Bob Crum

The Fillmore classic car show downtown on July 4th was awesome. Gorgeous cars all. Did you go? If not fret not, I'll take you there vicariously along with a trip down memory lane.

In 1956, my Uncle Willie bought a high-performance DeSoto Adventurer. The DeSoto was powered by a hemi-sized 341 cubic inch, 320 horsepower motor. Standard equipment included push button control Powerflite automatic transmission, power steering, power seat, power windows, power brakes, windshield washers and electric clock. All for only $3,678.

One day Uncle Willie took ill. Before leaving for the hospital he tossed me the DeSoto keys. “Be careful”, he said, “it's fast!”. A teenage daredevil, imagine my excitement. I practiced driving the car on the farm before the open road. That car was soooo long that when going around a sweeping curve, I couldn't see the back end in the rear-view mirror. With pedal to the metal it was so fast that it took a few seconds for the back half to catch up.

Having saved money from years of farm work, I purchased my first new car – a gold-colored Plymouth Fury – as a high school graduation present to myself. Powerful engine and push-button tranny like the DeSoto. While my friends laughed about the rear fender “fins”, I took revenge (and delight) by beating (humiliating) their Chevys and Fords in every drag race. But as fast as my Fury was off the line, was as fast as I lost those friends. But they eventually got over it and we were soon all friends again.

Photographing classic cars at a show is, politely speaking, a pain in the buttocks. Certainly taxes the patience quotient. No sir, no problem at all just go right ahead and step right in front of my camera. Everybody does it! (grumble grumble)

The flip side of the patience of Job: Deference. It's about the 'event' not the cars! Point well taken I said to myself (I can't be the only one who talks to himself). Result: Lots of photos of gawkers full of gawkiness gawking at classic cars. C'est la vie.

From having photographed previous car shows, I noticed that car colors were often not as punchy in the digital images as I saw with my eyes. Not an insignificant factor considering that I could take five cruises with the money that some of the cars’ paint jobs alone cost. Must do something in an attempt to do justice to those luscious paint colors.

So this year I decided to shoot the show with a polarizing filter on my lens to enunciate the colors. Given the advantages of a polarizing filter, it was nevertheless a gamble. Remember, a polarizing filter's effects are most effective when shooting at a 90° angle with respect to the sun. Otherwise, it's as if it doesn't exist so no effect. Upon viewing the photos made, it was effective most times. At least the blacks are blacker!

Such are the creative challenges that make photography addictive and so delightfully rewarding. Equally significant, the creative aspects of photography tickle the soul. Well, at least mine.

Hark... a contest! Not counting fireworks photos, guess the number of photos I shot of the car show and chili contest. Email me your guess. Deadline: 6 p.m. Monday July 16. The closest guess wins one scoop of Baskins-Robbins ice cream. In case of a tie, the earliest entry wins. One entry per reader.

Photo of the week: Gorgeous Chevy. More firework photos next week. Happy photoing!

Send comments, suggestions, questions & contest entry to: photography@earthlink.net

Moody's Investors Service has assigned an issuer rating of A1 to the City of
Fillmore, CA. The issuer rating is equivalent to the rating we would assign to bonds secured by the city's general obligation unlimited tax (GOULT) pledge. Moody's maintains an A3 rating on the city's sewer revenue bonds.

RATINGS RATIONALE
The A1 issuer rating reflects the currently strong financial position of the city's very small operation, which stands in contrast the city's financial condition during the Great Recession. The city's financial situation deteriorated significantly between 2008 and 2013 due to the combined impact of the recession, redevelopment dissolution, and a dispute over a tax sharing agreement that resulted in the Board of Equalization (BOE) withholding more than four years of sales tax revenue. With these revenue challenges addressed, the city's finances have improved significantly in the last four audited fiscal years with the city's available fund balances and cash balances now exceeding the medians for the A1 rating category. The A1 rating further reflects the city's small tax base relative to A1-rated cities in California, but which is larger than its ratings peers nationally. The A1 rating incorporates the city's extremely low level of outstanding debt and slightly elevated pension liability.

