Ashes to Ashes (camera, great shots, setting, print)

[TheDragonslayer]

One Saturday a 107 year old house that was condemned was set on fire for a control burn training lesson. I got wind of it when I first smelled smoke then heard a neighbor say that they were burning the old house up the hill. I hopped on my bicycle after grabbing my camera and rode up the street to take pictures. Right off the bat I noticed my low battery flashing and I did not bring an extra. I ended up taking 53 photos of the burn. The last few photos show the front wall and window of the house still burning and then the wall collapses except for a few upright pieces and they looked like a tombstone with a cross engulfed in flames with a newer home in the background. This was the second stage to opening an 85 home sub division. I submitted the photo to the McKinleyville Press and it is going to be on the front page this Wednesday with my suggested title of "Ashes to Ashes". I was in the office with the editor as he was setting it up for print. I know the editor very well, he used to be a neighbor and I adopted his dog a year and a half ago.

[RUNYYfan]

Great shots! The vibrancy of the blue sky with the starkness of the burning building is quite distinctive. One nit-pik: the first photo has one of the firemen cut in half on the left edge. Having the "full body" would, I think, give a greater sense of being a complete shot.

The historian in me wonders if the house had any links to the timber industry out there. *shrug*