Fillmore Unified School District

Board Policy Updates
The Governing Board approved the following Board Policy updates at the November 20, 2018 meeting: BP/AR 6142.1 Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Instruction, AR 3516.3 Earthquake Emergency Procedure System, BP 3515.7 Firearms on School Grounds, and BP/AR 3515.2 Disruptions

Draft Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Strategic Goals
The Governing Board received a presentation on the draft Mission, Vision, Core Values, and Strategic Goals. Superintendent Palazuelos presented the information.

Approve the Start and End Dates for 2019-2020 School Year
The Governing Board approved the start date for staff to be Monday, August 12, 2019, followed by the first student day to take place on Thursday, August 15, 2019. Pending collaboration from both employee units, the last day for students would be June 4, 2020, followed by a teacher workday on June 5, 2020.

Approve Date and Time of the Annual Organizational Meeting
The Governing Board approved the date and time of the Annual Organizational Meeting to take place on Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 6:30 PM

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

Bob Crum

Well, I gave y'all a heads up for Black Friday. You also had another fantabulous opportunity on Cyber Monday. You bought a camera, right? Great!

Regardless of what you bought, you could not have gone wrong given modern-day technology. These marvelous, wondrous image makers do everything except wash the supper dishes.

Now, please READ THE MANUAL! I know, these days, many manufacturers are bypassing the written manuals and putting them online to download as a pdf. Do it! Download it and study at your leisure.

Videos are another option. When I bought the Canon 7D Mark II camera, which is a complex and powerful camera, I purchased a tutorial video ($29.00) specifically for the 7D2 from creativelive.com. The demonstration videos were great explaining all of the camera’s features and functions. It helped me navigate and customize the menus, and how to best use the extraordinary autofocus system. Not to mention the camera's video capabilities. It was a big help, worth 10 times the cost.

There are plenty of resources available to help you get up to speed with just about any camera you buy. Needless to say, it's of the utmost importance to KNOW how to operate the camera. Mastering the camera will enable you to capture the photos that you mentally visualize. I can't stress this point enough.

Of course, most cameras have a 'program' or 'auto' mode, and that's fine to begin with. In fact, I advocate that you start out in auto mode. But when doing so, you can do yourself a huge favor by reviewing the metadata. That is, after making the photo look at the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture the camera used to make the photo. The metadata will help you quickly understand the relationship between ISO, aperture and shutter speed for proper exposure. Then, when you're not satisfied with a photo the auto setting used to create the photo, you'll be ready to take the next step: Manual mode! That is, taking control and setting the ISO, aperture and shutter speed. When you start doing this, you are becoming a photographer, your ultimate goal. Right?

Operating a camera is not rocket science. You can do this. When you know how to program the camera for the photo you want, you begin to 'create' photos. It's this creative process that is so overwhelmingly satisfying. It's not unlike any creative art form. There's untold joy in Fine Art Photography. Trust me, you'll love it!

The subject of the photo of the week is a yellow-crowned night heron. I photographed this rarely seen bird at the Ventura Harbor, one of my favorite haunts. Take a moment to check the photo data, especially ISO and shutter speed.

It was past sundown when I first saw the bird perched briefly on a commercial fishing ship. As it flew, I followed, huffing and puffing as it landed briefly here and there. It kept flying... I kept chasing. Because it was moving fast, I set shutter speed at 1/320th. It finally landed down at the water's edge where the light was very dim. I knew I had to shoot fast. In the excitement I neglected to slow the shutter speed to a more appropriate 1/60th. That would have reduced ISO from the ultra high of 10000 to perhaps 1600 resulting in much less image noise. I ignored, with great trepidation, the fact that the 7D2 is not supposed to capture acceptable photos at that high an ISO because of excessive image noise. A subject for another day. Happy photoing!

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

Please join many of your local non-profit organizations, local first responders, students and members of the community in kicking off the annual giving of Holiday Spirit for those in need. Between now and December 14, donations of new unwrapped toys, canned food, reading books and new coats for children will be accepted. Donation drop offs include the City of Fillmore Fire Station, City of Fillmore Police Station, Fillmore City Hall and Bank of The Sierra. If you would like to make a monetary donation to the overall effort, checks may be made payable to the "Fillmore Volunteer Fire Foundation" a 501(c)(3) organization. Other local non-profit organizations supporting the Community Giveaway are; Fillmore Rotary, Fillmore Lions Club, Fillmore Search and Rescue, Ventura County Sheriff's Deputy Association, Soroptimist International of Fillmore, One Step A La Vez, the Latshaw Foundation, the Santa Clara Valley Legal Aid, Fillmore FFA and Sespe 4-H. If you would like to have any items picked up or have any questions please call (805) 524-1500 ext 226. Thank you.

The project looks to be about 90 percent completed. Work on the Station, originally scheduled for completion in December of last year, was halted due to union issues according to Fillmore Planning Director, Kevin McSweeney. Efforts to contact the project manager have been unsuccessful, but work on utilities and painting are ongoing.

The Station appears to be a 5-star project with brick driving areas and decorative rock walls. With a price tag of approximately $9-million, it should be. The large station is expected to be an important fire-fighting asset, especially for eastern Ventura County.

Perhaps it might have proven helpful in fighting this year’s devastating fires had it been finished on time.

At last week’s council meeting they unanimously approved a new development of 133 homes.

Comstock’s parent company, Hearthstone, will be building the “affordable” detached condominium units east of Pole Creek and south of the El Dorado Mobile Home Park. The Units will be named Oak Haven and be part of the Bridges subdivision.

The units will be freestanding homes; however the buyer will not own the land underneath it. Hearthstone also plans single-family homes in the next phase of Oak Haven. They will include five floor plans and differing architectural styles and range in size from 1,610 to 2,486 square feet. It will be a gated community with a community center, pool and playground, and private roads.

