The Township 5: Video

Olmsted Township Fire Department from dlayphoto on Vimeo.

I couldn't just sit around and watch this happen. I couldn't watch 5 guys get laid off because the powers that be were sacrificing safety for financial solvency. I couldn't watch 5 guys go through what I went through nearly a year ago and get fired, laid off, or whatever buzzword is happening to denote that you are no longer working where you work. It was a travesty in my eyes to just sit back and watch it happen, especially because some of these guys were some of the first firefighters I ever shot, while on-scene for a live fire training. I had to do something.

So when I called and asked to come out and get some photos, Olmsted Township Fire welcomed David Lay and I with open arms. Our mission was to show what would happen when 5 guys were no longer there to keep the fires out and get the sick to the hospital. I was shooting the stills, David was shooting the video. We wanted to show you the faces of the men leaving, because they are not just a number on a community's spread sheet, they are a person, with a family, and with a major mission to serve the community regardless of the politics involved with their employment.

Take a look at the video, share it, because this is a problem in not only the small community of Olmsted Township, but all over the United States. Awareness is what will save us. 

Shot in the Dark

I hear the dryer going in the other room. Turns out when you are going to be on TV you need clean clothes. Who knew? So last night, BURN premiered in Cleveland to a sold out show ( I get to go tonight and see it and I'm jacked!). Today I go on live TV talking about the film and my fire photography and what it all means.

To say I am nervous about it is an understatement. I've done live TV before and even still I have those butterflies. TV Cameras, lights, and a host can turn the most articulate of people into babbling idiots. I have been trying to tell myself that that won't happen, but who knows, it's live TV. Part of me feels I need to do something that will make it go viral. Some suggestions from Facebook were to pick my nose, release a flatulent  or even set a fire on the desk and pull out my camera. All would do the trick at the expense of my credibility, but hell I like where their heads are.

In reality I just hoping to put some exposure on a film that should be distributed wide by Hollywood and isn't. Why? Who knows, but this film needs to be seen by everyone in the country. Detroit Fire Department is what happens when you cut and cut and cut and you have a growing number of abandon houses; and gas and matches cost less than a movie ticket.

Arson is a scary thing. It is scary for residents and terrifying for firefighter's families. Arsonists kill firemen. Period. If there was any Midwestern city that closely resembles Detroit it would be Cleveland. Detroit is rising like a phoenix from the ashed because of their firemen. Cleveland isn't on fire because of it's firemen. Detroit needs to be supported, despite that University up there.

If you are reading this after seeing me on TV; welcome, hope I didn't babble like an idiot. You can contact me right here by commenting, clicking on my contact tab and filling out the form, or tweet me. I put a lot of photos on Flickr so head over there if you want to see more stuff.

January has been my month so far. A photo of mine published in Cleveland Magazine, an appearance on TV talking about a genre of photography that is making a surge to mainstream, and hopefully it ends in a paying gig somewhere, somehow.

2013, thanks for showing up for me so far. Don't mess it up.

Our Saturday Distraction

I was sitting in the band room. My hand folded in my lap, eyes foggy with tears. The band director came into the room, closed the double doors to the room and took his seat on the director's podium. Trying to situate himself in his seat he realized he was up above the class. He moved his seat from the perch and get down to our level.

In the coming 45 minute period we all spoke. Shared our grief. Shared our concerns. Shared our own brush with this kind of violence in our school.

Once we all said our peace, our band director outlined his plan for safety and what he would do should this same tragedy happened in our school.

That was April 21, 1999. I was a senior in high school. It was the day after the Columbine school shooting. That was 13 years ago, and if you asked my 18 year old self then that we would still be having this conversation, I would tell you no way, let alone with a daughter of my own.

So 13 years later I am rushing out the door. My destination was Kent, Ohio where I was invited by a fellow fire photographer to cover a live fire training at an apartment complex marked for demolition. The night before, I asked Audrey if she would like to go. I gave her the timeline and she politely told me she would like to stay home. A 7:30am departure time is early for a kid who likes to sleep in on weekends.

