Hard Times

When we're called to a fire, a homicide, a car accident, whatever the case may be, we have to deal with someone's hard times and grief. We try to be respectful...that is, as respectful as possible pointing our cameras at someone experiencing a traumatic event. I shot this image on assignment after being called to a fire in the Cedar Grove neighborhood in Shreveport on a Saturday afternoon. I was shooting the fire (choking on smoke that was all around me, by the way), when I heard a scream from behind me. I suppose the woman had just come on the scene, I really didnt know, but I whipped around and began snapping some shots. Only a few seconds passed before another woman was asking myself and a television reporter to stop taking pictures (the woman to the right).Normally I might have to ponder the situation and decide if missing a shot is worth it, but I had my shot and I didnt see any reason to be confrontational. I turned back to the firefighters working on the fire, keeping in mind the onlookers, neighbors, and home owners around me.

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING
On the same call, I inevitably ended up photographing the "talking head" shot of a fire department official talking to the media about what had occurred on the scene. Television photographers and reporters tend to get VERY close to people they are interviewing, and there were three reporters and three photographers plus The Times reporter John Prime crowded around Assistant Fire Chief Rob Robinson. Usually I just snap a tight mugshot of the PIO and get out of there, but I managed to get something interesting out of an otherwise routine situation...even IF the photo won't run because of space constraints.