According to the recommendations of the US National Fire Protection Agency a blue color hydrant would signify water flow of 1500gpm (gallons per minute) or more — important information for Firefighters.
Simply an interesting play in color and white balance for me.
Interesting play indeed… and very nicely done.
Hi pj, thanks!
I didn’t know that. Your image makes me smile this morning. Thanks, Earl!
Monte, I didn’t know it ether until I looked it up. There a whole scheme of colors including green as well as red.
Anytime I can make someone smile it’s been a good day…you just made me smile as well. :-)
This is the first blue hydrant I’ve seen. The composition and tonality are fantastic, too!
Ken, thanks. I’d seen green, yellow, blue and of course the red hydrant’s around here but I never knew the meaning behind the colors until I looked it up for this photo. I guess there may be a requirement that to be a firefighter you can’t be color blind. :-)
Ah, yes. Another bit of knowledge that I didn’t know. I’m sure that adding this piece made me forget something else, but I just don’t know what. ;) Great processing, Earl. The hydrant glows/shimmers.
LOL…I’ve become all too aware how finite my memory is these days. That’s why my iPhone with Internet connection has become important to me…I can “Google” it. :-)
Thanks, Paul!
Very interesting, Earl. Like Ken, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blue one before. However, while I’m sure that all firemen know what each color means, I doubt it really makes much difference. When they pull up to a house on fire, for example, I don’t think they get to “pick” from multiple hydrants. If they find one of any color reasonably close, they probably feel lucky. And given our rapidly crumbling infrastructure, I tend to think that most hydrants don’t perform as advertised anymore.
Paul, thanks, since i took this photo I’m now noticing blue hydrants all over the place. :-)
One situation I can think of where it’d make a big difference would be if the fire company was using tankers to fight a fire. Filling up a large water tank would be worth bit further drive for a Blue 1500gpm hydrant then say a Red one at 500gpm.
You may be right about about the status of the infrastructure and rated hydrant performance, however, I believe regular hydrant flow testing is a standard procedure for most fire department’s…at least here it is.
Fine Art Fire Plugs – I like it! Many moons ago the town I lived in decorated fire hydrants for – I think – the bicentennial. Painted up in all kinds of schemes. Good to know that there is a color code.
Tom, yes, I’m going after a long overlooked fine art niche…art lovers of the canine world. So far this image has been a five “leg up” success! ;-)
Never thought a fire hydrant would make much of a subject…I’ve been proven wrong. Nice work!
John, thanks! You know, the more photos I take the more I come to think anything can make an interesting image — it’s up to the photographer to discover the story and present it.