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There is some stunning photography happening around the Southern California fires, and as the temperature has been holding in the triple digits I can’t imagine the heat the camera would have had to take to get some of these pictures. The firefighters must be 115 degrees inside those fire fighting suits. It’s been triple digit heat in Southern California, which is really pre-earthquake seasonal warning.

Roving between neighborhoods capturing images of the billowing smoke plumes of the Station fire, I realized the dichotomy in photography and the no man’s land in between. Pictures are either desired because they show something bad, or idealized and admired because they show something good. But there is no market for photographs that are nebulous or neutral, the medium focus still life also-ran shots not focal enough for topicality or interest.
 
The startling emotion pouring out of the images is stunning. The animals getting patched up in the burn unit brought tears to my eyes. The contrasts of parched earth and red flame make stark textures and gripping photorealism. The angles of many of the fire lanes play against the symmetry of a row of firefighters. The colors of the sky really work when the flames play up through the air.
 
The sky level images are the most impressive. The cloud formations of the fire smoke make some amazing contrast with the early morning gray sky with sun against both, and also the smoke plumes billowing as you watch makes for readily photographic micro stock material. To get resolute dimensional detail and capture the shape of the clouds and the contrast color with the sky, as well as foreground detail, takes some skill.
 
Many of the skylines of Los Angeles such as downtown skyscrapers are now featured in national newspapers with billowing La Mirada clouds of fire smoke billowing above. This takes a long range lens, some fine tuning
 
The way to prepare to an event like this is to scan the available entries into image media. Associated Content allows video and image photography submissions. The image galleries online can be part of a dramatic photo essay that could qualify for further work.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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