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Permalink Reply by Moose on November 4, 2009 at 8:28am

I just recently became interested in shooting fires and dept functions but have absolutely no training in photography. All of the shots in my albums are mostly taken by me, but they are mostly of family life. I shoot with a Fuji-Film Finepix S2000? digital camera, and have no fancy lenses or tripods or any equipment like that yet, but when I can afford to do so I will get a decent camera with zoom lenses and flashes and the whole kit.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Moose

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Permalink Reply by Rick Labrecque on November 6, 2009 at 9:57am

Hey Moose!

We shoot with Canon 5D's, 40D and Rebel T1i... love all of them! Everything shot, both stills and video, on www.fireground360.com was with the T1i... excellent little camera for the money!

Paula & Rick

fireground360@gmail.com
www.fireground360.com
http://www.facebook.com/FG360

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Permalink Reply by Steven on November 6, 2009 at 3:49pm

Heehee... I WAS the photo desk at the local paper... I went freelance because they couldn't pay enough and treated me like crap. But I digress....

My voice is still on the voicemail for the photography department.

Freelancers here get paid by assignment, not photos that show up in print. You get paid more if your photos also appear on the paper's photo sharing site (they sell photos) but I get more money if I sell my own work so I retain those redistribution rights.

If I shoot something as the department photographer that is to go in the newspaper, they use "submitted photo" instead of my by-line.

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Permalink Reply by Steven on November 6, 2009 at 3:57pm

I shoot with a Nikon D50. I have a 18-55mm Nikkor and a 70-300mm Nikkor with vibration reduction. I shoot NEF files instead of jpegs which allow more "give" in Photoshop for shooting in low light. They are bigger files but they can offer more manipulation after the fact and you can add in a LOT of metatags for file management and to identify your photos as YOUR photos.

Most fires I'll shot for maybe ten to fifteen minutes then put the camera away but not too far in case something comes up or the chief wants a photos of something. I don't shoot "evidence," we have fire investigators that do that, but I often shoot "bizarre" or rare scenes for future training as well as training drills and demonstrations.

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Permalink Reply by Steven on November 6, 2009 at 4:00pm

I'm slow on putting my fire ground photos online but when I do, they're on Flickr. Check it out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/syunghans/sets/72157622039915084/

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Permalink Reply by Jason Brooks on November 6, 2009 at 4:20pm

Keep in mind that any Nikon lens made will fit on your camera. You will not have all the focus and electronic features, but they will work. You can go to camera shows and get older lenses fairly cheap. This will allow you to experiment and see what you like in lens length. The longer the range of zoom, the lower the qaulity of the lense, most of the time. Also, the aperature is very important. If you are serious about this, only get lenses that are f/2.8 or better. The variable aperature lenses will no serve you as well as you think. Plus, there are different glasses and series of lenses. Its a lot to consider when buying lenses. Get what you can afford. But, save up to get the best stuff. I am still using lenses that are 20 years old and they are clear as hell.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Metz on November 7, 2009 at 1:17am

I did do a lot of research into the lens. At the time I wanted something better than the 18-22 mm Nikon lens. I figured the 18-250 mm would give me a nice variety of ranges. It has a built in motor for auto focus and can shoot macro. I really like it. I will probably be looking into a high zoom lens for shooting wildlife sometime around tax return season.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Dick on November 9, 2009 at 1:43pm

Nice photos Steve, I have added some new photos to my site at www.fdnysbravest.com

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by David Hunt on December 4, 2009 at 9:12pm

There are several firefightres who are professional photographers that list their businesses on www.offdutyfirefighters.net.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew on December 4, 2009 at 10:04pm

I've been interested in photography for a about 3 years now, I started out with an 8mp Nikon Point and Shoot, just piddling around. But the more I got into photography and realized it was going to be a life long interest, I purchased a Nikon D-90 with some money I had set aside. Been a great investment :)

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Permalink Reply by David Hunt on December 5, 2009 at 11:06am

Here are some links to several firefighter photographers that are on www.offdutyfirefighters.net

Tampa ff-http://www.odff.com/pages/public_advert_details.asp?url=126900321907

Forth Worth ff.. http://www.odff.com/pages/public_advert_details.asp?url=824700004523

KC ff... http://www.odff.com/pages/public_advert_details.asp?url=624275810188

You can contact them through the above profile pages

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Permalink Reply by Lani on January 25, 2010 at 8:24pm

I have been freelancing for a few years prior to joining the fire service...since joining I have done quite a bit of photography for the district. I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of it! I currently use a Nikon D300s with a variety of lenses by Sigma.

Training 2009:

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