortable with that image, and know that's who to go to when the need arises. The equipment/clothing we wear isn't designed to be flattering, it's designed to protect you. SV665 off his soapbox.

 

[tirediron]

I don't necessarily agree

Not sure I understand what you don't agree with. As a previous firefighter then you know the hood or "nomex" as you called it, goes on as you step into your boots/bunker pants. The reason being is that the tails need to lay flat so that they provide a protective barrier. The routine becomes habit, something your subject apparently had, as he had his hood in place initially according to you. Until health issues forced me out of active status, I routinely went from street clothes to on air in less than 1 min. Yes my gloves were the last item to go on and were always stored in my right pants pocket, but when the tools like the Halligan came off the truck it was assumed you were ready to go to work. As I said it's a pet peeve that there is "Hollywood" portrayal of a working firefighter that is misleading from real life. Every year when we go into the Elementary School in our district for fire safety/prevention week we have people in full turnouts on air, because it can be pretty scary looking for kids. We want them to get comfortable with that image, and know that's who to go to when the need arises. The equipment/clothing we wear isn't designed to be flattering, it's designed to protect you. SV665 off his soapbox.

I think this comes under the heading of "artistic license".

 

[Destin]

I don't necessarily agree

Not sure I understand what you don't agree with. As a previous firefighter then you know the hood or "nomex" as you called it, goes on as you step into your boots/bunker pants. The reason being is that the tails need to lay flat so that they provide a protective barrier. The routine becomes habit, something your subject apparently had, as he had his hood in place initially according to you. Until health issues forced me out of active status, I routinely went from street clothes to on air in less than 1 min. Yes my gloves were the last item to go on and were always stored in my right pants pocket, but when the tools like the Halligan came off the truck it was assumed you were ready to go to work. As I said it's a pet peeve that there is "Hollywood" portrayal of a working firefighter that is misleading from real life. Every year when we go into the Elementary School in our district for fire safety/prevention week we have people in full turnouts on air, because it can be pretty scary looking for kids. We want them to get comfortable with that image, and know that's who to go to when the need arises. The equipment/clothing we wear isn't designed to be flattering, it's designed to protect you. SV665 off his soapbox.

Congratulations, you understand firefighting 101. That's not the purpose of this thread. This was an artistic vision for a photoshoot, and a portrait without a neck is pretty ridiculous looking.

In my department gloves never went on until after the mask. You generally grab tools, advance a line to the entry point, and then mask up, glove up, and make entry. It is not uncommon to grab tools with bare hands until you reach the entry point.

Relax man, it's not like this is an action shot at a fire scene. The shot is designed to portray emotion associated with being a firefighter, which is best done when you can see some of the person's face/neck/hands. A portrait of a firefighter masked up with absolutely no exposed skin would be pretty boring. This isn't for a fire prevention poster. If anything, this will be used for recruitment purposes in which case you want the job to look as "glamorous" as possible to attract people to sign up, much like military recruiters do.

If you want completely accurate renditions of a firefighter, look at photos taken on scene by a photojournalist.

 

[The_Traveler]

Off topic.

There was a plumber working on the outside AC unit of the house next door. He was bothered by wasps and used some wasp spray and the propellant seeped into the basement ceiling insulation through the joint at the foundation. He relit his torch, the propellant flamed up, he grabbed his phone and called 911, all this while I was watching from my office. By the time I got outside and around the side of my house, the affected house was blazing and the trucks were there.

It must have been a slow day in the fire business.. We had 8 or 10 trucks, one of those support trailers all clogging out cul de sac.
Even though the trucks were then in 4 minutes or so, the damage was huge and the house a mess.

 

[Destin]

Off topic.

There was a plumber working on the outside AC unit of the house next door. He was bothered by wasps and used some wasp spray and the propellant seeped into the basement ceiling insulation through the joint at the foundation. He relit his torch, the propellant flamed up, he grabbed his phone and called 911, all this while I was watching from my office. By the time I got outside and around the side of my house, the affected house was blazing and the trucks were there.

It must have been a slow day in the fire business.. We had 8 or 10 trucks, one of those support trailers all clogging out cul de sac.
Even though the trucks were then in 4 minutes or so, the damage was huge and the house a mess.

Off topic response: That's a pretty normal response for a working structure fire. It's more about manpower than the number of trucks, as to run a fire scene in accordance with the latest methods requires a large amount of man power to perform tasks simultaneously.

Modern homes are made with and filled with materials that are more combustible than ever. Where in the 1950's the average house fire doubled in size every 4-5 minutes, they now double in size every minute or so. This leads to fires growing exponentially before the first engine crew can get water flowing. It's mostly caused by lighter weight framing and more synthetic materials. Fires today also burn hotter than in the past, and roofs and floors collapse easier and faster.

Modern firefighters, despite increased training and better equipment, face more dangers than firefighters in the past did. There's a reason that roughly 100 firefighters per year are killed in the line of duty in the US alone.

 

[Gary A.]

Off topic.

There was a plumber working on the outside AC unit of the house next door. He was bothered by wasps and used some wasp spray and the propellant seeped into the basement ceiling insulation through the joint at the foundation. He relit his torch, the propellant flamed up, he grabbed his phone and called 911, all this while I was watching from my office. By the time I got outside and around the side of my house, the affected house was blazing and the trucks were there.

It must have been a slow day in the fire business.. We had 8 or 10 trucks, one of those support trailers all clogging out cul de sac.
Even though the trucks were then in 4 minutes or so, the damage was huge and the house a mess.

Did they remove the nomex for the photos?

(Isn't nomex a platform issue for a presidential candidate ... I could be wrong ...)