RATING OUTLOOK
Outlooks are not typically assigned to local governments with this amount of outstanding debt.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE
- Significant and sustained growth in the city's assessed valuation
- Material improvement in socioeconomic characteristics

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE
- Decline in the city's assessed valuation
- Significant deterioration of the city's financial position

LEGAL SECURITY
The issuer rating is equivalent to a rating that we would assign to a typical general obligation unlimited tax
(GOULT) debt issue and is used as a reference rating for other securities.

PROFILE
The city of Fillmore encompasses 2.5 square miles in the Santa Clara River Valley of Ventura County (Aaa stable) and has an estimated population of 15,650. The city was established in 1887 when the Southern Pacific railroad was built through this agricultural belt. A general law city, Fillmore has about 26 employees and provides basic municipal services.

METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in this rating was US Local Government General Obligation Debt published in December 2016. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.

REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on
www.moodys.com.

Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review. Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued the rating. Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.

Ricardo Nuno, 34, Fillmore, Ca

Earlier this month, Sheriff's detectives obtained information indicating illegal fireworks were being sold by (S) Ricardo Nuno from his residence at 900 block of Ortega Street, Fillmore. Detectives conducted an investigation and believed Nuno was in possession of a large quantity of fireworks that are illegal in California.

On June 28th, detectives served a search warrant at the location and seized approximately 800 pounds of illegal fireworks. These fireworks were found throughout the residence, including the garage and a bedroom shared with two minor children, and posed a significant threat of injury and fire, not only to the suspect's family, but to the public, as well. It was also determined that Nuno was manufacturing his own explosive devices, which posed a significant threat of injury or death to Nuno and/or his family.

(S) Nuno, who was not present at the time of the service of the search warrant, but was located at his work and arrested. He was booked into the Pre-Trial Detention Facility on the following charges:
Health and Safety Code Section 12305 / Felony possession of an explosive
Health and Safety Code Section 12677 / Misdemeanor possession of illegal fireworks
Penal Code Section 18720 / Felony Possession of materials with intent to make a destructive device
Penal Code Section 273a(a) / Felony Child Endangerment

Nuno’s bail was set at $100,000 and his next court date is July 2nd, 2018.

'Safe and Sane' fireworks, bearing the seal of the State Fire Marshal, can be legally sold, possessed, and enjoyed in the city of Fillmore between 12:00 PM, June 28th, and 12:00 PM, July 5th. All other fireworks, including altered 'Safe and Sane' fireworks and fireworks that explode and/or launch into the air, are illegal in Fillmore and throughout the state.

Violators may be cited for violating the city municipal code and subject to a $1,000.00 fine, or they may be arrested for more serious crimes. If you witness any illegal activity, please call the Fillmore Police Department at 805-524-2233 or, if there's an immediate threat to life or property, 9-1-1.

Below are several safety tips to ensure you and your family enjoy a safe Independence Day celebration:
- If you witness a crime or fire in progress involving illegal fireworks, call your local authorities by dialing 9-1-1.
- Only 'Safe and Sane' fireworks bearing the seal of the State Fire Marshal are legal in the city of Fillmore. All other fireworks, including altered Safe and Sane fireworks and those that explode or leave the ground, are illegal.
- Kids should not play with fireworks. Fireworks are intended for use by adults in open spaces with plenty of active supervision for every child present.
- Always have a bucket of water on hand to dispose of fireworks and a hose connected to water ready in case of fire.
- Do not place fireworks in trash containers.
- Fireworks, including sparklers and flares, can cause serious burns as well as blast injuries that can permanently impair vision and hearing. Teach your children what to do if their clothing catches on fire-'stop, drop and roll'-and how to call 9-1-1 in an emergency.

