Featured Photo

One of the things I do with photography that I absolutely LOVE, is being on the Camera Squad with the Frisco Fire Department.  What I HATE about being on the FFD CS is that I'm not allowed to share the photos I take.  They are all property of the FFD.  I have to delete the photos once I burn them to a disk and deliver them to the Chief.  I hate it, because some of those photos are my most favorite pieces of work.  (Not a well written sentence, but it got the point across.)

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and hope I don't get into trouble with this, but since this photo was "released" in the FFD Citizen's Fire Academy Alumni Newsletter I figured it was "public" enough.

Well I was excited to see one of my photos was the "Featured Photo" on this newsletter.  This was taken at a Motor Vehicle Accident that required CareFlite to transport a patient. 

Lots of people ask me about what I do with the FD.  I love it.  I'm on call a week at a time, 24 hours a day.  Well, I can't go to a call if I'm at work; my boss wouldn't like that too much.  But when I'm available during that week, at any time during the day or NIGHT, I go on any structure fire call, Motor Vehicle Accident w/ Extrication, or any CareFlite call.  How often I'm on call depends on how many people are in the rotation.  Currently we are short staffed and I'm on a three week rotation.  We are adding a 4th guy here in a few weeks, so it will be about one week a month.  I carry a pager and fire department radio/scanner with me and listen to all the calls that come in, and go when needed.  Our photos are mainly used for training.  Some are for PR and for artwork around the department, but mainly training purposes.  I love the excitement of it, I love the fact that it is a new, spontaneous photo shoot, every single time.  After a structure fire, on most occasions, the Fire Marshal will have me go into the structure and take photos of the burn patterns, and details they think will be necessary to determine the cause and or press criminal charges if necessary.  No, I don't have bunker gear (fireman's digs), but I do have fireman boots, a hard hat, and a nifty little orange and yellow vest (like the guys in the photo are wearing).  Being a part of the FFD Camera Squad is very rewarding.  I just love it!!