What To Do When You Are Too Late
A fire gutted Ardmore Cabinet shop on Fifth St. in Ardmore Tuesday morning. Fire departments from Ardmore, Oak Grove and Elkmont responded to the blaze. Grant Sandlin from Oak Grove pulls off breathing apparatus after exiting the smoldering structure. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 1/26/10
I checked with our editors and they said not to worry about it so I just dropped it. I left the office to find a feature about a hour later and then got a call from the desk to go check out the fire because they were calling for more help. I knew from my days as a firefighter that they were calling for help to do the overhaul operation because the firemen who extinguished the blaze were exhausted. I told the editors this and then went on up because a big fire usually yields some decent pictures even after the fire is out.
Much to my surprise, there was still some smoke coming from the building over an hour and half after I first heard of the blaze. There were no great firefighting pictures left to be made but there were still pictures there. Do you remember your best friend on spot news scenes? Just in case you have forgotten, it is your feet. Move around and get as many different points of view as you can. And don’t forget to make pictures and not just take them. The fireman framed with the loop of hose is an example of making a picture. Because all the drama was gone I was able to take more time and look for a picture. Had the blaze been boiling my adrenalin might have been pumping so much that I would have missed this simple photo. As it turned out, this was the photo we ran in the paper.
Use your full bag, long lenses and short. Move around and do some framing. Change your point of view and work the scene. Because the fire is mostly out the firefighters and police officers will be a little more relaxed about you approaching them for names and information. I goofed up this one just a couple weeks ago at a plane crash. I butted in on a converstaion between two officers, knowing better, and asked a question. One of them let me know I was out of line. And I was. So when things are over you have much more flexibility and a more relaxed atmosphere.
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- A fire gutted Ardmore Cabinet shop on Fifth St. in Ardmore Tuesday morning. Fire departments from Ardmore, Oak Grove and Elkmont responded to the blaze. Grant Sandlin from Oak Grove pulls off breathing apparatus after exiting the smoldering structure. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 1/26/10
Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
Hi Gary,
I have never photographed a fire. Do they set up a perimeter like the police do at a crime scene? Were all these taken outside such a perimeter boundary? Thanks for the insight.
Sincerely,
Lee
Lee
1 Feb 10 at 12:45 pm
At some fires there is a perimeter especially while things are really working. Others do not have an actual perimeter but there is just about always an implied one. You won’t know where that one is until you cross it and someone moves you back. Most of the time, the best boundary is the one that keeps the photographer out of the way of those who are working. In other words, a little common sense goes a long way when there is no actual boundary visible.
Gary Cosby Jr.
2 Feb 10 at 5:24 am
I didnt get the photos you did, but I found myself in the same spot on Sunday. Showing up as the firefighters were looking over damage to a vehicle. I still took a few shots, since I need practice.
Jim K
2 Feb 10 at 6:41 am
Gary, I could not agree more – great post. I get there late sometimes.
Even if you are a freelancer: always shoot (a national paper still used the shots I took of a car-into-a-building shot last week). After all, the guys who got the great shots cannot sell to all the papers at once.
Also, the “after” story can be as interesting as the “action” shot. Gary, you got into many worldwide papers (even mine here in Toronto) with that “after the Tornado” shot.
And if you go, please be safe. When driving to something I hear on the scanner I am always quite careful not to kill myself as well.
Sometimes that means “give it a rest”. Right now I am home and I decided not to go to the scene a few miles a way of a deadly car accident just now. I am listening on the scanner: an old gentleman is dead and if I had been in my car I would have gone – but I just got home and for now I will let it pass. Others will get it – I’ll shoot next time.
Michael
7 Feb 10 at 3:28 pm
Michael, I couldn’t agree more about arriving alive at your jobs. Spot news is by nature tough to get partly because we are seldom “there” when it happens. Knowing that, you don’t have to rush around breaking the laws and possibly crashing your car for the sake of a photo. If you get there and nothing is there you just shrug your shoulders and move on to the next time because there is no shortage of next times.
Gary Cosby Jr.
7 Feb 10 at 7:48 pm