Prepared by: Sergeant Mike Harris
Approved by: Captain Todd Inglis

Bob Crum

A reader and accomplished photographer recently sent me very interesting email. Thanks Phil. One topic was phonetography! Hold on! My reaction was not what you might expect. Truth be told, his message caused me to pause. Actually made me stop and give phonetography more consideration then previous short shrift. Recapitulation is stimulating. Sometimes.

“I have some opinions about the whole smartphone debate you are writing about but that's an in-depth discussion for later,” Phil wrote. Uh Oh!

“I think your basic premise is correct,” he continued. “But I have run into some notable exceptions. I have made 17 x 22 pigment based archival prints of images shot by an art director. He has a great eye, but he also must have had special filters for his iPhone, because the quality was incredible.”

He added that “they both knew how to shoot correctly with the iPhone so what I got from them were full resolution files that didn't need upscaling. These were jpegs, BTW, not camera RAW. However, I did take all the images into Photoshop for retouching and color/contrast adjustments for prints.”

Jpegs? Shocking!

Let's again briefly review RAW vs jpegs and why I've been advocating RAW image capture. RAW is image data directly from the sensor without camera processing. Jpegs are images processed in camera (compressed) and the photo parameters baked in. Of course, jpeg images can be edited afterward but except for Photoshop 'smart objects' editing modifies image pixels and can't be undone. This is destructive editing. Post processing RAW images is non-destructive editing because editing does not modify pixels directly... editing is just modifying the image data instructions. The original remains unaffected. Make an editing mistake or don't like how the editing is proceeding press the reset button. Poof! All better. Begin anew.

Phil continued: “I believe there are now smartphones that have camera RAW. That might be a waste for a lot of iPhoneographers, but for some people, it's a great tool. I believe smartphones can actually increase creativity for some people. It really depends on what kind of photography one wants to do.”

An astute observation. I acknowledge that many phonetographers have no desire or need to post process their jpeg snapshots and that's fine. I don't. Shoot, email it, or post on social media and done. More importantly, however, even phonetography can be 'creative'. (hint)

To that end, Alex Tsepko, CEO of Skylum Software recently penned: “The power of photography (and phonetography) as art is that it serves to enhance the way we see the world. Try taking a photo of the same object every day. What you’ll find is, by spending time studying this object — a person, or a building, or a budding tree — you’ll find new looks, styles, and angles that accentuate it in different, more interesting ways. This kind of practice has a way of activating your brain and stimulating your inner creativity that makes life more interesting. Another thing you’ll learn by familiarizing yourself with photography as art is that it’s not about what you capture in an image, so much as what sort of emotion your images reveal and evoke.”

Snapshots work because sometimes there's only time to record a moment. However, for creative photography, pause a second and ask yourself what are you attempting to capture to share. Will the photo tell a story? More about a photographers eye another time.

Photo of the week is the infamous “F” up on the hill...in bright lights! Awesome! Have you noticed?

Happy photoing. Send your comments, questions and/or suggestions to photography@earthlink.net

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

As people throughout the county celebrate the Independence Day holiday in the coming week, the sheriff’s office would like to remind residents and visitors to the area that all fireworks are illegal to possess or use throughout Ventura County. The exception is in the city of Fillmore, which allows only designated “Safe and Sane” fireworks to be purchased and used within the city limits.

With the dry conditions and recent impacts from wildfires, the use of fireworks poses an extreme fire danger in our communities. Deputies will be actively enforcing laws pertaining to the possession or use of illegal fireworks. Depending on the type or amount of fireworks, violators could be subject to citation or arrest.

Another problem that occurs on Independence Day is the use of firearms for celebratory purposes. The discharge of any firearm or BB device in a grossly negligent manner is a misdemeanor in the state of California and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year.

Residents can report firework violations in sheriff’s jurisdictions by calling our communications center at (805) 654-9511, or 9-1-1 in an emergency situation.

Prepared by: Sgt. Eric Buschow
Approved by: Captain Garo Kuredjian