What I did with a photo of a fire hydrant

Yesterday I drove past city workers who had a fire hydrant open, water gushing into the ditch parallel with the neighborhood road.

I couldn’t stop then but thought, “If I pass this way again I’ll stop to get some photos.” How often do you see a fire hydrant with water coming out, you know? Well, I was in the area again so I put the flashers on and hopped out of the car.

I’m sure the guy sitting in the Metro Works truck thought I was a few fries short of a happy meal when I asked if I could take pictures of the hydrant. I wasn’t exactly sure what I would do with the images but it was important to me to get these photos for two reasons:

Just practicing my interpersonal skills by asking for permission to get photos. This is huge because you never know when you might be in a situation where you want to snap a few photos, and a lot of times (even if it’s just out of courtesy), it’s good to ask someone who may be supervising or who’s “in charge” of the event or area in which you’re desiring some photography.
I thought it would be fun to challenge my creative side to see what I could come up with using a fire hydrant as the main focal point of a picture.

I should also say this, I have a portfolio on FineArtAmerica and so with this hydrant situation, in the back of my mind was the idea that I may end up using these photos there, in case someone wants…. a… hmmm…. a phone case with a fire hydrant on it? Hey, you never know, people are weird!

With all that said, here are two of the images I captured accompanied by edits of the photos. Judge them harshly or, you know, praise them greatly in the comments below.

BEFORE…