Whata Blast

[hminx]

You're a braver man than me Gunga Din
This guy is at the uppermost reaches of a power pylon using a high pressure water and granite grit to remove the old coating above a live 220,000 volt line.

[Greg McCary]

Really nice Pete. Great conversion too. Hopefully it was off and there was an armed guard by the on switch.lol

[hminx]

Greg I can asure you the line was live. I wanted to shoot from closer in but under the tower was a no go, and the day i was there they were having a safety audit. I had to wear all the safety kit just to enter the work site. I think this is the first time I have taken a photo while wearing a hard hat.....

[jetrim]

Great shot Pete.

Those linesmen are totally nuts! Out in the Everglades they make repairs and do stuff like this by helicopter. The pilot eases in and hovers just above the live wires and the linesman hangs out the side door Never could get close enough to grab a shot though.

[ksbryan0]

Great catch Pete. Must have to be a real thrill-seeker to do a job like that!

[Don Schaeffer]

Real journalistic shot

[NKP68]

Great B&W rendering. I like it a lot. Sharp and nice contrats. I would have concentrated on the worker, his equipment and the spray his gun produced. That's the image for me. Needs tighter crop loosing all but him, his pose, some girder, and spray. I really don't think it needs more then that. The griders and your camera angle does the rest. A nit pick would be to clone the part of the line that runs behind his left leg.
Ed

[Grandpaw]

I think you did an excellent job on this one. As far as a closer crop I think you would loose all perspective of where he is at. It is sharp and I like the contrast and would keep it just like it is, Jeff

[armando_m]

brave indeed !

I think the composition is right so it show the large insulator , the line and the crazy worker blasting the structure

nice contrasty b&w

[hminx]

Thanks guys appreciate the comments, this has only a slight crop and a bit of a straighten. Reducing the blue slider made the spray stand out a bit better.

[LeeIs]

Very nice tones. Composition is good even though it's a bit top heavy. I like the coils running down the right side. it bridges the bottom empty area with the heavier area up top.

[Marc2B4]

Dude has to have gonads the size of watermelons to do that job. Great shot. I've done some crazy things through the years to get the shot, but I'd never dream of going up on hot electrical towers.

[gahspidy]

Looks good, Pete. i like the entire framing here. Yeah, they don't turn off nothing for these guys. . .I'm sure he could feel the current being in such close proximity to the wires. They say there is a sorta buzz or static electricity when close to them..

[hminx]

Thanks Liban, Marc, and Gary. I have a couple of shots with more space between the insulators and the edge but his posture in this one made it my pick.
I was told they can feel that electric field with that amount of power in the lines.

[NKP68]

Congrats on the Sticky. Well deserved.

Ed

[ksbryan0]

Kudos Pete! Well deserved.

[draymorton]

Brings to mind an old AC/DC tune... if ya know what I mean.

Great subject, well captured. Congrats on the feature!

[hminx]

Ed, Ken, and Dray thanks for that, very much appreciated

[shootme]

Very interesting shot, love the capture of falling water and nicely done in B&W. Always thought water and electricity didn't go together, lol. Congrats on feature.

[hminx]

Thanks Shootme, I think this is a bit safer than it looks, these guys do this all the time and there is never a safety issue.