Bob Crum

Around Easter time the Antelope Valley west of Lancaster is alive with hundreds of acres of gold-colored California poppies--a cornucopia of poppies such to cause a sudden copious flow of uncontrollable giggles. None yet this year, I miss them.

Another delightful flower I miss are lilacs. From Sunset Magazine: “(Lilacs) Flowers as pretty as party dresses, with a gently sweet fragrance reminiscent of Grandma’s dressing table, make lilacs sentimental favorites. Lilacs spark nostalgia ― possibly for a place where they once flourished, or perhaps for another era. But this nostalgia isn’t easy to create everywhere. In (So-Cal) mild-winter climates, you can’t pop just any lilac into the ground and expect an exuberant show of blooms come midspring. You’ll need to buy low-chill varieties.”

Aha! Low-chill varieties is the secret. If I had a place to move to hereabouts where I could play horticulturist, I'd plant a couple bushes of ‘blue skies’ lilacs: Very fragrant lavender flowers appear on an 8-foot-tall plant. Heavy bloomer. No need to adjust water to induce dormancy.” But I digress.

Speaking of flowers, the fabulous Fillmore Vision 2020/Civic Pride 2018 Fillmore Flower Show was held this past weekend--a tradition since 1919. The Active Adult & Community Center was full of exposed naked flowers in full bloom.

So many roses on display obviously many Fillmore residents are rose aficionados. A room full of rose blooms of various colors including pretty petite roses. Not just roses. Blooms and plants of differing kinds and colors were on display.

Photographically speaking, the flower show is a tough assignment. Lighting is not good but can't use flash because of excessive unsightly glare reflected from the plants. What's a photographer to do? Personally, I simply substitute margaritas for ice tea in the flask in my back pocket and shoot. Trade secret. Indoor fluorescent lighting like in the Community Center always present challenges. Pardon me here as I get a tad technical. Colors captured by cameras are interpreted in degrees of Kelvin (K) on a scale from 1,000 to 10,000. Kelvin represents the temperature of light, directly correlated with the color of the burning carbon at that temperature. This is important because the color of the light will affect the colors in photographs. Furthermore, cameras see colors differently than our eyes.

Hark, a remedy is at hand. Camera white balance settings compensate for a given light source Kelvin. Correct white balance (WB) makes white areas look white. The white balance setting chosen will change the color balance in your pictures, making it warmer or cooler depending on how the light affects the subject.

The various white balance settings on my Canon 7D MKII to approximate the K of the light are: Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten light, fluorescent light, flash, custom and kelvin. Custom is interesting. More another time.

Outdoors on sunny days auto white balance works fine for landscape photos and mermaids sunning on the beach. Indoor fluorescent lighting often messes with 'auto' WB. Hence I switched the camera's WB to the fluorescent setting. But fluorescent light's K varies. What then? I can't dial in the K temp because I have no way of determining it. Matters not because the 'fluorescent' setting worked reasonably well. Any remaining color shift was corrected during post processing with Lightroom software.

The photo of the week is one of the many creative presentations at the show: Plant in a boot with a note on the rock. Test question: What do you see unusual about the photo data? Happy photoing!

Send comments, suggestions or questions to bob@fillmoregazette.com

Corey Cole

Fillmore High Head Football Coach Corey Cole has resigned after one season at Fillmore High School. The team finished their season 0-10, and 0-3 in Frontier League. Not only will the Flashes be looking for a new coach, but they will also be moving into a new league next fall.

Grad Nite Live is back and in full swing! Here’s your chance to support the Fillmore High School 2018 Senior Class, by purchasing Central Station Bar & Grill lunch/dinner tickets for only $11.00. Tickets will be sold at Bank of the Sierra through the end of May.

Also keep your eyes open for everyone’s favorite “Nothing Bundt Cakes” fundraiser to begin April 16th, and be delivered just in time for Mother’s Day. The senior class of 2018 will have the opportunity to celebrate their achievement with a fun filled night at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The cost per student is $100, so please come and show your support.

Thank you, Grad Nite Live

Bob Crum

Air shows present so many photographic challenges that lots of attempted shots are missed. Proof of this is exhibited by the profusion of expletives uttered by other photogs in the media area. On the other hand, 'money' shots captured are accompanied with a loud, joyful BOOYA! My goal: More booyas than dagnabbits!

For safety reasons air show planes fly at a designated distance away from the audience. Without a super-telephoto lens, aircraft performing off in a distance look like ants on the screen of an outdoor theater. Tiny! I don't own a super-telephoto lens because my normal assignments don't require one. Therefore, for special occasions like air shows, I rent one.

For past air shows I rented a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6'L' lens. Superb optics but weighs a hefty 3.5 pounds. With that lens on my 2 pound Canon 7D2 I'm lifting a hefty 5 pounds. Think about holding up five pounds for 3-1/2 hours! Add two pounds each hour because as we grow older gravity gets stronger... so it seems.

This year I threw caution to the stratosphere and risked renting the Tamron 18-400mm telephoto lens instead of the Canon lens. Can a lens that costs 2/3 less than the premium Canon 'L' lens perform as advertised... and hoped?

