Thursday, January 8, 2009

Boulder Fire(s)

I don't know much about the fires yesterday in Boulder. In the past I have usually tried fairly hard to get close and document fires, but yesterday I made the decision to leave this one to the paid journalists. I am impressed with what they came up with. Cliff Grassmick and Mark Leffingwell of the Camera both managed to get very close to real hotspots and got some very good shots.
I did drive up to the Niwot High School, where the Red Cross set up a shelter for the evacuees.

This shot was before the shelter got very crowded. People were all on their cell phones or watching the TV. There were a lot of dogs. Most people only had a few minutes to grab their stuff and go, so they grabbed pets and pictures and ran out the door.

This man and his daughter ended up in the Camera, playing in the NHS gym. I like this shot, as the man helps her pick out snacks, you can see the Red Cross symbol on the Tupperware.
Overall I think it was better that I stayed out of this fire. Though I'm sure I missed some great shots, pretty much all the photojournalists and all the cops were working this fire... cops seem to dislike journalists out of habit, and they also seem to think that one guy with a camera is more than enough. I've got nothing against cops, I just find it hard to get by them.

That's all for now.