Prices for the gated community have not been disclosed yet, but homes in Oak Haven’s 1stphase were priced $300,000 to $400,000. The builder said he “expects 80% of the Oak Haven buyers to be first-time homebuyers and the majority of those will probably use loans insured by the FHA, which allows for smaller down payments” according to the VC Star.

Thanksgiving is almost here and that means the Fillmore Lions Club Christmas Parade is happening as well.

This year’s Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday, December 1st. The parade will begin at 10:00 am. And as always, Santa will trade in his sleigh for the morning and make his special trip down Central Avenue aboard a Fillmore Fire Department fire truck. At the end of his ride, Santa will make his way to the depot so you can take photos with the kids Don’t forget your camera!

The Christmas Parade is open to individuals, businesses, civic organizations, school bands, church groups, car clubs and equestrians. Just about any group or person who wants to celebrate the season with a “themed entry” is welcome and there is no cost to enter the parade. To be a part of the Christmas Parade, send an email to FillmoreChristmasParade@gmail.com and an application will be sent to you. For questions or additional information, please contact Lion Scott Lee at 524-1896.

The parade route will be posted “No Parking” from 8:00 am to approximately 12:00 pm on the day of the parade on Central Avenue from Third Street to Santa Clara. Your cooperation is needed in order to keep vehicles off of the parade route during that time for the safety of parade participants and spectators.

Although the Fillmore Christmas Parade has a long standing tradition in Fillmore, it was in danger of being cancelled in 2001 when the parade lost its’ sponsor. The late Hank Carrillo suggested the Fillmore Lions Club assume the responsibility for the Christmas Parade as a service to the community and the Lions Club continues to sponsor the Parade in Hank Carrillo’s honor. Fillmore Lions wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing you on December 1st!

Bob Crum

Anyone keeping count? I am! This is column number 100! I'm proud of this milestone! More importantly, being Thanksgiving, I thank you because without the support of all 2,386,395 readers like you, it couldn't happen! I also thank the Fillmore Gazette for the opportunity to dazzle you with writings of Pulitzer Prize caliber.

Ready for Black Friday? Now that y'all know the benefits of a 'real' camera, you know that you want one! Or you know someone on your Christmas shopping list who would love to receive a real camera.

Cameras and multiple lenses are not essential for successful photography. Present-day point-and-shoot cameras with attached lenses are excellent, and generally cost less. For example, a new P&S just announced is the Sony HX99. For starters, the HX99 is the perfect travel camera. It packs a 28x zoom (24-720mm), 18MP 1/2.3" sensor, 180-degree tilting 3.0" touch screen and 4K/30p video with full pixel readout plus 10 fps shooting with a 155 image buffer and much more. All that fabulous technology for merely $448.00. Incredible! I'd be thrilled to receive an HX99. (hint hint)

For your convenience, I'm presenting some camera buying guides. Though not a comprehensive list, any Black Friday or Cyber Monday deal on the following cameras will surely scratch anyone's photographic itch. I'm not endorsing one over another and the numbers 1-10 are merely separators and do not infer that #1 is better than #5.

Consider for kids: 1. Fujifilm Instax Square SQ10, 2. Nikon Coolpix W300, 3. Olympus Tough TG-5, 4. Fujifilm FinePix XP120, 5. Ricoh WG-50, 6. Canon EOS 200D / Rebel SL2 , 7. Nikon D5600.

Cameras for beginners: 1. Canon EOS Rebel SL2 / EOS 200D + EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM, 2. Nikon D3500 + AF-P DX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR, 3. Canon EOS Rebel T7 + EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II, 4. Canon EOS Rebel T100 / EOS 4000D + EF-S 18-55mm, 5. Nikon D5600 + AF-P 18-55mm DX VR, 6. Pentax K-70 + HD DA 18-50mm f/4-5.6 DC WR RE7, Panasonic Lumix GX80 + Lumix G VARIO 12-32mm MEGA O.I.S., 8. Fujifilm X-A10 + XC16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS II, 9. Sony A5100 + E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS, 10. Olympus E-M10 III + M.ZUIKO 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ.

Compact cameras: 1. Panasonic TZ200 / SZ200 2. Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II 3. Fujifilm X100F, 4. Panasonic LX100 II, 5. Leica Q (Typ 116), 6. Panasonic LX15 / LX10, 7. Ricoh GR II, 8. Sony RX100 VI, 9. Panasonic Lumix FZ2500 /
FZ2000. 10. Sony RX10 IV.

Mirrorless cameras: 1. Fujifilm X-T3, 2. Nikon Z7, 3. Canon EOS R, 4. Sony Alpha A7 III, 5. Panasonic Lumix G9, 6. Sony A6500, 7. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III, 8. Fujifilm X-T20 camera, 9. Fujifilm X-H1 camera, 10. Sony A9 camera, 11. Sony A7 II camera, 12. Panasonic GH5 camera.

dSLR cameras for photography enthusiasts: 1. Nikon D850, 2. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 3. Nikon D750, 4. Canon EOS 6D Mark II, 6. Nikon D7500, 7. Canon EOS 5DS/5DS R, 8. Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 9. Nikon D500, 10. Sony Alpha A99 Mark II.

Local retailers are Samy's Camera and Hooper Camera. If you are averse to paying sales tax, shop Adorama at https://www.adorama.com or B&H https://www.bhphotovideo.com. Shop only “authorized” retailers. Now you no longer have an excuse to remain cameraless. Just pick one and buy!

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving as you gather with loved ones to celebrate the holiday. Preserve the precious memories with lots of photos to enjoy henceforth!

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