Though I took only eleven photos at the last council meeting, only two of council members, Mayor Washburn still complained of too many photos. Starting this week the Gazette has begun publishing photos taken at past council meetings and other city functions, which were discarded. This should clearly demonstrate the need for multiple pictures of a particular subject, which allows an opportunity to select the best of the bunch. Often, expressions change in awkward ways which the subject would find embarrassing, or the light, focus, or composition is poor. A photographer wants to be able to select the best. Group photos can be troublesome because every member (in a candid shot especially) is moving.

At council meetings each presentation should be photographed (multiple times for the above reasons) as well as speakers addressing the council. So, with a group council member shot, speaker and presentation shots, etc., covering these meetings often involves taking 20 to 30 photographs, which are always edited before publishing.

In an effort to preserve domestic tranquility (by showing the photos we didn’t use) I would ask our city council majority to let me know when they’ve seen enough to convince them that more should often be less. The archive is very large and we have only begun to delve into its depths.

I thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

***

I watched most of the Republican debate last night. I was embarrassed for Perry during his scolding of Romney about Romney’s use of a gardening company which had allegedly hired an illegal crew member. It was both petty and irrelevant to the serious issue of illegal immigration, and presidential qualifications. As usual, Romney did well. Cain also did well, though he needs to explain his 9-9-9 tax better. Newt, as usual, did best with his answers. Bachman was ready with solid answers as well.

Candidate religious affiliation, unfortunately, continues to be an issue with some folks. Romney happens to be a Mormon. He also happens to be a man with singularly high moral values, a bright, trustworthy, conservative candidate with great business and government experience. He is a man I would trust with the presidency, as I would each of the other candidates, though I differ sharply on some issues (Perry’s no-fence).

Think about this: There are somewhere between 30,000-40,000 Christian denominations today, all of which disagree with one another on doctrine (salvation). Many of us are destined for a big surprise! I happen to be a Catholic. Many, if not most, of the 30,000-something believe Catholics are not Christian, which means nothing to me.

During my lifetime I’ve had only one opportunity to vote for a Catholic presidential candidate (JFK) but I voted for Goldwater because he was the conservative. If Romney gets the nomination I will enthusiastically vote for him, and rejoice when he wins.

As things stand now, the only candidates I could not vote for are Ron Paul and Perry; Perry for his anti-fence attitude, and Paul because some of his ideas are a little kooky.

Ask yourselves this: How much of a Christian can Obama be after worshiping in the racist, bigoted church of the “reverend” Jeremiah Wright for 20 years? Remember this Jew-hating, white folks-hating, spiritual menace saying “Not God bless America - God damn America!” This is our president’s friend and mentor of 20 years speaking. This should delineate the choice for those calling themselves Christians who seek a candidate guided by traditional Christian ethics and morals.