“WHAT’S WITH YOUR PHOTOS?”
EDITOR’S OPINION
“Why do you only print photos of fire activity in the Northeast?”
“I’m sick and tired of seeing photos of unsafe acts in your magazine! You should only print those that have firefighters properly equipped and operating in a safe manner.”
“What are your photographic guidelines?”
These are three of the most repeated questions I’ve received over and over for the the past six years. I thought that I should make my thoughts on that matter public.
First, pictures for articles are chosen or sought with you, the reader, in mind. The photos and their captions must give additional information or vividly drive home points in the story. These are chosen from those supplied by the author or from the photo bank that many of you have built here.
What about the covers? In my fire service experience and in the interaction I’ve had in training sessions and workshops around the country, I’ve come to the conclusion that training is taking a back seat to all other fire service activities. This is especially true, it appears, in the informal setting of the firehouse gathering, whether it be the working tour of the career firefighter or the Sunday morning assembly of the volunteer.
My first goal in cover selection is to present a scene that will support the company officer’s quest to drill on something. I’m successful most of the time in showing firefighters doing something. What they are doing, how, why, and at what stage of the firefight is strictly up to the imagination of the group leader who uses it for a drill. You shouldn’t care what color the apparatus is, the dimensions of the structure, or the uniforms they’re in. Focus on what they’re doing, not doing, their dangers, your size up, and how it relates to you, your district, your policies, and your procedures. Pose questions and get answers—communicate. Have a drill!
Some of you may have a point regarding the regionality of the photos selected for the covers. Well I (for the first time) outlined the origin of 65 issues: 50 percent are from the Northeast, 20 percent are from the West Coast, and 30 percent are from other areas of the country. Sure, there are regional voids, but the main reason is that we receive most of our submissions from those locations. If you have a frustration with that, get your state photography organizations to submit! I can’t pick from what I don’t have.
The issue of safety in photographs must be a moot point. We are in an unsafe profession that we are trying to make safer yet still more effective. If you find a safety issue in a photograph and talk it up, we will have achieved an additional goal.
If you run a fireground operation where every firefighter is properly protected, operating every piece of equipment in a proper and safe manner, I would love to meet you. You either have the world’s best fire department or you have no fires. “Always,” “never,” and “can’t” are words that are not compatible with what we do.
As “always,” it’s only my opinion.