I was just pulling off my street when I got a text saying she would like to go. Had it been any other day I would have kept going, calling her and telling her that she cannot decide once I left to change her mind. She would have to live with her decision and maybe next time she will get up and go. But it wasn't any other day.

I told her she had 5 minutes. I turned around and headed back to the house to pick her up. I was already 10 minutes behind, I am just going to get further behind, but it was important to have my daughter with me today. Thirteen years ago I needed a distraction. I needed something to focus on that was not the news. What better distraction would be to witness an apartment building burn?

Sharing your passions with your children is important. Telling them you really like something and showing them how much you like it is quite another. My dad used to be into martial arts. He found it to be an outlet once he left the military and special forces after Vietnam. He used to be in great shape. When I was growing up I heard all about how much he loved it, but he never showed us. He showed us pictures. He told us stories. Never once did she show us in the flesh how he could break a brick with his hand.

My goal in life was to always be the dad to my daughters that I never had. The guy who was at every thing I could possibly be in. Make it to more things than I missed. Volleyball games, gymnastics recitals, practices, school activities, and being there for her when she needed me. So taking her to a photo shoot that the main subject was smoke, fire, and firemen seemed like a good opportunity to show her how much I loved taking photos of them, and teach her a few things about fire safety.

Up until this point she had never seen anything but a campfire. So seeing a large building catch on fire would be a spectacle. Training burns aren't quick, they are exciting at times, but most of times you are looking at smoke, firemen milling around, and it is usually punctuated with fire.

Between shots I was showing Audrey how I set up shots. How I approached safety. I got over 840 shots from the 4 hours we were there, and in the end, the one I love the most is of her, over looking the fire ground wearing a bunker jacket. If you could see the front, her eyes were wide, jaw on the floor, and it appeared she was enjoying every single moment.

I was proud of her that day. Not because she came, but because she was getting cold, feet were hurting, and smoke was starting to make her second guess her decision to come, but she never complained, always paid attention, and in the end, gave me a huge hug and said thank you.

I am really the one that should be thanking her.

G Squared Studio

Well we are nearly through our first month and we have had some great help getting things rolling. I am not sure what the typical traffic to most Etsy shops are, but I feel we have gotten a good sum of visitors thanks to you.

We have gotten messages from users that think our products are brilliant and are important. I feel terrific that our photos have made an impression. This gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, this can be successful. Christmas is coming up, and now I understand why Wal-Mart and every other box store starts pushing it early. Doesn't make it right, but at least I understand better.

Jenn and I are passionate about what we do and I hope that comes out in our work, but that first sale is elusive. We are ready to fill orders and we are hoping we break that ice soon. I know so many people who have found success on Etsy, and I hope I can take what they have taught me and run with it.

Our next steps are to try and add more items, a specific blog, and then a website. Our little shop is just the beginning for us.

If you haven't been to the shop, check it out. If you'd like to buy something, we'll throw in shipping. Use coupon code: SHIPIT at check out.

Start Up

I was up all night. My wife would say I was sleeping, but I was awake. I had ideas running through my head. Ideas for video shorts. Ideas for photo shoots. Ideas for so many things. I couldn't quiet those voices. Just as they about shut up for the night was when my wife snuggled into my section of the bed and pushed me out.

I guess crap rolls downhill. I got up and saw that the three year old was pushing her into me and me into the abyss. I gave up and got up. 

I guess this was the perfect metaphor for what I have done. I had a idea, a big idea, but it needed money. So my wife helped me take that idea, scale into smaller bite size chucks to achieve a larger goal; proving my theory that behind every good man is an even better woman. All of it so that I can provide for the little monsters that we call kids. 

