Bob Crum

Based on several email comments received, irksome could describe the state of mind of a percentage of this column's readers. Puzzling is the recurring question: Why do I persevere in promoting the dead medium called photography? The question is relevant with respect to the advancing technology of the cellphone's ability to 'take' decent photos.

The following are relevant excerpts from the Guardian. "It's really weird," says Antonio Olmos. "Photography has never been so popular, but it's getting destroyed. There have never been so many photographs taken (300 million posted on FB every day) but photography is dying."

But what does Olmos mean by saying photography is dying? He argues that in the 1850s the rise of photography made many painters, who had previously made nice livings from painting family portraits, redundant. Now it's the turn of professional photographers to join the scrap heap. "Photographers are getting destroyed by the rise of iPhones. The photographers who used to make £1,000 for a weekend taking wedding pictures are the ones facing the squeeze. Increasingly we don't need photographers – we can do just as well ourselves."

"Don't get me wrong. I love iPhones and Instagram," says Olmos. "But what I worry about is that Kodak used to employ 40,000 people in good jobs. What have they been replaced by? Twelve people at Instagram.

But there's a stronger reason that makes Olmos argue photography is dying. "The iPhone has a crap lens. You can take a beautiful picture on the iPhone and blow it up for a print and it looks terrible."

But who needs prints in a paper-free world? "For me the print is the ultimate expression of photography," he retorts. "When I do street photography courses, I get people to print pictures – often for the first time. The idea is to slow them down, to make them make – not just take – photographs."

Guardian photographer Eamonn McCabe agrees: "At the risk of sounding like one of those bores defending vinyl over CDs, I think there's a depth to a print you don't get with digital. It took me back to the days when photography didn't make people like me lazy."

Why is digital lazy? "It's a scattergun approach. You snap away thinking, 'One of these shots will work', rather than concentrate on capturing the image."

McCabe used to take two rolls of 24 exposures on a typical assignment. "Now I can shoot 1,000 pictures in one of these sessions on digital – and I give myself a massive editing problem as a result. I don't think photography's dead, it's just become lazy. People are taking lots of pictures, but nobody's looking at them."

For a more positive sense of what digital and cameraphone technology has done to photography, I spoke to Nick Knight, the British fashion photographer who's just done two big assignments entirely on iPhone – a book of 60 images celebrating the work of the late fashion editor Isabella Blow. "I work frequently on the iPhone. It's almost become my camera of choice."

But what about the "crap" iPhone lens? "Who cares? The image isn't sharp? Big deal! One of my favorite photographers is Robert Capa, whose pictures are a bit blurry sometimes – I love them because he's captured a moment.

"What I'm into is a visual connection to what I'm taking, not pin-sharp clarity. It's absurd for people to think all photos need to be high-resolution – what matters, artistically, is not how many pixels it has, but if the image works. The machinery you create your art on is irrelevant." Irrelevant? Hmm. To be continued...

The photo of the week is of two fishermen at sunset. I particularly like how the light and shadows work on the fishermen and the soft light reflected off the ocean.

Send comments, suggestions or questions to: focusonphotography@earthlink.net

At last night’s City Council meeting a Ventura County Health Care Agency representative invited everyone to the Santa Clara Valley Town Hall Meeting on February 5th from 6pm – 7:30pm at the Fillmore Active Adult Center.

City Council asked staff to meet with representatives of the various sports leagues to get their comments on the proposed policy. City staff met with the leaders of the various youth organizations within the City that use the City’s recreational fields on December 18, 2019 and January 8, 2020 to discuss the City’s proposed field rental policy. After explaining the policy, the youth organization representatives all stated that they understood and supported the policy with an implementation date of January 1, 2021. In addition, the Parks and Recreation Coordinators have each been assigned specific organizations to serve as the main point of contact, to conduct pre-season, mid-season and end of season meetings and address any concerns throughout the year. These liaison designations will result in the “ownership” of each program by the Parks and Recreation Coordinators.

Council adopted the proposed City policy for reserving baseball, softball, football, and soccer fields throughout the city, unanimously.

8C. That the City Council was asked to adopt the proposed City policy for reserving baseball, softball, football, and soccer fields throughout the city.

8.A - AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STATE ROUTE 126 AND STATE HWY 23 UTILITY COVER ADJUSTMENT PROJECT, SPEC NO. 18-01

Caltrans completed asphalt concrete paving projects on State Route 126 (Ventura Street) and State Route23 (A-Street) that covered the manhole and valve covers that serve as access points to City of Fillmore-owned water, sanitary sewer, and storm drain utilities. The City, as the utility owner, is now required to raise the covers to match the new grade as a City project under an encroachment permit from Caltrans.

This project includes exposing and raising to the new finished grade the City-owned utility covers affected by the paving projects. The contract documents also include a scope of work for the contractor to prepare a traffic control plan for approval by Caltrans. The City has already obtained an Encroachment Permit from Caltrans for this project. The contractor will obtain approval of the traffic control plan as a part of obtaining a double permit off of the City’s permit.

Council unanimously approved the award of a contract to Toro Enterprises, Inc for the construction of the State Route 126 and State Hwy23 Utility Cover Adjustment Project, Spec. No. 18-01. and for allocation of additional funds to the respective budget accounts for this work.

8B. CONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. 20-3746 TO IMPLEMENT AN INCREASE IN POTABLE WATER RATES TO AN AMOUNT LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM
PERMISSIBLE AMOUNT FOR 2020 AS AUTHORIZED BY THE 2016 PROPOSITION 218 PROCESS; AND CONSIDER RESOLUTION NO. 20-3745 TO MAINTAIN THE SEWER RATES AT AN AMOUNT LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE AMOUNT FOR 2020 AS AUTHORIZED BY THE 2016 PROPOSITION 218 PROCES.

