Is Fire Buffing In Western Pa Dead?

I have been seeing a definite decline in fire buffing over the last few months in our western Pennsylvania region that Hoopie World covers.  When I refer to fire buffing, I’m talking the traditional going to a fire/rescue incident and taking pictures or video and making a report about it.  I’m not including going onto the forums and discussing incidents and strategies as part of that fire buffing definition. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts about this situation, and throw out why I think this may be occurring.

Its getting to a point now if I’m wondering if there are any fire buffs out there any longer.  I haven’t received a picture or incident report in over 4 months related to a working fire or incident.  Its been over 5 months since someone that isn’t directly tied to the site has sent in an incident report.  Yes, I have received fundraising event notifications, parade pictures, apparatus pictures, and other general information, but any featured working incidents as of late have been reported by myself and shot by myself.  In prior years, Hoopie World would average around 10 submitted incidents a month.  Some months there would be less, but many months there were more than that.  There have been over 135 individuals that have sent incident pictures in since the site’s beginning.  Where did everyone go?

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into this lately and have some suspected reasons why the incidents have stopped coming in.  However, I’ve also come up with reasons why the submissions shouldn’t have stopped. Hopefully some buffs will read this  and give some feedback as well.

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Fire Scene Photography – Interview w/ Allegheny County Deputy Fire Marshal Michael Shawley

There are no written guidelines that I know of out there regarding fire scene photos in relation to  fire investigations, and as a photo-journalist I’ve often wondered what is off-limits and what would be beneficial for investigation purposes.  I recently had the opportunity to meet up with Michael Shawley, who is a Deputy Fire Marshal for Allegheny County, PA, who unfortunately has been extremely busy in my area of the county investigating suspicious fires.  Mike was gracious enough to tell Hoopie World some information about himself and answer some questions regarding picture taking on fire scenes.

Hopefully the information he provides helps those of us out there shooting incidents and hopefully we can learn to take better pictures that can help in aiding with fire investigations.

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Fire Scene Photography – Gear

I’ve recently been recruited to be the “official” photographer at an upcoming wedding which made me dig my camera gear back out and refresh myself on it.  Unfortunately I haven’t done as much shooting as I should have over the past couple years, and I had to get back into the swing of things.  I’ve been doing research on wedding photography, as I know its a whole different ballgame than fire scene photography.

As I’ve been researching, it has re-ignited my interest in photography.  I thought that I would start some discussions regarding fire scene photography, as we have quite a few fire buffs in the area (although not too many incident scene pictures have been sent to my inbox lately – hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

So my first article in this series is just about gear.  I figured I’d explain what gear I have and hope others via the comments or on the forums will chime in on what they have, use, and works best for them in different situations.

I personally have a Canon Rebel XT body.  I bought it back around 2003 and have been very happy with it.  I found the learning curve to not be too bad, but I also found now that I know what the settings do, I have to better work on picking the right settings.  I have a kit 18-55mm lens and a 70-300mm lens, both of which are just basic low end lenses.  Due to the upcoming wedding, I came to the conclusion it was vital for having an external flash and not rely on the built-in flash, so I recently picked up a Canon Speedlight 430 EX II.  I also have a tripod that I rarely if ever use, and a couple of batteries, memory cards, uv filters, and other miscellaneous stuff.

I was fortunate enough to borrow a 70-200mm IS L 2.8 lens from a co-worker for the wedding and a 24-70mm L 2.8 lens.  To quote Borat, “Wow wow wee wow!”.  These lenses are sharp as hell, and I can’t put them down.  The only problem I’m finding with them is since they retail for about $1700 and $1200 respectively, I’m nervous I’m going to scuff them up or scratch them.   The wedding hasn’t taken place yet, but I’m confident with those lenses that I will get some results that I want.  I have been keeping the scanner close by, waiting for a call that would be worth shooting, but to this point things are quiet or I’m busy when the calls come in.  I’d love to see what these two can do on a fire or accident scene.  The 70-200mm gives you enough zoom power to catch the shots when you are on the sidelines at a scene and the 24-70mm is a great walk around lens.  The only thing missing for me would be a more wide angle lense, like the 10-20mm Canon lens, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, especially when the lenses have to be given back in a week or so .

After being spoiled with the borrowed lenses, I’m looking to upgrade my gear with at least a nice walk-around lens.  For those not into photography, a walk-around lens is a lens that has a nice range of focal points, meaning it will get some close ups and some wide angles with the same lens, without the need to be changing lenses for every shot.  Like everything else though, money is a factor and I’m stuck with that decision of, will a $500-$600 lens be good enough instead of a $1200 lens?  I personally think that if I’m buying, to bite the bullet and get the better lens.  I mean, I have this web site and I get use out of the camera (when its not sitting on the car seat or my locker at the station) during fire incidents and regular home use.  I guess it really doesn’t matter, as I don’t have the funds for the lower range at this point anyways.  I have been looking at used ones though and it seems like that may be the way to go.

Well, if you read through all the rambling, and are still reading this, you now know what Mr Hoopie World is equipped with if you see him at incidents or parades.  I’m curious to hear what gear you all have.  Be sure to leave a comment or discuss on the forums what gear you have.

Look forward to future fire scene photography articles, including techniques and best practices.

Upcoming Fire Scene Photography Article

Hi all, I just wanted to give a heads up for everyone to be on the lookout for an upcoming article we’ll be publishing about taking photos on a fire scene.

I have secured an interview with an Allegheny County Fire Marshal this week and will be going over the do’s and dont’s of taking pictures on scene regarding interfering with arson investigations and similar concerns.

If there are any specific questions that any of the visitors have, be sure to email me at support@hoopieworld.com and I will do my best to get them included in the article.