A VACANT HOUSE IN PROSPECT HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, was the scene of a suspicious fire early this morning. The fire itself wasn’t particularly noteworthy, but Chicagoland’s ace fire photographer Larry Shapiro was on the scene and it’s always worth taking a few minutes of your time to view his unique photos of any incident. His “firefighters at work” shots are always tops.
He has posted an 87-image gallery from this incident HERE.
dresden
The photo was taken on the roof of the building “Haus der Presse” and starts at the left side with the Ostragehege. You can see the Congress Center and the Maritim Hotel rightwards. In the center is the city of Dresden with the famous Semperoper (back view), the castle and the Church of Our Lady. In the background is the television tower and you can identify outlines of the Saxon Switzerland. In the right part you can see the south of Dresden.
The picture was made with the Canon 5D mark II and a 400mm-lens. It consists of 1.665 full format pictures with 21.4 megapixel, which was recorded by a photo-robot in 172 minutes. The converting of 102 GB raw data by a computer with a main memory cache of 48 GB and 16 processors took 94 hours. With a resolution of 297.500 x 87.500 pixel (26 gigapixel) the picture is the largest in the world. (stand December 2009)
Link to website where you can manipulate the full picture HERE
Mike “FossilMedic” Ward
THERE WAS A WORKING HOUSE FIRE in Schaumburg, Illinois, yesterday. As house fires go, it wasn’t particularly exceptional (except for the folks who live there). But it occurred in a neighborhood where a lot of firefighters from around the Chicago area live, and most of the off-duty guys turned out to help the fire laddies and their neighbor.
ChicagoLand’s ace fire photographer Larry Shapiro was there documenting the blaze and caught several of them in the act. Looking through his photos, I found a few of them.
How many can you find? Take a look through Larry’s 151-image photo gallery HERE and then tell us in the Comments how many you spotted.
A HOUSE FIRE LAST WEEK IN PROSPECT HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, BROUGHT MORE than the usual response for a single-family dwelling. The house is in a newer subdivision that was permitted to be built without any hydrants, and it is also located at the farthest reach of the Prospect Heights Fire and Rescue’s first-due area.
Upon arrival to the scene, the first-in unit immediately upgraded the response bringing in additional tankers. The fire also brought in Chicagoland’s ace fire photographer Larry Shapiro who documented the operation. While the fire itself wasn’t particularly newsworthy beyond the locality, Firegeezer has chosen to cover it for two reasons. One, Larry always has terrific photos and a lot of our regular readers always enjoy viewing his extensive galleries of his fire coverage. He does a great job covering the firefighters at work and shows us more than just flames coming out of the windows.
Secondly, Firegeezer really likes tankers and anytime I can catch parade of them is just fine with me.
Take a look at Larry Shapiro’s 112-image gallery of last week’s fire HERE.
Check out the Chicago Area Fire Departments WEBSITE.
THIS PAST MONDAY WE BROUGHT YOU A STORY of a train derailment in Chicago where a string of rail cars came within feet of crushing a pair of large propane tanks. (Review the story HERE.)
(all photos by Larry Shapiro)
The story was illustrated with some photos by our fire photographer friend Larry Shapiro who covers the Chicago area. After returning home from the accident scene, Larry had a sense of familiarity about the location, so he started checking back through his photo archives. After a while, he found the photos that were banging on his subconscious and, sure enough, it was the very same bridge that had a derailment which he covered 35 years ago.
With the exception of fuller vegetation and taller bushes, things haven’t changed much:
2009
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1974
Chilly weather has certainly arrived in my part of the world. I’m certain that summer’s heat is behind us now, so I held the annual “Burning o’ the Dust” event. That’s what happens when I fire up the furnace for the first time of the coming cold season. When the firebox lights up and heats up all that dust that’s been settling inside the furnace over the summer, it sends out that distinctive burning dust aroma through the house announcing the seasonal change. I guess it’s safe to go ahead and pack away my short-sleeve shirts and get out the winter-wear now.
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Let me take a moment to thank all of you who sent us emails and left comments telling us that you like the new look of the website. That’s nice to hear and all of us who work on Firegeezer appreciate it. As I mentioned the other day, we’ll be gradually introducing new features over the next few weeks, too. So stay tuned and keep letting us know what you think about our efforts.
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Earlier on the 5th of this month, we told you (HERE) about the debut of the Chicago Area Fire Depts. photo website and how it will be continually growing. I have an update for you today. In the twelve days since then, they have added another 55 fire stations to the archives, and 18 of them are Chicago FD stations. So you see that there is a lot to keep up with there. You can click HERE to go to their website, but we also have them listed in our Blogroll on the left sidebar so that you can log in at anytime.
Speaking of fire photography, I see that the New Jersey Metro Fire Photographers Association is holding their 24th annual Photo Night this evening. This looks like it would be fun to check out. It’s being held at the Harry P. Becton Regional High School at 120 Paterson Ave. and begins at 3:30 pm. Go to their website HERE for more information and directions on how to get there.
Don’t forget that Saturday is Hamburger Day. I never forget that. So let’s get this equipment checked out now and I’ll go get the coffee started. See you back in the day room in a little while.
A FIRE/RESCUE PHOTO WEBSITE HAS JUST BEEN launched that I know many people will be glad to see. After a lot of preparation, the Chicago Area Fire Departments has come online. Professional fire photographer Larry Shapiro is being aided by three other notable photographers, Steve Redick, Karl Klotz and Hank Sajovic. Many of you are already familiar with these names and have seen their fine work in news reports and specialty books on the fire and rescue service.
