Salt Creek Fire Photos

Top: A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant to protect a home in Nephi Canyon outside of Fountain Green on July 22, 2007. Bottom: Flames move rapidly up a hillside near Fountain Green creating a cyclone effect known as “fire whirl”, left, on July 22, 2007.

It is 11 pm on Monday night and I just walked into my house in Salt Lake City. I have spent the last couple of days photographing the Salt Creek Fires in Nephi Canyon. As I said in my last post, this was the first time photographing wild fires. I have learned a lot about photographing a natural disaster and trying to maintain composure under a deadline. And for those who have ever photographed wild fires, you know you easily you begin to love the nature of photographing something so beautiful and destructive at the same time.

This is the second night in my bed in the last week. So I am sure you are wondering why I am not sleeping. Well, the adrenaline is still pumping hours later.

The first half of the week I spent in southern Utah, photographing four stories in Bluff. I returned to find myself on my way back south the following afternoon to cover one of the fires in Utah. I was assigned to something else in the afternoon but I received a call from my editor asking me if I would like to photograph the wild fire.

Scared and excited, I packed up my car once again and headed south.

Before getting there, I had no idea what to expect, no idea what to do and no idea how to get to the fire. I was relieving one of the staff photographers, Scott Winterton, and he was a tremendous help when I arrived.

Within an hour I was on a tour of the burning canyon. We were about to drive out of the canyon that first night when the winds shifted and the fire jumped the canyon right in front of us. It was then that I experienced my first wild fire adrenaline rush.

The next day, my objective was to photograph people that had been affected by the fire and give a face to a fire that burned 18,000 acres in a couple of days. After speaking to a handful of people, we dedicated the rest of the afternoon to photographing firefighting efforts.

In about 2 hours, I saw a large tanker drop 4 rounds of fire retardant around a large home in the middle of a golden field, a back burn and a fire whirl. It was pretty amazing and I walked away in utter awe of the brilliance of these firefighters.

I also found that sometimes, it just doesn’t work out that easily. We drove around all morning from one of the canyon to the other hoping to talk to someone who was packing up as many had been advised to pack in case of evacuation. We found none so we headed back to camp and got in line for a tour. It was time for me to be swapped out so another staffer took over my position and I was sent on the other side of the canyon to find people affected. I found a family that had packed up their car the night before and was sitting on the porch watching the fires slowly approach their town, Fountain Green.

Here are some of the images:

Jeanette Hutchinson looks through the documents and photos she had packed the night before. She and her family packed all the family photos and important documents the night before in their car just in case they had an immmediate evacuation. “Our bags are packed and ready to go,” she says.

Jeanette Hutchinson prepares to load the truck with a chest of valuables if they are asked to evacuate later that night on July 23, 2007. As residents of Fountain Green, she and her family packed all the family photos and important documents the night before after the Forest Service told the residents to pack up their belongings and prepare to evacuate if needed.

Aiden Workman, 22 months, tries to blow out the smoke that has taken residence in front of their home for the last couple of days. “He knows what fire is and tries to blow it out like he would candles,” says Aiden’s mother, Jeanette Hutchinson.

Smoke from the Salt Creek Fire in Nephi Canyon fills the sky behind a field in Fountain Green on July 23, 2007.

Rayleen Larsen points to the planes and the smoke in the distance from the Salt Creek Fire in Nephi Canyon. “Wow,” Aiden Workman, 22 moths, says as he looks to the planes above their home in Fountain Green on July 23, 2007.

Aiden Workman, 22 months, cries as another tanker flies by. “He knows what fire is and cries at the smoke and the planes flying by,” says Aiden’s mother, Jeanette Hutchinson. Residents of Fountain Green, the fires have been burning about 2 miles from their home for days.

The remains of the entrance to the Holiday Oaks subdivision in the Nephi Canyon — a lonely sign. The Salt Creek Fire burned the area the day before, on July 22, 2007.

Utah’s Salt Creek Fires

I was sent down to Nephi to cover the Salt Creek Fire, my first fire coverage. Here are some images.

A rainbow fills the sky along side of the smoke from the fires in the canyon right behind the city of Nephi on July 21, 2007.

The fire crossed the canyon on Rt. 123 outside of Nephi after winds shifted causing a down wind on July 21, 2007.