I was delightfully surprised. I can't say the image quality is precisely as good as the Canon lens, but it was up to the task. It takes a discerning eye to see significant difference in image quality. My arms so loved the lighter load they're hoping I'll consider buying that lens. Silly arms!

The photo of the week is a Sabre and Mig approaching together but far out. Therefore I zoomed all the way to 355mm. Why not all the way to 400mm you ask? Framing fast flying jets in the viewfinder is tricky so best leave room for error while also attempting to adhere to the photographic 'rule of thirds'.

While the 'rule of thirds' is preferred it's not easy to accomplish with fast moving jet aircraft. To understand and apply the photographic rule of thirds, imagine breaking up an image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The four intersection points of these lines are where subjects should be placed to create a strong, balanced image. Like all rules, break as needed!

Studies have shown that when viewing images people’s eyes tend to go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the image. When viewing the photo of the week, do your eyes naturally go to the upper left third of the photo? Works, doesn't it? Or did your eyes naturally go to the left third of the photo because that's where the planes are?

It's good to try to apply the rule of thirds when possible but not always applicable. Also, perfect focus on fast subjects is hit and miss... mostly miss. For example, as a jet is approaching, I'll start panning with it as soon as I see it in the viewfinder. Using back-button focus on my camera, I'll mash the focus button as soon as I see the plane in the frame. Timing is key. Wait for it... wait.... wait.... BOOYA!

Since it all sounds like a chore, why do it? Because the thrill of capturing booya photos trounce the trials and tribulations. More importantly, I delight in story telling by photos (photojournalism).

Lastly, I finally finished the photo/video of the Blue & Gray Civil War reenactment. View it here... https://youtu.be/nqSLR5eJOvc .

Send your comments, questions, or suggestions to bob@fillmoregazette.com

This morning, amid widespread opposition from Ventura residents and environmental groups, Supervisors Peter Foy and Kelly Long withdrew their proposal to eliminate the public’s right to challenge oil drilling and other development projects that impact the environment and public health.

In the four short days since announcing the proposal, the Supervisors received more than 100 letters and emails from Ventura County residents demanding that the right to appeal certain oil drilling projects throughout the County be preserved.

The proposal – announced last Thursday – sought to revoke a longstanding provision in the County’s Zoning Ordinance that gives the pubic the right to appeal the County Planning Division’s issuance of Zoning Clearances. These clearances are the primary means by which new oil wells are approved and drilled, and they are issued without any public hearing or environmental review. Appeals allow further review and oversight by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors for certain controversial drilling projects before they can proceed.

Supervisor Foy’s and Long’s proposal was initiated last November, when Foy unilaterally directed County staff to prepare a report summarizing the amount of funds and staff time that the County Planning Division spends processing appeals of oil-related Zoning Clearances. Last week, Supervisor Long joined Supervisor Foy in making a formal proposal to eliminate the public’s right to appeal Zoning Clearances, claiming that the move was justified because of the “astonishing” costs associated with 42 appeals.

However, the figures they cited were grossly inflated; only three appeals of oil-related Zoning Clearances have ever been filed, a small fraction of the 119 oil-related Zoning Clearances issued since 2014, according to data that ForestWatch provided to the Supervisors yesterday in a letter criticizing Supervisor Foy’s and Long’s proposal.

“This deceptive proposal should have never seen the light of day,” said ForestWatch executive director Jeff Kuyper. “Shame on Supervisors Foy and Long for siding with the oil industry at the expense of public participation, good governance, and transparent decision-making.”

“The public has a right to participate in decisions that affect our region’s quality of life, public health and safety, and environment,” said ForestWatch public lands advocate Rebecca August. “This week, Supervisors Foy and Long tried to take away this right, citing misleading statistics and showing disdain for the democratic process. They will continue to face widespread public opposition to any further attempts to shut us out of the process.”

“Most appeals are filed to make projects better, to address concerns about impacts, and to ensure that procedures are followed and legal compliance is achieved,” said Kuyper. “They’re the only oversight the Board and Planning Commission retain of the County’s administration of antiquated oil permits.”

Currently, a Zoning Clearance application for oil and gas activities is $330, which covers a small fraction of the County’s total costs in processing the application, reviewing the underlying permit for consistency, conducting field visits, researching antiquated well records, and ensuring that the applicant has submitted all of the required information.

“The County should evaluate ways to hold the oil industry accountable for costs associated with their development,” said ForestWatch conservation director Bryant Baker. “If cost recovery is truly what concerns Supervisors Foy and Long, then let’s start by ensuring that oil companies at least cover the County’s expense of reviewing and authorizing their for-profit activities.”

ForestWatch has been at the forefront of efforts to bring transparency to the County’s Zoning Clearance approval process. In 2014, ForestWatch successfully encouraged the County to post a weekly listing of approved Zoning Clearances on the County’s website to increase public transparency of the approval process.

For a listing of Zoning Clearance appeals filed by ForestWatch – and the beneficial results those appeals achieved – please visit our website at LPFW.org/zoning-appeals/.