Their mission is massive: Document every firehouse and piece of apparatus in the Chicago FD and all the surrounding area departments. Rather than wait until all the photos are prepped and uploaded, they have launched the website where you can start viewing now and check back periodically for the latest additions. Most of the pictures have already been taken. It’s just a matter of getting them ready for online publication.
After the Chicago area is loaded up, they will be expanding the site to eventually include all of Illinois and maybe get into Indiana as well. Another proposed section will deal with historic firehouses and apparatus. A part of the website is a blog to keep visitors up-to-date on the latest additions and local area information.
So take a look at the initial presentation and set your Favorites folder to hold: www.chicagoareafire.com
KODACHROME, THE COLOR FILM THAT took over the photography world in 1935 and brought new life to the motion picture industry will be retired at the end of this year, Kodak announced today.
Associated Press photo
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported today:
“It was certainly a difficult decision to retire it, given its rich history,” Mary Jane Hellyar, outgoing president of Kodak’s Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group, said in a statement.
However, according to Kodak, Kodachrome now represents a fraction of 1 percent of the company’s camera film sales. And only one photofinishing lab in the world, Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, still processes Kodachrome film, according to Kodak.
Kodak will donate the last rolls of Kodachrome film to the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry will also shoot one of the last rolls of Kodachrome and donate the images to the Eastman House
It was the world’s first commercially successful color film. But since color film is largely made now with entirely different ingredients, it became uneconomical to continue with the Kodachrome which currently was being made only once a year. It has largely been replaced by their Ektachrome brand.
Because of the complexity, only Dwayne’s Photo, in Parsons, Kan., still processes Kodachrome film. The lab has agreed to continue through 2010, Kodak said. Hellyar estimates the retail supply of Kodachrome will run out in the fall, though it could be sooner if devotees stockpile. In the U.S., Kodachrome film is available only through photo specialty dealers.
Read the full STORY.
LONG-TIME READERS MAY REMEMBER THAT ONE OF THE ORIGINAL GEEZERGUYS was renowned fire photographer Wes Gerald.
Wes was a 911 dispatcher/supervisor by trade, but he was known throughout the Mid-Atlantic area as a premier fire photographer. He was also a dedicated fire buff and traveled extensively visiting other FD’s and recording their activities.
[photopress:wes2.jpg,full,centered]
Along with all that, he co-created the nation’s first fire dispatch paging system. That seed company is now a part of a major fire page operation that covers most of the East Coast.
Wes was going to keep us informed on a variety of photography-related topics and toss in some news about another of his passions, the NASCAR circuit. But it was not to be. The ravages of brain cancer took him from us at the too-early age of 43.
One of Wes’ close friends, and he had many, was Ricky Riley and Ricky inherited Wes’ collection of literally thousands of 35 mm slide photos. We got to visit with Ricky for a while at Firehouse Expo last month and he was bringing us up to date on his desire to properly identify and archive the massive collection.
One of his efforts is a good one. He has set up a photo gallery website for everybody to enjoy and he will be adding to it constantly as he gets the slides organized and scanned into system.
The website is called WesPhoto 10 and the address is:
http://www.wesphoto10.com/
Ricky has done a good job of laying the foundation for the display and you can start viewing it now. Just click on that link and start wandering through the gallery. You may want to add it to your Favorites page because he’s just getting started with it and will be making additions regularly. It’s great to see his work being made available again.
[photopress:wes2_b.jpg,full,centered]
SONY INTRODUCED A NEW DIGI-CAM YESTERDAY that will no doubt be one of the hot sellers this upcoming Christmas season. The Cyber-shot DSC-T2 is a true “pocket” camera that is only 3.4 in. by 2.2 in. and less than 1 in. thick weighing 4.6 oz (without battery).
[photopress:sony_dsct2_k_001.jpg,full,centered]
But it’s not just the size that makes this a “must have” to take with you everytime you go out of the house. It’s the unbelievable amount of picture-taking power that’s built into it.
The main reason I’ve never considered any Sony digital camera is because of their proprietary image card, the Memory Stick. I just don’t like having to use something that isn’t compatible with other devices and has no price competition. But this little camera has an 8-megapixel sensor – which is plenty, believe me – and a 4-gigabyte internal memory. If you only use the highest resolution setting of 8Mp, then you have the capacity to store 1,000 photos on the internal memory. If most of your picture-taking is of the e-mail quality size, then you can take 40,000 pix before you have to download them and start over.
Another nice thing about that is you can download directly to your computer without having to buy and hook up one of those cumbersome card readers. Another unique feature is the touch-panel LCD screen on the back that eliminates all those tiny buttons needed for menu selections, etc.
[photopress:DSC_T2_hand_BK03.jpg,full,centered]
What I don’t like about this model is the special-size battery pack. You can’t use the standard AA rechargables that most cameras are engineered for these days.
But it has so much going for it:
It’s supposed to hit the streets by Dec. 1 at a price near $350.
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS is running a photo contest for fire and ems related shots. Entries close on July 1. See here for rules and info.
LOGITECH, THE SWISS DIGITAL peripherals and wireless device manufacturer, has a new Photoshop accessory that should become a “must-have” for serious graphics workers.
The NuLOOQ Navigator™ supplements the mouse, rather than replacing it, and is used for rapid panning, zoom in and out, changing brush sizes and other adjustments that usually require you to stop and use the keyboard. By keeping your right hand on the mouse and your left hand on the Navigator you can ease and speed up on your editing work flow.
A visual description of the NuLOOQ is here, and then click on the “product tour” link to see an animated rendition.
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