House on Fire

[Geoff F]

Always carry a camera; occasionally you will be in the right place at the right time.



I was just going fishing in my dinghy when I encountered this drama.

The firemen had just arrived but were having difficulty in getting suitable access to this waterside property. Spraying water from the road above the building wasn't having much effect.

Eventually, the harbour workers and inshore lifeboat brought some auxiliary pumps which enabled them to fight the fire from an adjoining property.



With all those white buildings and dense black smoke, exposure was always going to be a problem; and I was shooting from a small boat. But I think these have turned out better than I was expecting.

I shot about 100 images and just picked 2 likely photos at random. The others are still to be edited.

[stevewe88]

The pictures look good so far and I hope no body was hurt.

You should contact your local paper, there can't have been anyone else in such a good position with a decent camera surely?

Cheers
Steve

[Geoff F]

The local (weekly) paper offices were closed for Easter but I did drop a CD of a selection of 10 photos through their letterbox.

Over quite a few years, they have used several of my photos, concerning various local events/issues. But they accept 'donated' photos; there is never any form of payment, not even a free paper!

[stevewe88]

there is never any form of payment, not even a free paper!

I hope you ask them for the CD back then when they have finished with it

[ktuli]

Over quite a few years, they have used several of my photos, concerning various local events/issues. But they accept 'donated' photos; there is never any form of payment, not even a free paper!

Do they at least give you credits for the photos? Perhaps with your website URL? Some free advertising would be a little form of payment.

- Bill

[Geoff F]

Their policy seems to be a bit variable with regard to photo credits.

At one time they also added a small line which said 'Photo by . . .' then they switched to 'Contributed Photo' but the last time they used one of my photos my name was there again.

I suppose if you gave your name as ABC Photography or whatever, it might be a bit of worthwhile free publicity. But nowadays, I don't sell anything or do paid commissions etc.

A couple of years ago when a friend had a local cafe, I would hang a few prints on the walls with a nominal price tag and I also produced a few 'greetings' type cards with local scenes on one side and an advert for his cafe on the other side.

But after he sold up I haven't bothered; there are so many people doing that sort of thing here that it just isn't worth the bother. And I am supposed to be retired now.

During the summer, photographing and identifying local insects for various wildlife organisations takes up a lot of my time now.

[cthermans]

Your pictures sure do tell a story. I am retired as well and love to take photos of wildlife. This weekend I had the opportunity to take photos of swans arriving in the North to spend the summer months. It is a lot of work to publish and sell photos. Again great photos!

[Geoff F]

Thanks, Cheri, when I get around to it I post photos of the local wildlife and general small coastal town scenes on this site:

http://www.pbase.com/crustacean

I was a fisherman for 40 years and my boat was called Crustacean.