The Salt Creek Fire causes a ring of fire in the Nephi Canyon on July 22, 2007.

Todd Anderson from the Sanpete County Sheriffs office search and rescue team sits at the road bloack hindering anyone from returning to the Oak Ridge area.

Mike Okelberry watches the fire near Holiday Oaks from Fountain Green on July 22, 2007. He and his wife, Jyll Okleberry, own land in the subdivision.

Carol Coleson watches the smoke rise from the canyon behind her trailer. She and her husband brought their trailer to this spot in after they were evacuated from their land in the Oaker Hills subdivision on July 22, 2007.

I took this one from my car window. I was trying to show the rain and the smoke from the fires in the background.

A thunderstorm sends rain near Nephi Canyon on Sunday afternoon on July 22, 2007. Storm clouds mixes with smoke from the Salt Creek Fires in the background.

Brock Weeks, 5, and Walker Memmott, 11, from Nephi, ride their bikes with the Salt Creek Fire on July 22, 2007. “I think it is scary to see the smoke during the day,” Walker says. “It is also really hard to breathe with all of the smoke. I am hoping the rain will help the firefighters fight the fire.”

Walker Memmott, 11, rides his four wheeler in Nephi in front of the Salt Creek Fire on July 22, 2007. “I think it is scary to see the smoke during the day,” Walker says. “It is also really hard to breathe with all of the smoke. I am hoping the rain will help the firefighters fight the fire.”

A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant in front of the fire in Nephi Canyon on July 22, 2007.

A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant to protect a home in Nephi Canyon outside of Fountain Green on July 22, 2007.

Varying Your Expectations

“Jenn, just remember you have different expectations for different situations,” Tim told me this morning.

He is right. Last night, sitting on the floor of the movie theater, frustration hit an all-time peak as I felt like I hadn’t shot a good image in a week.This came after a hopeful night of photographing Harry Potter fans. I had great expectations for the characters I would see and none lived up to that expectation. I foresaw lines of people waiting to get into the theater. But there was none.

After sleeping on it, I realized that I need to stop making excuses for the photos taken in these situations and make the most out of them. My expectations for those photos should not be as great as one where I am placed into a photogenic situation.

I need to be shooting my best for every situation given, but some cards dealt are not the most photogenic and I have to realize that instead of getting frustrated with myself. As an intern, you want to shoot the best you can for every assignment. I just have to remember that every assignment is different. And my expectations for the outcome of every assignment should be also.

I also realized that I was starting to shoot according to the safe image theory — making sure I have an image that is easy to read instead of looking and finding great light and giving the readers a reason to sit on my images for awhile.

This is my expectation for the rest of the week — to find great light and make good images in that light.

Video: Drum Circle

Here is a video I have been working on for the last couple of days. It was one of those situations when you get there that you are thrilled that you brought video and audio equipment. I think this was a good lesson on trying to juggle the three devices. Luckily, most of the time they were doing the same thing for about 2 hours, but there were times when I had decide what equipment to pick up knowing that it would only happen once. In the end, I decided to use all three in the presentation. It was the first time I used photos in a presentation like this and I think it worked well. Let me know what you think.

Here it is. Also, check out the story on the Deseret Morning News website.

You can also view the videos that I produced for the paper on the Brightcove site.

Love’s In The Air

I love when stories fall in your lap. I was sent out to shoot some photos for the Provo Freedom Festival’s Balloon Fest at 6:30 am. I wasn’t too excited about waking up at 4:40 but I kind of figured it might be photogenic. I tried to get there a little early to see if there was an opening to ride in one of the hot air balloons. They were trying to find an opening when someone told me that there was a guy going to propose while up in the air. Now thats a story I thought.

Here are the images and their story.

David Tennysen and Lori Strain take off in The High Wayman during the American Freedom Festival Balloon Fest on June 3, 3007. Halfway through the flight, over the Provo River, Tennysen proposed.

“I was going to get on one knee but there wasn’t room in the basket,” David says.

“We had started talking about marriage again but this was a total surprise,” Lisa adds.

After being married and divorced to each other once before, they both still have their rings. “We have grown a lot and both have made changes in both of our lives,” he says, “and we both know what we are getting into this time.”

Moving to Argentina in two weeks, the couple hasn’t decided on a wedding date but they have decided this ceremony is going to be smaller than their first.

