Covering crisis: Photographer Sandy Huffaker, Jr. describes the San Diego jet crash
By Steven J. Barry
San Diego photographer Sandy Huffaker, Jr. was in his home this week when a tragic breaking news story literally flew into his neighborhood.
He frequently hears jets flying over his home. When he heard one sputter and cough Monday morning, he immediately knew something was amiss.
“It just sounded like a large whoosh and you could hear it getting closer and closer,” Huffaker said. “You hear all day jets flying around doing these exercises, but this one jet sounded completely different. Obviously it was coming down.”
He ran outside just in time to see the pilot eject from the FA-18 Hornet just before it slammed into a nearby residential neighborhood, erupting in flames. Huffaker sprinted back inside.
“I ran in to get my camera, and I was just shaking and trembling,” Huffaker said. “I was putting my card in and I didn’t even know the right way to put it in.”
Photo copyright Sandy Huffaker, Jr.
Huffaker said that like many photojournalists, he has often thought about how he would react if he happened upon a major breaking story.
“Believe me, it’s a lot smoother in my dreams,” he said.
Rushing back out the door, he dropped one camera, destroying a 16-35mm lens. He continued on, electing to shoot at the scene using only a 70-200mm telephoto lens. He drove the short distance to the crash site and quickly saw that he was among the first people to arrive. Huffaker said the entire area was engulfed in flames.
Photo copyright Sandy Huffaker, Jr.
He is no stranger to fire: A few weeks ago, Huffaker spent several days covering the Yorba Linda wildfire that destroyed 118 homes. These flames, he said, were different.
“The smell was terrible,” he said. “It was a different kind of noxious smell. It was just terrible.”
He shot nearly continuously for five minutes, capturing the images he knew would be essential to document the tragedy. Then, he said, he took a few deep breaths and started to look around for ways to make his shots unique. He tried a vareity of angles and photographed nearby residents hosing down their homes and cars. The flames were still so intense, he said, that virtually none of the jet wreckage was yet visible.
Knowing that time was of the essence, he hurried back to his car to go transmit his images. But he had arrived at the scene so early, he said, that recently arrived fire trucks had blocked his car. He walked about a mile home and fired his shots off to Getty Images.
“I also have a good relationship with AP and a local paper. It’s always hard in that way when a big news story happens,” Huffaker said. “Who do you go to? You just gotta pick one.”
Photo copyright Sandy Huffaker, Jr.
He returned to the crash site and unexpectedly found himself the subject of TV news interviews.
He awoke the next morning to learn that one of his photos had been given huge play on the front page of the New York Times. Another landed on the front page of the California section of the Los Angeles Times.
The crash claimed at least three lives and destroyed three homes and four vehicles. Huffaker said the incident left everyone in the area shaken.
“I know neighbors on both sides of that crash,” he said. “It was pretty close to home.”
Sandy Huffaker, Jr. is a San Diego-based freelance photographer whose work regularly appears in The New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, The San Diego Union Tribune and other publications. Learn more about him and his work at www.sandyhuffakerjr.com. Visit his blog to read his post about covering the calamity.
I saw these photos by Sandy. Is he starting to do tilt shifts like Laforet? What a cool look. What kind of tilt shift is this?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/business/29jets.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=huffaker%20plane&st=cse
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cmkUDZOmRuU/SYI9h21jjUI/AAAAAAAAAYc/4EcgjX1bbvw/s1600-h/Gulfstream1.jpg
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