Just adding this to my portfolio. Your comments will be appreciate.

he looks winded

the whole shot looks a little washed out to me?

Portfolio for what? Would like it to show him with his mouth close and doing something else. Maybe looking at a fire. Working with his crew and showing himself as a leader. Stuff like that. Depends on your portfolio though. Who is your crowd?

Chris

Second image IS better.

Nice picture of Assistant Chief Sippin.

Number 2 for me aswell.

much better

Both are really good. I think the mouth open shows the tension that one would expect at a working fire. The photos convey that he is at a working fire and not a posed photo.
Very well done.
Ray

Oh yes, at this point he very much IS working the fire. Look into his eyes! What is missing in the sign is the heat and humidity that we had during the fire!

Tom

#2 is better - first one looks like it has a bit of haze.

I would increase the contrast even more.

Looks to me that he is in the middle of a yawn or the start of a sneeze...I 'd look for a better image. But #2 looks better.

His face is just about centered, and the overall feeling of the image composition feels a little flat IMHO. I think you could crop the ladder off the left side, making it a square crop, and a little more intimate, and stronger overall.