Yesterday I shot the Little Fire in Pleasanton, California, on assignment for Agence France-Presse. It was my first fire of the season, and the best frame of the day took about three dozen attempts and nearly cost me my eyesight.
I Almost Did Not Go
Before I drive to a fire I run the same set of calculations every time: weather, wind, topography, fuel, humidity, time of day, fire danger indices. That math tells me whether there will be anything left to photograph by the time I arrive. For the Little Fire, the answer was probably not. My read was that it would be laying down by the time I got there.
I went anyway, for two reasons.
Reason One: You Do Not Want Your First Fire of the Season to Be a Big One
Peak fire season in California is close, and it has been a while since I have been in the field on an active wildfire. Fire coverage is a gear-heavy, physically demanding, situationally dangerous kind of shooting, and the muscle memory fades. Where you park. How you position relative to the wind. What you carry and what you leave. How you read a crew boss body language to know when a spot is about to become a bad idea.
A small, slow fire is the right place to rebuild all of that. You do not want to be relearning it when the fire is running.
Reason Two: I Wanted to Field Test the AI System I Built
All that pre-fire research used to take me a long time. Over the past several months I built an AI system to automate it, and wired it into Telegram so it reaches me on my phone in the field. It pulls the weather and wind, the terrain and fuel conditions, the fire danger picture, and gives me a read on whether a fire is worth the drive.
The Little Fire was its first real test. It told me the fire would most likely be slowing down by the time I arrived. It was exactly right.
Worth being precise about what it does, because it matters: the system helps me decide where to be and when. It does not take pictures. Every frame here is mine, made with a camera, in the smoke. What the AI bought me was a better decision about whether to get in the truck.
What I Found, and How I Made Something of It
The prediction was correct, which meant I arrived to a slow, smoky hill. No wall of flame, no dramatic run. Just haze and heat and a lot of distance between me and anything happening.
This is the ordinary condition of this work. Most fires are not the picture you imagined on the drive. So you look harder.
What I noticed was a steady stream of helicopters running water drops, and their flight line was carrying them near the sun. That is a picture, if you can time it. I put the 600mm on, framed the sun, and waited. Then I shot a few dozen frames staring more or less directly into it, which is exactly as pleasant as it sounds. Somewhere in there a helicopter crossed the disc cleanly and I got the frame at the top of this post. I love it.
Almost everything else came on the same long lens. Air tankers laying retardant, helicopters on water drops, and a hand crew reduced to small silhouettes walking a ridgeline in that heavy orange light. When the fire is far away and the air is full of smoke, a 600mm and patience are most of the job.
Not Peak Action, and Still Worth It
This was not a big fire and these are not the most dramatic fire pictures I have ever made. But the gear is dusted off, the instincts are back, the new system proved itself on its first outing, and I came home with a frame I genuinely love. For the week before peak season, that is a good day.
I have covered wildfires for AFP for years, including the work that has been exhibited at Visa pour l’Image and recognized by the Istanbul Photo Awards and the AFP Varenne/Canon Grand Prix. Fire season is nearly here again.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you photograph a helicopter crossing the sun?
A long lens, correct exposure for the sun rather than the scene, and patience. I used a 600mm, framed the sun, and waited for the aircraft flight line to carry a helicopter across the disc. It took roughly three dozen attempts. Never look directly at the sun through an optical viewfinder for longer than you must, and take breaks.
What lens do you use for wildfire photography?
On this fire, almost everything was shot on a 600mm, because the fire activity was far away and access was limited. Fire coverage generally runs long, both for safety and because the meaningful subjects, aircraft and crews, are usually at distance.
Do you use AI to make your photographs?
No. I built an AI system to automate the research I do before a fire, including weather, wind, topography, fuel and fire danger, and it messages me on Telegram in the field. It helps me decide whether and where to go. The photographs are made with a camera, by me.
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