This the second time someone has proposed in Wayman’s balloon. “Four years ago, our first time flying in the festival, there was another proposal,” Clara Wayman says.

Dominic Chemello from Temecula, Ca. inflates his hot air balloon while his granddaughter, Keylee Chemello, 7, during the American Freedom Festival in Provo, Utah on July 3, 2007.

Photo Intern - Week 3:

Here are some more images from this past week.

Sonita Khan, an instructor at Simple Earth Foundation, directs Ivy Chmjak, 9, during a pottery class held at the Foundation’s Center in American Fork, Utah on July 2, 2007.

Shannon Hale, author of The Goose Girl and winner of the Newbery Award, plays with Maggie, her six-month-old, at home in South Jordan as she checks her email and blog on July 2, 2007. Shannon tries to spend as much time as she can with her two children and this place, next to the window is where she does most of her writing.

Sherry Howland presents a blanket to Bill Schnieder, a former Utah state officer for the VFW, on July 3, 2007. The VFW 1481 teamed up with Newgate Mall to collect blankets for the Salt Lake VA Nursing Home. Since Memorial Day, they have collected more than 100 blankets and 100 books on tape for the veterans.

Photo Intern - Week 3: Taylorsville Carnival

I haven’t posted images in awhile, so here are some images from the last week. First, the Taylorsville Carnival. I like the fact that I am living in a large city but still get an opportunity to get out and cover small town events.

HIV in India - New Numbers

According to an article published today by the BBC –

The number of people living with HIV/Aids in India is around half of previous official estimates, at between 2-3.1 million people, new figures say.Previous estimates from the National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) put the number of HIV cases at 5.2m, while UNAids in 2006 estimated 5.7m cases.Officials say the lower estimate could be attributed to more accurate data.

But they say, the numbers are still large.

“In terms of human lives affected, the number is still large, in fact very large. This is very worrying for us.” The minister said that India had always been accused of underestimating the number of Aids cases. “That was a disturbing allegation, and today, we have a far more reliable estimate,” he said.

The latest estimates were calculated with the help of international agencies, including the UN and US Agency for International Development.Correspondents say that India was thought to have the world’s biggest HIV-positive caseload, but the new estimate means that South Africa and Nigeria are more severely affected.

India is about to embark on a new and expanded phase of its Aids control programme, with increased funding from the government and from international donors.

 

Time Poverty

While listening to the local public radio station, KUER, this afternoon, I heard an interesting segment on time poverty in America.

Apparently, Americans works more than any industrialized country and spend less time on vacation. John de Graaf, the visitor on the show, compared this to medieval times and work hours. We work more than a peasant in the medieval times, making us extremely poor. We may have a little more money after working those extra hours but we are an extremely poor country when it comes to time.

There are major implications to this including the environment, health and stress.

In the 1930s, the government tried to pass a law defining the work week as 30 hours instead of 40. It was never passed as many companies complained. However, one company, Kellogg Co., did cut the work week in 1930.

Kellogg Co. began the 30-hour week in 1930 as an altruistic corporate effort to spread work around during the Great Depression — four shifts of six hours replacing three shifts of eight. But the schedule quickly gained popularity with employees, who enjoyed having extra nonwork time in their lives, Hunnicutt found. So popular, in fact, that the 30-hour week lingered in a few of Kellogg’s departments until as late as 1985. 

It was said, that the average worker at Kellogg was more productive. There was also a greater community bond and crime was low.

After doing some research, I found some statistics some of which were used during the segment:

• Americans work an average of nine full weeks (350 hours) more per year than their European counterparts.
• Eighty percent of men and 62% of women put in more than 40 hours a week on the job. Americans work longer hours than medieval peasants did. Nearly one in five workers now spends more than 50 hours per week at work.
• The United States is the only country in the industrialized world without a law guaranteeing paid vacation time.
• Twenty-six percent of American workers don’t take any vacation at all.

Video: Tribute Amid Tears

The Deseret Morning News decided to try out video for the first time for the funeral of Stephen Anderson. Here it is

Here is a link to the video on the Deseret Morning News’ website.

Let me know what you think. I ended up using my Handicam and crossing my fingers that I would get some decent audio. I am still learning how to do this video thing and would love some feedback.