Kinda starting the year off right with a (small) announcement that an image of mine was awarded a second place (top) in the NPPA - MNCC (National Press Photographer's Association - Monthly News Clip Contest) for last October. 
The image that's come to be known around the office and with colleagues as "The kid with the cellphone..." has easily become a favorite of mine. I've explained that covering a fire (or any spot or even general news event) isn't only about photographing the actions unfolding right in front of you. Firefighters, cops, EMS personnel working a hectic scene, or even a "guy at a mic" (politicians and executives of any stature delivering a speech come to mind here) become the "locator" images or even the ones that will serve as an historical reference for later use. Editors live to see these straight ahead photographs. Images of burning buildings, twisted metal, and gurneys on the street just mean you got there in time at a breaking news event and made some timely pictures. Old school photographers know of the saying, "f/8 and be there..." when it comes to shooting spot news. Sometimes you have to walk around the building, scene, or even meeting room or lecture hall, and make it a point to change lenses, and just "see what's going on" away from the main action. Listen to neighbors or onlookers, because they may have "seen something" that you're not quite aware of yet. It also can't hurt if you hustle to a fire like this on your day off... ~cg.Here's how the original looked with the complete caption info:
A boy uses a smartphone to photograph exposed flames burning through the rear of a 3 - story house during a three-alarm fire at 488 Liberty Street in Newburgh, NY on Sunday, October 23, 2011. Nearly a dozen people were left homeless after the fire erupted in the multi-family home when a resident was cooking in a second-floor apartment in the rear of the building. All the occupants got out safely and there were no injuries. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record
A boy uses a smartphone to photograph exposed flames burning through the rear of a 3 - story house during a three-alarm fire at 488 Liberty Street in Newburgh, NY on Sunday, October 23, 2011. Nearly a dozen people were left homeless after the fire erupted in the multi-family home when a resident was cooking in a second-floor apartment in the rear of the building. All the occupants got out safely and there were no injuries. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record 