Motion was unanimously approved.

8D. City Staff recommended that the City Council conduct the public hearing and directed staff to submit the Clean Air Fund proposal to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District for the electric vehicle and two charging stations as detailed in Exhibit 1. Alternatively, the City Council could direct staff to submit a proposal for a portion of the items included in the draft proposal.

8E. Council approved the second reading of Ordinance No. 20-925 to adopt the 2019 Uniform Building and Fire Codes, with amendments.

REQUEST - From: Tiffany J. Israel, City Attorney that the City Council listen to the 2020 Housing Legislation Update and discuss these changes and any questions with staff.

DISCUSSION
In October, Governor Newsom signed into law 18 State housing bills aimed at addressing the State’s housing affordability crisis. All 18 bills became effective on January 1, 2020. The intent of these new laws is to break down legal barriers to housing production and to create more affordable housing. One of the consequences is, however, the State’s erosion of the city’s police powers to regulate land use. The new laws also make it more difficult to deny affordable housing projects.

Some of the bills will require the city to revise their ordinances or have them be deemed void, due to a conflict with statutory law. Staff has begun drafting some of the ordinances necessary to update the Fillmore Municipal Code.

Fillmore Unified School District

2018-2019 Fillmore Unified School District (FUSD) Financial Audit
The Governing Board received a report and approved the audit.

Measure V General Obligation Bonds Financial and Performance Audit
The Governing Board received a report and approved the audit.

Governor's Budget Proposal
The Governing Board received information from Andrea McNeill, Assistant Superintendent of Business
Services, regarding the Governor's Budget Proposal.

Approve Change Orders #2-3 for Electrical Yard Infrastructure Upgrade at Fillmore High School, 555 Central
Avenue, Fillmore, CA 93015, Project 2019-035
The Governing Board approved Change Orders #2-3.

Approve Division of State Architect (DSA) Construction Inspector Recommendation
The Governing Board accepted the DSA Construction Inspector Recommendation to approve Vernier Construction
Services for the CTE Building

Award Bid for RFP# 2020-003 for Special Inspection and Material Testing Services for Fillmore High School
Existing CTE Building Demolition Project and CTE New Building Construction Project
The Governing Board awarded the bid to Lowest Qualified Bidder: CTE South, Inc.

Personnel Recommendations
The Board approved all personnel recommendations including new hires, promotions, resignations, and leaves.

Bob Crum

I'm experiencing ongoing respiratory issues, among other things. Last Thursday, I underwent a pulmonary function test (PFT) at the Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC). That's an ordeal when breathing is a challenge. Last Sunday I needed another breathing treatment. A breathing treatment involves inhaling a medication (Albuterol) turned into a fine mist and inhaled for about 20 minutes. Some may know this therapy as a nebulizer treatment and may contain steroids to decrease inflammation and secretions. I now have a nebulizer at home to use when I need it. But why can't a pharmacy lab make strawberry margarita flavored Albuterol?

Of course I took my camera and tripod with me thinking that after the respiratory therapy, I might be able to get out in the fresh air at Faria Beach and make a few photos, something I hadn't been able to do for too long. But why the beach?

It's reported that ocean waves create delightful negative ions, which are small molecules that's gained a negative electrical charge. These negative ions are found in extremely high concentrations at the beach. These microscopic molecules can pass through our skin cells and through our lungs via the air we breathe making breathing easier. But wait, there's more! Studies have also shown that negative ions possess not only an anti-microbial element but also mood enhancers. Research seems to indicate that negative ions can - I love this - influence serotonin levels in the brain. Wonderful! If a hefty dose of negative ions can kick up my serotonin level, bring'em on!

So, going to the beach following a breathing treatment is like a doctors' prescription that reads: Spend three hours at the shore of your choice for medicinal purposes. Who would dare suggest that I ignore medical orders? I ignored the part that said roguery with mermaids is forbidden.

Along with my camera, I also took my lens filter bag. Among the many filters in my filter bag, I have a very special 150mm X 100mm Singh-Ray Daryl Benson (D.B.) reverse graduated filter. Remember, the sun setting on the horizon is extremely bright. Without filtration of some type, photos of the sun at sunset exhibit a big overexposed blob. Ugh! The D.B. reverse graduated filter is darkest where it needs to be, at the center. It's clear on the bottom (for proper exposure of foregrounds which are generally darker at sunset) and transitions from dark to light above the horizon. This filter makes it perfect for sunrises and sunsets with flat defined horizons such as the seashore, prairie or desert. Accordingly, I was eager to capture a sunset photo with the D.B. filter for this week's photo of the week. I could hardly wait for the sunset.

About 15 minutes before the sun dropped down out of sight, I brought out my Lee filter holder in which I slide the D.B. filter. OH OH! The filter size on my Tamron 16-300mm lens is 67mm. The Lee filter holder that screws on to the lens is 77mm. The problem? My 67mm to 77mm step-up adapter for mounting the Lee holder was back home. Bummer! At that moment, my body was not generating sufficient serotonin to overcome instant depression.

Plan ruined, I sat down on the steps, dejected, and watched the ten-foot waves roll in. Then I heard the familiar chirp, looked up, and there he was, on a boulder overhead, posing for me. I programmed the camera (real cameras have dials and buttons) and made a few headshots of grungy J.P. Seagull for the photo of the week. Happy photoing.

Send comments, suggestions or questions to: focusonphotography@earthlink.net