(Sleeveless tank tops and if your lucky enough to be considered his friend you are a dude too.) Meet our member 411 Gene Blevins. for the past 13 years Gene has been covering news Considered one of the best in his field, he really is a true firebuff. His first big fire was the Old Glendale Elk's Lodge on Colorado Blvd. The one he remembers most was the building explosion that occurred on Glenoaks near Sonora when full tanks of oxygen went flying thru the air. When asked what has changed over the past 13 years he's been doing this he says cameras and film. Today he shoots with a couple of Canon EOS 1 N's with a Canon 20-35 MM mounted on one and the other has a 35-350MM, on the other he finds the 540 EZ strobe to be the best, and last but not least the most important he loves FUJI-800 film. Today he's a contractual photographer for The Daily News. In the past his pictures have appeared in The Glendale News Press, Firehouse Magazine, The Grapevine, Time Magazine, and several TV Tabloid productions. When asked what bothers him most about shooting fires and accidents he says when he has to cover a family member showing up on the scene of a fatal or critical accident. If he could have his wishes come true he said it would be great to be like our fellow photographers in New York and be able to respond with light and siren. Gene grew up in Glendale, Ca. with his brother and parents, attended Glendale schools and then went on to Glendale Community College for a couple of photo classes. On the lighter side he admits to owning only 4 long sleeve shirts and has even received long sleeves dust sleeves) as Christmas gifts. When you can benchpress at least 300 Ibs it's ok to wear tanktops. He listens to 3 radios at a time so he never misses the action. In his 13 or so years of shooting he thinks he has gone thru 20,000 rolls of film. The picture that has paid him the most rewards is Alec Baldwin and tabloid photographer Alan Zanger, followed by the now famous shot of John Orr holding a little dog. Asked if he ever wanted to be a fire-fighter he said he took the test a couple of years ago and missed the written part by only a couple of points. Gene looks for a cover shot or front page in every shot he shoots, now having broken some records for the most covers from a CFPA member. Some of his other interests currently are sckerfing which is like water skiing but with a surfboard. In concluding this interview I asked the lean mean Gene, the photo machine who he looks up to in the photography world (and no it wasn't Jeff 408) he said the photographers from World War II.