[Trelane]

Hi all,

This firefighter is simply spraying the adjacent building to keep the radiant heat from igniting it. Critique please.

Thanks.

[Toad]

Wow!! Fantastic capture and welcome to Shuttertalk. We Canadians are overunning this place...

Ooops - just realized this is a critique post. Well - sorry - I think it is great - no critique.

[Wedding Shooter]

Well - what is great about this picture is the way the water angles across the frame leading your eye.

I love it.

[smarti77]

Great shot Trelane. Its hard to find much wrong with it. The balance of flames, building (or whats left of it), smoke and steam is perfect. The hoses along the foreground also adds contrast to the image nicely.

One thing I think could have improved the shot (which was beyond your control) is the stance of the firefighter. Theres something distracting about the right hand which makes me think the firefighter is trying to ajust the helmet.

Did you do much post processing of the image or is this straight from the camera? You may be able to add a bit of selective contrast between the flames and the building.

Amazing capture though and I also really like the colours of the flames reflected on the wet ground. Thanks for sharing it.

[shuttertalk]

Hey what a great shot - those photos of firefighters are always great in my book.

In terms of critique, there's probably not much I can offer. I know that the fire in the background is obscured by smoke, but I wonder if it's possible to bring out the intensity and colour of the fire - I think that would really make an awesome pic.

[matthew]

Hi, welcome to Shuttertalk. Always good to see more Canadians.

It's a great an dramatic picture. But, I do have a couple of thoughts. The firefighter's pose is poor. Actually, there's really nothing about the pose that I like. It looks like he's talking on a cellphone, and eventually someone will make a comment about the hose. The other thought is that the background is fantastic, but maybe there's more than you need. If you crop it down to near/where the water stream exits the frame, you still have the drama of the flames, but more of the action is inferred through the reflection.

This may be two photos in one. The background itself is amazing.

Could you share a bit about how and where the photo was taken?

[EnglishBob]

Welcome to shuttertalk, great picture, wonderful photojournalism shot. Nothing to critique.

[Irma]

Agree with Matthew's comment. I would only suggest to work a B&W or sepia conversion to have another version of the picture ..

Welcome to Shuttertalk...

[smarti77]

Trelane - I hope you don't mind me editing your great shot. I wanted to know if you liked this or not. I adjusted the levels in the upper two thirds of the shot to 'bring out' the flames. I couldn't resist having a play with your great shot.

[Trelane]

Great shot Trelane. Its hard to find much wrong with it. The balance of flames, building (or whats left of it), smoke and steam is perfect. The hoses along the foreground also adds contrast to the image nicely.

One thing I think could have improved the shot (which was beyond your control) is the stance of the firefighter. Theres something distracting about the right hand which makes me think the firefighter is trying to ajust the helmet.

Did you do much post processing of the image or is this straight from the camera? You may be able to add a bit of selective contrast between the flames and the building.

Amazing capture though and I also really like the colours of the flames reflected on the wet ground. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks. Although I'm a big fan of post editing, there was none done on this shot.

[Trelane]

Hi, welcome to Shuttertalk. Always good to see more Canadians.

It's a great an dramatic picture. But, I do have a couple of thoughts. The firefighter's pose is poor. Actually, there's really nothing about the pose that I like. It looks like he's talking on a cellphone, and eventually someone will make a comment about the hose. The other thought is that the background is fantastic, but maybe there's more than you need. If you crop it down to near/where the water stream exits the frame, you still have the drama of the flames, but more of the action is inferred through the reflection.

This may be two photos in one. The background itself is amazing.

Could you share a bit about how and where the photo was taken?

This shot was taken on Olive Street in Saint John, NB Canada. Basically, an old abandoned house caught fire and burned to the ground. The building was completely engulfed and the firefighters concentrated on keeping the adjacent buildings cool. Even with all the water pouring down the side of the neighbouring building, its siding still melted. The fire, albeit dramatic to watch, posed no real danger to anyone.

The shot was really quite lucky; I didn't plan at all... just pointed and shot. Don't you find that's often the case... the really planned-out shots are often the worst of the bunch?

[Petographer]

Welcome Trelane. Excellent shot. The composition of the firefighter in the corner and water going to the other is perfect. As well is the mess of hose along the bottom. I like what smarti has done but may I suggest just a slight boost in saturation and either a Gaussian blur or my preference, high pass sharpening. It will decrease the foggy look and add to detail in the flames.