Bob Crum

First, however, since my recent column about photo editing, readers wrote asking: Why bother? Interesting question. In his article on Photography Life titled 'Smartphone vs. The Camera Industry', Nasim Mansurov wrote: "Why should anyone who wants to take decent pictures suffer through the pain of spending thousands of dollars on a camera system, many hours of learning how to use the camera and how to post-process images from it, when the alternative is to use a small, portable and idiot-proof device that they have in their pockets at all times?" Hmm. I'll address that in due time.

I realize that deciding on a camera system is a daunting task. Mansurov again: One has to go through so many different types of criteria, including camera brand, resolution, sensor size, autofocus system, video features, ergonomics, build quality, weather sealing, price, weight, etc. Unless it's a point & shoot camera, lenses need to be considered. And don't forget accessories.

Wow! Had I thought about all of that initially, I might be whiling away the days crocheting sweaters instead of engaging in sinsual, er, sensual mermaid boudoir photography! But I digress.

Mansurov continues, to paraphrase: That's just the beginning. Once you've bought the camera, lenses, and essentials and shot a few hundred photos, is the computer fast enough to post-process those high-resolution images and video? What about backup storage? The computer monitor was fine for Net browsing but is it good enough for photo editing?

Whoa, that's a bit much. First, it's not appropriate to include 'video' with still photos. Yet one does need a competent computer for post-processing RAW images. I have a dedicated custom-built (to my specs) computer dedicated to photo editing, but as I've said, a competent laptop, maxed out with RAM, will suffice.

I suspect that the challenge of camera selection, lenses and accessories prevents many from converting from phonetography to photography. Furthermore, the typical workflow - camera settings, transfer the photos to the editing computer, post-process the photos, export to the photographer's website, printer or social media, back up photos might be overwhelming. As expected, there's a learning curve with each step. Oh my, hours of agony! Right? If you learned how to program your Roku Streaming Stick+, you could conquer photography.

Wait, here's more. Touting the convenience of cell phones, Mansurov says, capture images or video with a single button, post-process using built-in or third-party apps and submit. Anyone can do it. (yep!) The best part is – there is practically no learning curve. (yep!) Everything is touch-friendly and the results are instant. Good grief, makes me wonder why am I lugging around a heavy camera with a telephoto lens able to capture a pimple on an elephant's butt? Phonetography vs. photography - to be continued.

Announcement. KelbyOne produces an annual Photo Walk the first Saturday of October each year. Photographers and photography enthusiasts around the world meet at a designated location in their town to walk around and take photographs, socialize and make new friends. I signed up to lead a photo walk here in Fillmore. Below is the link to join. In the box: "Find Location," type Fillmore and sign up. Meeting place & time is listed on the website... https://worldwidephotowalk.com/locations/

The walk is scheduled for late afternoon to avoid mid-day harsh light. Yes! Phonetographers also welcome. Photo makers... sign up at the Kelby website and email me. It's fun time!

Photo of the week is of jumping cholla cactus at the Joshua Tree National Park. Caution: Don't walk too close.

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

Captain Eric Tennessen.

On September 10, 2019, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the addition of a third assistant sheriff position. Sheriff Bill Ayub is proud to announce the promotion of Commander Dave Murray to fill this role. In announcing the appointment, Sheriff Ayub said, “The addition of a third assistant sheriff position will allow me to realign organizational responsibilities and address key issues that will place the Sheriff’s Office in a better position to serve our community in a more efficient and proactive approach.”

Commander Dave Murray is a long-time resident of Ventura and has deep roots in the community. Dave attended St. Bonaventure High School and Ventura College, before he went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Southwest University. Dave graduated from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s police academy and later transferred to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in 1990. During Dave’s nearly thirty years with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, he worked a variety of assignments ranging from patrol and investigative work to overseeing SWAT, the Canine Unit, and the academy.

As a Commander, Dave was assigned to the Support Services Bureau where he oversaw Professional Standards/Internal Affairs, Audit & Inspections, and the academy. He was selected as the Chief of Police for the city of Camarillo in 2017, and he currently serves in this capacity. Dave and his wife Lisa still reside in Ventura and they have three sons.

Commander Murray’s appointment to assistant sheriff created an open commander position. Captain Eric Tennessen will be promoted to fill this position. Eric was born and raised in South Dakota before moving to California. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and a Master of Science degree in Public Administration from California State University at Northridge. Eric is a twenty-one-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. During his career, Eric gained extensive experience in patrol, investigations, and special enforcement units.

As a Captain, Eric worked as a patrol watch commander before transferring to Thousand Oaks. In 2017, Eric was selected as the Chief of Police for the city of Fillmore where he has served for the last eighteen months. Eric and his wife Kaylee reside in Camarillo with their four children.

Sergeant Carlos Macias will be promoted to the position of captain behind Captain Tennessen’s promotion. Carlos is a thirty-one-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. He has worked a variety of assignments over the years ranging from patrol and custody to the Crime Suppression Unit, Major Crimes Bureau, Narcotics Bureau, and the SWAT team. Carlos was born and raised in Nebraska and he currently resides in Ventura with his wife, Carrianne, and their son.

