Photo credit:  HPS member Connor McLeod.  Every great photo has a story:  “This photo was taken several years ago while on an Army training exercise in Yakima Training Center, Washington State. It was one of the last days of the exercise, while things were winding down. Smoking was generally authorized only in random areas designated as the “Smoke Pit”, where Soldiers commonly would gather and socialize over cigarettes. Even though I don’t smoke, I liked the company of those who did. I found that, for some reason, conversations in the smoke pit always turned oddly philosophical and I enjoyed hearing them for a few different reasons. The sun had set probably 15 minutes prior, the sky had turned a very deep purple at this point, and the moment was pleasant enough to still be lucidly memorable. I took a lucky series of pictures focusing on the smoking aspect of the smoke pit, this one being one of the more ambiguous. The mood it conveys is dead accurate, the grit on the fingers from hours of cleaning rifles, the cap in rough shape likely from abuse throughout the exercise, the last light of the day fleeting, leading to the flickers of the lighters and the glow of the cigarettes being the predominant illumination.  This was taken on a Soviet Zenit ET (early 80’s) with a Helios 40-2 85mm f1.5 lens (mid 70’s). This was certainly shot wide open at f1.5, and if I remember correctly, at 1/15 or 1/30 of a second on Ilford HP5 B/W ISO 400 film no doubt using my knee as a tripod. The camera couldn’t handle the abuse and promptly broke after this roll of film.”