Tonights photojournalism... *56k modem warning!*

[xerubus]

Evening all,

Well... I was out again taking shots of incidents...

Here are some shots from an MVA on the Bruce Hwy near Deception Bay. The highway was closed for a couple of klms nth and sth due to the need for rescue 500 to land. I managed to get caught up in the traffic jam so ditched the car in the centre strip and literally ran for 2.5 klms to the site. I'm so glad that I've been working out for the last 3 mths in order to get into the firies Dropped my 85mm 1.8 whilst playing with gear whilst running... and it now has a very deep scratch over the centre.

Anyhow... here's a couple of shots. My apologies for such a long post, but it is needed in order to paint the picture. They are all very soft as I could not use the flash due to the serious nature of the injuries.









http://www.markcrossphotography.com/pic ... C_7018.jpg

http://www.markcrossphotography.com/pic ... C_7021.jpg

http://www.markcrossphotography.com/pic ... C_7028.jpg

http://www.markcrossphotography.com/pic ... C_7034.jpg







There are a few more that can be seen at http://www.markcrossphotography.com/pic ... _brucehwy/

Cheers

[xerubus]

Changed images 5,6,7, & 8 to links rather than embedded pictures just incase the images of the car stir someone up.

cheers

[the foto fanatic]

Hi Mark
Hope the damage to your lens will not affect image quality - the post suggested it was on the body of the lens, not the front element - is that the case?

I'm wondering about the softness in these images, which looks to me like shutter speed blur. Did you crank up ASA?

It must be difficult trying to work discreetly around these situations.

[JordanP]

Hi Mark,

Sorry to hear about the dropped 85mm - but well done on your respectful coverage of the incident, and I'm impressed with your committed run for a couple of K's to get there. I wouldn't worry about the softness, IMHO it adds to the appropriate way your coverage is not "too clear"

Cheers,

[Glen]

Hi Mark, good shots of very unpleasant subject matter. I think the softness suits, but I am unsure if that would be preferred for publication but looks appropriate here. Your efforts are really paying off, you might end up joining the Courier Mail not the firies

[fozzie]

Mark,

Great images.

All emergency services do a tremendous job for the community.

Sorry the hear about the dropped lens

[xerubus]

thanks all for the comments.

trevor: across the glass ... not the body. i changed to 1600 on a mode but ended up shooting all in M mode and forgot to change it on that mode.... i am looking at a solution so that i can use the flash without causing people too much trouble.

craig: i really annoyed about the softness. just a personal thing that the shots should be as sharp as possible... can always add blur later on, but harder to add sharpness there's a lot more shots but as per other posts they are not for sharing.

glen: nah... still the firies

fozzie: you are spot on there. i definitely admire the work they do. a lens is a lens... not the end of the world

[Willy wombat]

Mark - did they let you into the scene because you are a firey? I thought they tried to keep people away from that sort of stuff?

Interesting but horrible subject. Looks nasty.

[xerubus]

Mark - did they let you into the scene because you are a firey? I thought they tried to keep people away from that sort of stuff?

Interesting but horrible subject. Looks nasty.

not at all. I've been working my way in to the scenes for about 6mths or so now. it's just a matter of gaining the respect of the emergency services.

very interesting subject...

as a bit of an update, one of these shots will be printed in colour in the 'Northern Times' newspaper here in Brisbane on Friday this week.


cheers

[Willy wombat]

Congrats on being printed

[Matt. K]

Nice work Mark!
That kind of stuff is difficult...night makes it harder. Well handled.

[embi]

Great Pj work. My favourite is the last one on this page of the two ambos. Keep up the awesome work

[xerubus]

thankyou guys... much appreciated.

cheers

[ElTippo]

My personal opinion, I like the first few in black and white. They do well to portray the scene and I think the softness adds to that very well. I agree with your comments regarding the sharpness and the ability to add blurring later but I feel that would take away from what you are trying to achieve photographing an emergency situation where everything is quick, fast, life or death.

I'm most impressed .

[xerubus]

Thankyou for your comments ElTippo.... much appreciated..

cheers

[xerubus]

Article:

[embi]

Congratulations on being published

[xerubus]

thankyou embi.... it makes the epic of learning worth it for a couple of minutes...

[jethro]

your'e doing well mark. i still like your studio shots more than these. b if your in the money take what you can get. good luck

[MATT]

Good work Mark, it must be satisfying to get published

MATT

[beetleboy]

don't know if you've considered it but i've read that you can shoot with an infra-red filter over your flash and produce really nice b&w images without anyone realising you're flashing (the strobe that is..they'd prolly notice if you had your pants down).

Soz..it's late =]

[xerubus]

thanks jethro... it's not the money, it's the excitement and challenge of driving to somewhere and not quite knowing what you are going to be faced with... arriving and finding a controlled caos and trying to capture that. hard to explain.....

thank MATT... nice feeling. do you remember when you first picked up a camera and you thought you would never be able to get published or achieve a shot like someone else? and then you do it and concentrate on another challenge? it's a bit like that... been published now which is nice, but there's got to be another challenge to keep things interesting. does that make sense or is it babble?

beetleboy... i'll have a play with that idea tonight... and if it's not too cold i might even try dropping the dacks!!

thanks everyone...

cheers

[Manta]

Congratulations again Mark. I see they got your byline in this time!
I bet this sort of stuff makes you drive a bit more carefully... hate to be the subject of your own photo shoot!

[xerubus]

Congratulations again Mark. I see they got your byline in this time!
I bet this sort of stuff makes you drive a bit more carefully... hate to be the subject of your own photo shoot!

thanks mate... and yes... they got the creditline in this time

i've been a very careful driver for years after having a good friend become a victim of a nasty accident... now i drive like an old man...

cheers