Silhouette of a fireman infront of a blazing fire.
Thanks everyone for the awesome comments!!! I knew this definately fit the challenge but I never DREAMED it'd do this well!! My first blue ribbon! Exciting!! :D
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 87 Avg (all users): 8.0485 Avg (commenters): 9.1333 Avg (participants): 8.2703 Avg (non-participants): 8.0000 Views since voting: 18192 Views during voting: 727 Votes: 206 Comments: 84 Favorites: 17 (view)
For a photojournalism this is an excellent shoot. It captures a moment in time and has great emotions. Congratulations on an fantastic capture in the heat of the moment :)
Great photo. Congrats. I only wish you didn't have to see the day after.
So sorry your place is suffering so much from those fires.
We had similar situation here last summer, when Greece was on fire.
Actually I don't have any out-takes. I was playing around with different shutter speeds with the flames on shutter priority, letting the aperture be on auto. Just happened to get lucky that the firefighter happened to stepped into the frame. Had one chance and then there was other stuff between us.
Thanks again to all for all the wonderful comments! :D
Surely Sandy you're not saying that people shouldn't be allowed to give their constructive criticism just because most other people think this photo is perfect? I don't see any negative comments that aren't constructive in some way. Everyone wants to improve, right?
I like it but it's by no means technically perfect. I think the lack of sharpness could easily have been averted by using a sensible aperture, I just can't see why F40 is required. It's common knowledge that non-L lenses struggle with sharpness at the far ends of the aperture range, especially telephoto lenses. Several stops more open would still give a long DOF, and would also have meant that the extreme ISO and slow shutter speed wouldn't be necessary. It might even be interesting to go really open and have a shallow DOF, making the fireman in focus and let the bokeh work on the flames. Do you have any out-takes for us to check out?
However, I love the composition and the timing of the capture. Congratulations on a crazy high score :P
Wow! I'm amazed at 2 things. One. . .this amazing photo. What great timing and opportunity to be in the right place at the right time to capture such a moving photo. The firefighter -- even silhouetted -- looks like he is looking down, defeated and overcome with the magnitude of what he is trying to do. It is great photojournalism and worthy of top honors!
But the 2nd thing I'm amazed at is that people would use THIS forum, in your moment of incredible accomplishment and victory to criticize your photo! Grrrrrrrrrr. . . .I want to smack a couple of people!
MEGA CONGRATULATIONS! 8.0485!!! And deserving of every fraction of a point of it!!!!!!
Great to see someone from western Kansas do so well on this site!
Don't worry about the negative comments after the challenge. This is a photo to be proud of.
Congratulations on the ribbon, well deserved. Also nice to see the huge jump in score from your previous PB -- means there is hope for the rest of us who live in the middle of the pack.
Congrats on your ribbon and your PB Andrea! I didn't vote in this challenge, but from the thumbnails, your photo stood out to me the most. The picture is very emotive, and I don't think it is OOF at all, it just looks like heat, which makes the picture that much better IMO. You can see how hot the ground is right where he is standing, so in response to someone elses comment on the person being anyone is impossible. Unless you have on the right equipment, you could not be standing where he is standing. Amazing photo, one to be proud of for sure.
While it has all the components of making a fantastic shot, I agree Im somewhat surprised this one won. As pointed out it lacks sharpness, but, more importantly the firefighter aspect is not strong. Besides the helmet, which is not that obvious, it could be anybody. I dont agree with the criticism that recent acts influence the polls, as the topic challenge is photojournalism, recent acts are expected to dominate the entries. I would have rated it a 7.
does anyone care that this should could be sharp and it isn't?
i'm all for out of focus shots when used intentionally and creatively, but for me this would be a photo that is an outtake while on assignment and would not get published, because it is an almost.
it's a good attempt at photojournalism work, but I can just see it getting shot down in real life right away, no offense. I've seen this done much better.
awesome! the fires for me, living on the east coast, remind me of the 9-11 attacks
this image hits deep, the enormity of the loss & devastation; & also the risk taken by those whose jobs are to save, to protect...
I think that this an amazing photo!!!!!! If you really think about it, the way that the firefighter is just a shadow going through the flames, it could symbolize past firefighters that have given their lives fighting fires and have come back to assist to the living firefighters. Amazing job!!
OK I have to offer my congratulations on this image as not only is it fantastic in itself, but it completely meets the challenge. I could absolutely see this as the front page image on a paper
Outstanding colours and the silhouetted image tells a great story of fatigue after hours of battling a fire. Really hope this ribbons for you - 10
Come back to add this to favourites and to say having looked at all of the images in the challenge again, if I could give this an 11 I would do. I swear if this does not get first place then you will be able to consider yourself robbed
Very powerful image, both photographically and emotionally. Wonderful (scary) capture of fire; fantastic pov with the dark vortex by the brave fireman's head, as if he is willing the fire to be extinguished ... this to me is photojournalism at its (painful) best!
I really hope this does well, but I fear for the out of focus fire fighter. I think this could be the winning shot if he were in focus. I really hope this does well though because its a great shot, with great composition and great colors. Nice work.
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