When Tyler Hicks says that he has just witnessed what may have been the “thickest fighting in a single day” that he has ever experienced, with the “most firepower — coming and going,” he is describing extraordinary hostilities.

As a war photographer, Mr. Hicks has covered Kosovo, Chechnya, Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been in Libya for two weeks.

We spoke with him Wednesday after he had photographed the fighting around Ras Lanuf, a rebel stronghold that is now under attack by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. We’ve edited and condensed our questions and his answers.

Q.

What has it been like to cover this kind of conflict?

A.

No one realized that this was going to escalate in the way it has, given how things happened in some other Arab countries. No one really thought this was going to become such a war, fought on open ground.

One unusual thing is the access we have to frontline fighting. Despite what a lot of people think, when you go to a war zone, there are a lot of formalities and difficulties to reach the fighting. You can get into a country but to get to where the conflict is happening can be very difficult. This is a very rare situation: complete access to a war, from the opposition side.

Q.

And how has it been for you?

A.

You never are relaxed and you never have a moment to feel at ease when you’re out working. An east-west highway runs between Ras Lanuf, where the oil refinery is, through Bin Jawwad, a smaller town to the west. Over the past three or four days, the fighting has been happening along this strip of road.

“Even if you are wearing a flak jacket and a helmet, if you were hit by one of these bombs from a jet, the clothes wouldn’t do you very much good.” — Tyler Hicks

That fighting includes bombing from jets, shooting from helicopters and incoming mortar and heavy machine gun fire. This is all happening over relatively flat terrain, with very little cover. So when you commit yourself to working out there, there’s not a whole lot you can to do protect yourself. I’m always looking for some kind of cover. But the bombs they’re dropping are huge. You can’t run from them, because you don’t know where they’re going to land. Even if you are wearing a flak jacket and a helmet, if you were hit by one of these bombs from a jet, the clothes wouldn’t do you very much good.

It’s really just a matter of finding a spot and working from it and that’s it. The only way to see what’s going on is to be out there and take as many precautions as you can.

The mornings have typically been quiet, for the most part. We get to the frontline area and wait for the fighting to start. Once it starts, it’s very heavy. Today, we were engaged in fighting for most of the day. There was never a lull. There was never a break in the fighting.

In Afghanistan, where I’ve been working for the past 10 years, going on military embeds and being part of lots of operations as a photographer, there are ebbs and flows in the fighting. Today, in Libya, the fighting went on for four or five hours without a single lull. There was shooting going on constantly, mortars landing around us constantly. The rebel fighters were very active, too, in firing rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and Kalashnikov rifles at the government positions. Every day is a little different.

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Q.

How do you know when to quit for the day?

“You always have to remind yourself: even as an observer, you’re just as susceptible to getting hit as anyone else.” — Tyler Hicks

A.

Everyone has a different threshold. Once I get a sense that the government side has a serious advantage, I back off. Today, the fighters I was with had the advantage. They were moving forward throughout the day. But near the end of the day, we started to get hit much more rapidly and much more accurately. It was a barrage of mortar fire. Explosions were happening all around us. Right then, I knew it was time to go. A pickup truck pulled up. Another photographer and I jumped onto it. At this point, a general sense of panic took over. Everyone was trying to leave. The truck made several stops on our retreat. By the time we got away, people were clinging to every possible part of that truck to get a ride out of there.

Q.

In a lot of the pictures, you seem to be close up with the rebel fighters. Did you know who they were or was it just too chaotic?

A.

Too chaotic. I’m constantly moving around. Occasionally, you run into people who speak English. In general, they’re really supportive. Even out in the middle of the fighting, someone will hand you a box of juice or a bottle of water. They might ask your name or where you’re from. Some ask who I work for. They’re saying, “Get down” or “Move to another place for your own safety.” So they’re doing what they can to be helpful out there, even under those circumstances.

Q.

How far are you from the government fighters?

A.

I’d say we were a couple of kilometers; maybe not even. [A mile or so.] There’s a ridge line that we could see that they were fighting from.

Q.

You keep saying “we.” Were you with other photographers and reporters?

“I’ve been in places where I’ve seen more casualties, but this certainly involved the most firepower.” — Tyler Hicks

A.

In these situations, you don’t want to go completely on your own. I had driven down with three other news photographers. We were always — for the most part — within sight of one another until the end of the day, when we got split up and retreated in different vehicles, probably within five or 10 minutes of one another. Another issue, of course, is getting drivers. Anyone who goes into this area assumes the same risk as any of the fighters. That’s something you always have to remind yourself: even as an observer, you’re just as susceptible to getting hit as anyone else.

Q.

Have you ever seen anything like this before?

A.

Today reminded me of Afghanistan in 2001, the very first time I went. I was with the Northern Alliance and they were pushing from the Panjshir Valley to Kabul. This was the only other time in the past 10 years that I was with a rebel army marching on foot toward an objective, with complete access and with that level of fighting.

In fact, today was much heavier fighting than I experienced in Afghanistan. It may have even been the thickest fighting in a single day that I have ever experienced. The amount of incoming and outgoing fire, and the duration of it, was more intense than anything I’ve experienced. I’ve been in places where I’ve seen more casualties, but this certainly involved the most firepower — coming and going.

Conflict is very difficult to capture in a still photograph. Once you take away the sound and the motion, when you’re trying to capture that feeling and that atmosphere, it’s very difficult to translate — what it feels like to be there, the confusion and gunfire and bombs and all these things that envelop you in battle. To take a single photograph of that is a challenge.

Q.

Did you do it today?

A.

I always try.