Tip 1: Avoid reflective flashback on the fire ground.

Undesirable camera flash hot-spots from reflective material on gear and apparatus during night shots can be minimized and made less distractive.

Photo courtesy of SVFA Firefighter/Photographer Jay Quoka

To avoid reflective flashback, move your flash upward, away from the centerline of your lens. Use an adjustable flash frame or hold flash in hand. Reflective material will still flashback, but the image is more even and less distractive.

Tip 2: Blur the registration plate on motor vehicles to keep the property owners identity private. This encourages the community to welcome the photographer on the fire scene.

 Scramble the registration plates on motor vehicles photographed.

Tip 3: Focus on firefighter operations rather than identifiable private property or patient care while photographing incidents. Value your community by respecting the people you serve.

Keep patient identity private by  photographing non-identifiable shots.

Tip 4: Overcome the problem of water splashed on the front of the camera lens during fire ground shots.

Use two clear skylight filters together on the lens. When the lens is splashed with water, remove the outer filter uncovering the inner filter which is dry. 

Tip 5: Metal Halide Scene lighting on new apparatus will cast a green hue over your still photos.

If this is the only light source, manually tune your camera's color temp. to Fluorescent mode and the color will normalize. If multiple light sources are present on your fire ground (Metal Halide, Sodium, Incandescent, LED, and Flash), tune your camera's color temp. to Auto and be sure your flash fills in the main subject area. Experiment with different settings such as Incandescent or Sunlight and see what works to your taste. I prefer to capture the scene with the lighting as it is appears.

Tip 6: Emergency vehicle LED lighting effects.

Night shots of incidents can be challenging. I prefer to not use flash but to utilize the ambient light sources present on an emergency scene. Slow your shutter speed down to 1/15 and hold the camera still. Red and Blue LED lighting will alternately flash while the shutter is open and create a blue/purple color on you apparatus. Incandescent light sources, such as headlights, will create mixed lighting effects on your scene.

Tip 7: Dress the part when photographing incidents.

Take the guesswork out of who you are and what your doing. Motor vehicle operators involved in an accident or property owners of a structure fire need to know the role you play as your department photographer. Dress in proper PPE for the incident and always wear your fire helmet (wearing your helmet clearly identifies you as a member of the fire department). This will help people understand you are not with the press and be more relaxed with photographs being taken.