Last night our little internet shop opened to a little fanfare, I tweeted a few links, put some stuff on Facebook and people came and viewed the shop. It is a leap of faith I never knew I was going to do and let alone do together with my wife. What happened next was awesome. People reaching out on how they can help promote. "Send me a flyer", "E-Mail me a link", "Do you have..." It was amazing to see so many people rooting for us. Refreshing actually. One email I got stuck out. It was from another internet shop owner. "Why do you photograph firemen?". So I thought about it and responded back: 

We have photography that shows real men and women doing extraordinary things. There is a print of a firefighter in a smokey building. You can barely see him, but if you were trapped in that building you would easily mistake the hands that pull you from that hell as the hands of God. I have another print of a vintage fire engine with bright reds and greens that any little boy would want in their rooms. I think people relate to it because when we were kids, that was the engine we imagined riding in one day. There is even a print inside of a structure as it is set on fire, a rare glimpse into what firemen see and the public rarely, if ever, sees. 

These aren't just photos to me. Behind every frame I've made there is sweat, passion, and desire of someone who absolutely loves the job they are doing. You have to love firefighting to do it. That passion is what I am after, a photo is the only way you can capture it.

A friend of mine has a saying about photography:

"A photo tells a story...a good photo starts one." - Adam Watt 

This is the start of our story.

Out of Necessity

I am staring at a blinking cursor. There is so much potential in that little flickering set of pixels. Out of that blinking cursor comes something new. Created out of someone's mind and onto the screen. Right now I am that little blinking cursor. I am filled with potential, hope, something great, and it is up to me to make something of my talents and love of what I do.

I looked at losing my job earlier this year as devastating, and it was, but something special has happened this summer. I got to know my kids a little better. I got to know myself a little better. I learned very quickly what I wanted to do. I wanted to do something with my photography. I wanted to capture and sell and make myself the number one resource for fire departments to capture their stories. I wanted to start a relationship with the Cleveland Fire Department, a fire department coming off one of the worst scandals in it's history, to become a person they could turn to when they wanted quality photos of what they do. The activities of a few should not taint the public perception of the good work they do and I wanted to tell their story. I also wanted to double down my involvement in Fire Photographer Magazine and help it grow.

I can tell you that everything I set out out to accomplish this summer has happened. I have qucikly become Cleveland's go to on-scene guy for big events. The first event grew into another, and into another, and by the end of summer firefighters recognized me, other agencies recognized me, and I was standing in a live fire burn house snapping frames of doctors playing the role of firefighters. I met the chief, battalion chiefs, and PIOs I am happy to call my friend. People who I look up to as super heroes know my name. I was invited to sail on a Navy warship with them. I was given incredible access to capture things the general public don't get to see. Fire Photographer Magazine is growing, so what's the next step?

My dream job is working on a fire department as their official photographer. That is not a secret. When will that happen? I don't know if it will ever happen, but instead of looking at the summer as a waste, I am using it as a stepping stone for the next steps. I need to live, I need to contribute monies to the bills my wife has been working hard to pay, and I need to feel creatively satisfied.

My wife and I have been tossing around the idea of opening a creative studio. I would work as a photographer, she would work as the in house graphic designer. I grab the photos, she edits,  we sell them. We could make videos. I would write and shoot them, she would add artistic flare to them and we could sell that. She could create logos, crafty awesomeness, and we could sell that. The cursor blinks.

So what I have been doing is researching the laws about selling photography of firefighters doing their job. The conclusion is with a release I can do it. I spoke with a few firefighters that I have photographed and low and behold, I can now sell some of my best photography.

The next few weeks you will start to see things from me on various social media platforms asking for your help. Help is getting this jump started. I take photos that some people see as niche. I don't subscribe to that school of thought. I take photos that tell the same story as a landscape of Paris, except my story usually involves something burning.

So as this little cursor blinks on the screen, out of it comes something amazing and I hope to have your support both here in my personal endeavors and over at Fire Photographer Magazine, as it is recognized as the best place to see fire photography on the interwebs.

Big Announcement...

When I started to photograph firefighters and training burns, I never thought it would lead to anything other than a fun hobby; something to do on the weekends. I have been writing on blogs for the better part of 8 years with some success and always dreamed it might take me somewhere.

Well this blogger, writer, photographer is taking his talents to a somewhat different level. After years of writing for me for self amusement I have landed a gig as a staff writer/photographer for a growing publication Fire Photographer Magazine. It is the perfect opportunity for me to combine two huge passions of mine; writing and fire photography.