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that Isaias Arana (DOB 04/16/95), of San Fernando, was sentenced by Judge Patricia Murphy to 23 years in state prison for multiple domestic violence charges. On August 9, 2019, Arana pled guilty to kidnapping and personally discharging a firearm during the commission of the kidnapping, burglary of an occupied residence with use of a firearm, false imprisonment by violence with use of a firearm, disobeying a domestic violence restraining order, and battery.

On April 24, 2019, Arana drove from San Fernando to Fillmore to contact his estranged wife. Arana shot through the front door and a window in order to gain entry into the home. Once inside, Arana held two victims at gun point and forced his estranged wife into his vehicle, which he drove to Pacoima. A friend and bystanders were eventually able to wrestle the firearm from Arana.

This case was investigated by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department and prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Sexual Assault and Family Protection Unit.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office is the public prosecutor for the county’s 850,000 residents. The office employs approximately 280 employees including attorneys, investigators, victim advocates, and other professional support staff who strive to seek justice, ensure public safety, and protect the rights of crime victims.

To encourage an increase in bicycle safety in our communities, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Fillmore Police Department’s Citizen Patrol will be holding a bicycle safety rodeo from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM on Saturday, September 28th. The event will be held in the parking lot of the San Salvador Mission in Piru and will feature a safety course, bike tune-ups, free helmets and fitting assistance, bicycle registration and raffle prizes. The event will also feature displays from the Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol, SWAT team, K9 Unit, Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, and Ventura County Fire Department. The event is sponsored by Piru Pizza, California Resources Corporation, the Sheriff’s Foundation and the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs Association.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year, nearly 1,000 persons die from injuries caused by bicycle crashes, and 550,000 persons are treated in emergency rooms for injuries related to bicycle riding. Head injuries account for 62% of bicycle-related deaths and for 33% of bicycle-related emergency room visits. A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury resulting from a bicycle crash, however, only about 15% of riders under the age of 15 wear helmets. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00036941.htm

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Fillmore Police Department’s Citizen Patrol encourages all riders, regardless of age, to take advantage of modern safety equipment, and for parents to ensure their children are wearing helmets while riding bicycles and skateboards. The safety of our children is a top priority, and we encourage parents to attend this event with their children.

Bob Crum

Photo editing? Ugh! Forget it! I'd rather be fishing, or playing Bunco, is a refrain I often hear. Besides, some say, I get it right in the camera. HA! Photos don't go straight through the lens directly to the memory card. A camera is a computer upon which you mount a lens. From the solid-state sensor, pixels are processed by the camera's computer run by program algorithms installed by the camera's engineers. Hence, no image straight out of the camera (SOOC) is as good as it can be.

Photographer Rick Berk wrote: "Post-processing is not a crutch. If I look at an image on the back of my camera and say "I'll fix it later," then it's already a bad image, and no amount of processing is going to correct it. I am a staunch proponent of shooting RAW, for many reasons. I know full well that the camera can have problems handling a scene with a lot of dynamic range, such as a sunset. I use optical filters on my lens to help with that, but there are still times when the image out of the camera fails to capture the image I saw with my eyes." Amen!

Post-Processing is an essential part of digital photography. Avoidance is futile! Internet search engines will present several 'free' photo editors. GIMP leads the pack. Though free often means editing limitations and skimpy options, most may be sufficient for "basic" photo editing. Compare features and check reviews!

Depending on your budget, several robust photo editing programs are available. Adobe Lightroom (LR) and Photoshop (PS) are the predominate photo editors but available only by a $9.99 a month subscription. Other editors include DxO Optics Pro 10, On1 Photo RAW, Capture One, Corel PaintShop Pro, Topaz Studio 2, Skylum Luminar and ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate to mention a few. Best one? Up to you. Select a program with preferred features and tickles your toes.

I subscribe to Adobe's Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, also have Photoshop Elements 14 (PSE), DxO Optics Pro 10, Topaz Studio 2 and On1 Photo RAW installed on my photo editing computer. I also have DxO NIK plugins installed in LR, PSE 14, and PS. Each program has distinctive attributes & benefits.

After a shoot, photos are uploaded on the computer. I then import to LR to begin post-processing. Remember, RAW editing is non-destructive-doesn't harm the original. Don't like how it's going, click reset and restart. From LR, I transfer the photos as a tiff image to PSE14 where Imagenomic Noiseware and NIK plugins reside. The first step, if necessary, is reduce image noise. Then I initiate the NIK magic sauce. Wonderful for my specialty: Mermaid boudoir photography. Color Efex Pro 4 (with custom recipes) and Viveza 2 are two plugins used extensively. NIK's UK-Lead technology rocks! Note, unless images are imported in PSE14 as a "smart object," editing alters pixels. Can't reset and begin anew. Resizing the photo according to the client's requirements is the last step.

Remember, RAW files are large. At a recent private event, I shot 576 RAW images which equals 13.9 gigabytes of data. Hence, a capable computer is essential. My custom-built dedicated editing computer has a 1TB SSD "C" drive, 32GBs of RAM and a 500MB SSD scratch drive. Less RAM and smaller "C" drive will suffice, it'll just make photo editing somewhat slower.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the dreaded learning curve that accompanies any new computer program. Did I hear a groan? Persevere! You'll relish the glorious rewards.

Photo of the week is Brush Creek's lower falls, north of Kernville.

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