Are you ready to camp out at Two Rivers Park next month? It’s FREE to camp out with us! However, you must pre-register with the Parks and Recreation Department still! Email us to get the registration paperwork at recreation@ci.fillmore.ca.us

Join us as Fillmore partakes in the Great American Campout from June 22nd-23rd at Two Rivers Park. We’ll have camp activities throughout the day, a campfire & an evening movie in the park. This is a FREE event to participate in; we’ll have food trucks available for you to purchase treats and meals from. Bring your own tent, sleeping bags, etc. All tents must be secured with weights or sandbags — NO STAKES IN THE GROUND. All youth under 18 years old must be registered with an attending adult. Email recreation@ci.fillmore.ca.us to register!

Enlarge Photo

The City of Fillmore will be opening the Active Adult Center located at 533 Santa Clara Street in Fillmore as a “Cooling Center” beginning Tuesday, June 11th at 12:00 p.m. and will be open until 8:00 p.m. The dates and hours can change depending on the weather but whenever the temperature reaches 94 or above the Cooling Center is opened. Fillmore residents are encouraged to use the center to remove themselves from the heat and drink plenty of cold water provided by the Fillmore Fire Department. If you have any questions please feel free to call City Hall at (805) 524-1500 or the City Fire Department at (805) 524-0586.

Bob Crum

I read that humans share 98 percent of our genes with chimps. Uh huh. Perhaps that explains why many photographers emulate them. Photographically speaking, chimping is looking at the digital camera's LCD screen as soon as a photo is made. As shuttermuse says, “the term is jokingly derived from the excited noises oooh ohh that photographers often make when they see a great shot on the LCD screen sometimes followed by ape-like hand motions while exclaiming LOOK AT WHAT I GOT! Good grief!

Chimping is often a derogatory term prescribed to photography amateurs lacking confidence. However, professional and enthusiast photographers also often chimp their shots. Of course I don't. OK, I'm guilty! (gasp!)

Chimp at your peril. Action at events is often fast and unpredictable so chimping might cost you a 'money' shot. But, as shuttermuse states, instant feedback is a significant benefit of shooting digital. Chimping is a quick way to check exposure. Sure but (this is embarrassing) if I got a dollar for every potential 'money' shot I missed due to chimping, perhaps I'd have enough money to take all 2,397,602 of my readers out to lunch.

Of course, when shooting landscapes chimp away. It's good to periodically check the histogram to analyze the exposure, check focus, and composition.

Chimping can help photography newbies build confidence. If your camera's settings are out of kilter, instant feedback will show mistakes and guide you make the necessary aperture, shutter speed or ISO adjustments. Used accordingly, chimping can be considered a learning tool, thereby expedite your learning process.

But chimping is not necessarily peachy. As stated above, but bears repeating, chimp at the wrong time and you might miss the shot of a lifetime. At the event, make a test shot or two to check exposure so when the event begins, you can concentrate on composition and not worry about exposure.

Additionally, I often see newbies chimp while not realizing that the camera LCD screens are not Hi-Def. Fact is, the LCD screens on most cameras are lousy. Therefore, the image viewed on the LCD screen is a poor example of the photo's quality or even exposure. If you're capturing photos in RAW mode, what is seen on the camera LCD screen is not the RAW photo but a jpeg based on the RAW photo data. Image exposure is best indicated with the camera's more accurate histogram.

I was assigned to shoot Fillmore High School's graduation ceremony. The light was problematic. With the sun setting, some of the event in the sun, other parts in shadow. Had to continually adjust aperture settings as I pointed the camera in a different direction. I had to make exposure adjustments so fast I had to double clutch the lens to quickly dial in proper aperture! Love muscle memory! But I digress.

Surprises are fine for birthday parties but not at event shoots. It's been ages since I shot the graduation program. Not forewarned, I was bamboozled. As the turning of the tassels was happening, I quickly moved to get in position for the tossing of the mortarboards (caps) into the air. That didn't happen! Instead, the graduates fired plastic streamers (WHAT?) into the air from tubes. I was instantly startled! Then my trusty experience kicked in, and I quickly changed to burst mode and fired away-click-click-click-click-click-click, eight frames/second. Over in seconds, NO time to chimp till done. Success! Whew! One of the ceremony finale photos is the photo of the week. Graduation ceremony photos at fillmoregazette.com.

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

Live video stream of 2019 Fillmore High Graduation Ceremony begins tonight at approximately 7:00 p.m. local time.

Instructions for watching the graduation live stream:

Point your web browser to http://www.fillmoreusd.org/stream/

It will take you to a District webpage entitled "Video Streams Fillmore Video Production"

Under "Fillmore Video Production," click on “YouTube Channel”

Direct YouTube link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txj3EQcM63Y

The 106th Annual Fillmore High Alumni Dinner event will take place at the Fillmore-Piru Veterans Memorial Building on Saturday, June 8th.

One of the highlights of the event is the awarding of scholarships to each Alumni Association’s scholar recipient.

Dinner is catered by the award winning DJ’s Catering. The menu includes grilled Angus sirloin beef, roasted chicken breast with wild mushrooms (in Porcini Béchamel) served with field greens and vegetable salad, potatoes Mousseline, three cheese macaroni & cheese, and an assortment of freshly baked rolls with butter. Dessert menu includes choice of warm peach or apple cobbler (with McConnell’s of Santa Barbara vanilla bean ice cream).

There is still room available but reservations are going fast. Purchase your reservations ASAP online at www.fillmorehighalumni.com (click on Events), At the FHS Alumni Store located at 559 Sespe Avenue, or Patterson Hardware located at 362 Central Avenue (open 7 days a week).

Let’s celebrate our alma mater, our community of Fillmore, and our graduating seniors!

It’s FREE to camp out with us! However, you must pre-register with the Parks and Recreation Department still! Email us to get the registration paperwork at recreation@ci.fillmore.ca.us

Join us as Fillmore, CA partakes in the Great American Campout from June 22nd-23rd at Two Rivers Park! We'll have camp activities throughout the day, a campfire & an evening movie in the park.

This is a FREE event to participate in; we'll have food trucks available for you to purchase treats & meals from.

Bring your own tent, sleeping bags etc. all tents must be secured with weights or sandbags NO STAKES IN THE GROUND. All youth under 18 years old must be registered with an attending adult.

Join us for a family-friendly event to kick-off the summer in Fillmore!

Email recreation@ci.fillmore.ca.us to register!

Fillmore Unified School District

Board meeting highlights for the Fillmore Unified School District

Fillmore Adult School 2018-2019 Year in Review
The Governing Board received a presentation on the 2018-2019 Fillmore Adult School Year in Review. Presentation was delivered by Assistant Superintendent, Stefan Cvijanovich and Director, Tom Chan

Proposed 2019-2020 Update to Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
The Governing Board received a presentation on the proposed update to the 2019-2020 LCAP. Presentation was delivered by Assistant Superintendent, Micheline G. Miglis.

2019-2020 Proposed Budget, Including Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Budget Overview for Parents and Proposition 30 Expenditure Plan
The Governing Board received a presentation on the 2019-2020 proposed budget and accompanying components. Presentation was delivered by Assistant Superintendent, Andrea McNeill.

Award Bid for Electrical Yard Infrastructure Update at Fillmore High School
The Governing Board awarded the bid as follows:
Project#: 2019-035
Project Description: Electrical Yard Infrastructure Update at Fillmore High School
Contractor: Scott and Sons Electric
Amount: $1,606,000.00

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