Chris Kimball, the publisher reached out to me Wednesday morning and explained the opportunity. It is a gig that can grow into something bigger than just writing and photographing fires; it could be a career. This is not meant to be a full-time 40+ hour a week thing, at least right now; it could be. Like everything in this world, nothing great comes easy and right now we need to fill the virtual pages of Fire Photography Magazine with great content, photos, and videos. The advertisers will come if we give them something to come to. I am totally humbled that Chris and Tara, the editor, have faith in me to help them take their magazine to the next level.

This just gives me more motivation to get better at doing what I love doing. Get out there, find stories and tell them in a compelling manner. It's time to put on my big boy pants and get this thing done.

Don't worry, I will still be sharing and writing here, I could never let this go. Not everything I see or choose to write about will be right for the magazine. I need to get those ideas out of my head so they will go here. This will also be a place where I might try out a story or develop ideas for stories too.

This new opportunity feels like home to me and I am glad you are here for the journey with me.

Scene Size-Up

This is a piece I wrote for Fire Photographer Magazine: You can see it here.

You hear the scanner crackle to life with the words you've been waiting to here, arriving fire crews have just confirmed a working fire. You heart starts to pound as you grab your camera bag and rush out the door.

By the time you arrive on-scene you can hear the mutual aide fire crews en route, sirens blaring and the adrenaline is pumping through your veins. Like the arriving fire crews, you too must size up the scene quickly. You identify if there has been a perimeter set up, where the first due engines are set up and where new arriving crews are going to set up shop and where the fire is and is it accessible.

You work from the outside in, snapping crews walking down the D side, B side. You snap teams staging at the front door before making entry. After snapping photos you perform a secondary size-up. What is above me, what can possibly fall on me, what looks unstable, is it safe and accessible to get to the rear of the structure? You see ladder crews raising the tower to gain access to the roof. You stop, drop to a knee, grab a photo, and move on. You spend your time shooting the structure and the firemen coming in and out, those images are perishable. They won't be walking out of the fire for the first time ever again on this working fire, they just did that and if you weren't ready, there isn't a re-do.

The fire is out, you stop to check the status of the battery because you might have drained it during the fight; then you start to shoot the apparatus on the street. The wide shot showing the scope of the response, the close ups of the various trucks, lights still on, the fire fighter unstrapping his gear and sitting on the front bumper of the rig to catch his breath. You get close-ups of dirty faces, dirty gear, and spent tanks. In the 35-40 minutes you've been on scene your memory card is bursting, you're almost out of room for more, but you press on.

Fire scenes aren't just hectic for the firemen on scene, it is also a target rich environment for fire photographers trying to capture the moment as it is happening. In my opinion it is the closest thing you can get to combat photography outside of actual combat. Like firemen responding to a fire, photographers also need to have tactics and rules to keep themselves safe. We have to get the shot without putting ourselves in immediate danger.

This is our rush. This is our job.

Lighting the Fire

My favorite part of some of the live fire training I have been to is the very beginning. The first evolution starts and the first team goes into the structure and gets on their gear in the dark. Then breaking the darkness is a flare that lights up the fire. For the next 8 hours or so, there will be a fire burning, and evolution after evolution, the crews will run in, and practice putting them out.

Dreams

I have a respect for firemen that goes way beyond the obligatory, thanks for your service mindset. I think some people just say stuff like that because that is what they are supposed to say. I wrote about what got me fascinated at what our fire departments do on a past blog.  You can still read them over at my old blog. I wrote it in 3 parts.

Part I
Part II
Part III 

This particular series of blogs still is my most read work to date. When I snapped this photo of an Avon Lake Firefighter at a live fire exercise, it took me back to Thanksgiving 1994. I had a dream about this fire the other night. There are still unanswered questions I have about the fire; some of the firefighters on scene that night have retired or moved on and the official report destroyed. I have a feeling the pursuit of finding the answers might haunt be for the rest of my life.