Day 235 - Tremors in Fredericton

Call it "The Day the Earth Wouldn't Stand Still". Today, Fredericton experienced a brief tremor from the earthquake centred just outside Washington, DC.

And Fredericton was just a little bit freaked out about it.

While office buildings in the downtown core were swaying to the music, people all over the place decided, even before receiving any official word, to abandon ship and head outside. Ironically, most of these people who didn't feel safe staying inside the swaying buildings did seem to feel okay about standing right at the foot of those same buildings.

When I pointed that irony out to a group of them, they laughed nervously and began to shy away down the street.

The fire department was out in full force, focusing most of its attention on the NB Power building on King Street, right across from my office. And the media followed.

The Olympus had no chance of capturing the brief tremors themselves but I had plenty of opportunity to take pictures of the aftermath. I actually found it quite fun trying to figure out how to capture the action, the tension, the fear in one or two still frames.

I'm quite pleased with the results. Through careful composition and framing, I managed to capture a number of interesting elements in the top photo: the man being interviewed by CBC television, the reporter, the camera and the camera operator, the big still camera also being pointed at the man, all in front of the big yellow fire truck. Crisp, well focused. Not bad.

The lower photo is almost as good, in my opinion. The NB Power sign at the top, with the red fire truck (a ladder truck, I think) in front of the building. Two business men gazing up at the vehicle and a firefighter in full regalia in the background. Pretty good, I'd say. Reportage photography at its best.