03/10/2016 Kaz Hamano Journalism Basic

T he Valley Fire of Middletown in Lake County was so huge it was in the news for days. When it looked like it was finally put out, I drove up there but the road (Hwy.29) was closed just south of the town. I waited two more weeks to go up again and saw the devastation that was overwhelming. The tire shop owner was there and said, "That's my tire shop now."

Camera Details
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40
1/500 sec
f/4
4.7mm
ISO 100
handheld

About the Maker

Kaz Hamano

I've been photographing since 1981, got hooked on darkroom printing, and often forgot to eat and sleep, until computer printing took over. I was reluctant to convert to digital until the quality and the price of cameras improved. My current project is to go through thousands of 35mm and medium format negatives and transparencies to scan the ones worth saving for future printing. This enormous undertaking is consuming much of my time at the moment, but will free up a good bit of closet space.