A CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) class is being offered in Fillmore starting on Tuesday, the 4th of February. The class is free and is made possible by FEMA grants. The CERT class and program is administered by the Ventura County Fire Department and supported locally by the Fillmore Fire Department.

The topics covered during the CERT training include general emergency readiness and response, fire safety and small fire suppression, disaster medical including triage and treatment, search and rescue, team management/incident command, safe travel and disaster psychology. The class provides approximately 24 hours of classroom and field emergency preparedness and response training.

The CERT class begins on Tuesday, February 4th and will meet from 6:00 to 9:00 PM on Tuesdays for 6 weeks with a disaster simulation drill at the conclusion of the 6 classes, on a date yet to be determined. The class and training are being conducted at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building at 1017 1st Street, Fillmore.

The class is intended for adults with possible provisions for youth aged 16 to 18.

To register for the class or with questions text Steve Lazenby at 805-794-6094 or email Steve at steve.lazenby@ventura.org

Bob Crum

For hundreds of years phonetographers have been predicting the imminent extinction of dSLR cameras. iRule with my iPhone their rallying cry. Tsk tsk. Here in the 21st Century, dSLR and mirrorless cameras are flourishing. Viva la photography!

After last week's column, many of my traditionalist readers began to wonder if I succumbed to the dark side. Rest assured that one (lucky) photo of a honey bee from my Samsung S10+ does not make me a phonetographer. Yet!

I previously wrote that I'd spend a day shooting with my Samsung S10+ to learn it's strengths and weaknesses. However, life has a unique way of intruding and messing up plans. In the meantime, join me on a brief photographic experience involving 'real' photography. The kind that makes the hair on your head curl and your ears wiggle with a giggle.

We're going back to 1987 when I was shooting with a Canon A-1 film camera. She was sleek and beautiful and had dials and buttons. And the sound of the shutter was musical. But 40 years ago, photography was also exasperating. Shooting film meant shot budgeting was critical. A roll of film had a finite amount of frames - 24 or 36. Seldom did I shoot 24-exposure film - too limiting. In many situations, even a 36-exposure roll of film wasn't sufficient. Thank goodness the A-1 camera didn't have a 10-frame 'burst' mode. Brrrrrrrrt, next roll of film please!

As associate editor (writer and photographer) for the Southern Star boating & fishing magazine, the publisher assigned me to cover a week-long marlin fishing tournament at Green Turtle Key in the Bahamas. I know, a dreadful assignment. Thrilled until the publisher gave me five rolls of 36-exposure film and said 'don't come back without a cover shot’. Only FIVE rolls for a week-long shoot? Send Larry instead, I pleaded.

On the island, I had to choose one boat and shoot happenings on only that boat. What if? Fishing Monday and Tuesday, off Wednesday, fish Thursday and Friday with 3 p.m. lines in on Friday. As feared, nothing happened on MY boat all week. NOTHING! Doom and gloom ensued! Then, at 2:30 p. m. Friday, the deckhand yelled: MARLIN! And angler Doc Copage hooked up. Hallelujah! After radioing headquarters, it doesn't matter how long it takes to boat the marlin.

I had the last roll of film in the camera. As the angler brought the huge marlin close to the boat, I began shooting, judiciously, cognizant of the significance of the moment! There were several unsuccessful attempts to boat the mighty marlin. Twelve shots taken, 24 frames left. Later, when the deckhand had the fish by the bill at the transom, this was it! I fired off fifteen more shots only to watch the marlin slide back into the water. With only nine frames left, I was sweating but not from the hot Bahama sun. I quickly climbed up on the flybridge to shoot from above the deck and waited. As the exhausted marlin was finally brought aboard, I shot the last nine frames while holding my breath.

Shooting on a white boat on a brightly-lit ocean, both with copious amounts of glare is worrisome. Too much can go wonky. Anxiety gripped my gut like a vise. Concentrating on the composition, did I nail the exposure? Did I focus accurately?

Back in Ft. Lauderdale, with much riding on the outcome, the staff held their collective breaths during film processing. At last, the photo editor came out of the darkroom with two raised thumbs. Sigh! Frame number 35 of the last roll of film made the magazine's cover. Sweet success and fulfillment. Such experiences constitute the thrill and travails of photojournalism. And the passion continues. Photo of the week is the Southern Star magazine cover featuring my photo. Happy shooting!

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

Katrionna Furness

The Fillmore High School Swimming Records board has been update to reflect the historic wins of Katrionna Furness during her junior and senior year at the school, 2018-19. She broke every school swimming record except the 100 Breast, which she never competed in at FHS. Katrionna won the 2018 Division 4 100-backstroke title at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) in May 2018, representing FHS. She was the first swimmer in Fillmore High School’s history to win a CIF championship in the sport. She also placed 3rd in the 100 Freestyle in 2018, and competed in the 2019 CIFs. Katrionna now attends Cal State East Bay, where she is majoring in Nursing. She competes on the Pioneers’ swim team, and continues to improve her PRs. She is also a dual athlete, competing on the college track team. Congratulations, Katrionna!

Donor Justin Turner, third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was looking for a "little boy who loves the Dodgers" to receive a signed baseball glove and Dodgers picture.

Lynda Miller, Support for the Kids Founder was the person who received the glove originally and chose Fillmore as the city to locate a Dodger fan.

Several young boys and girls were found, but none met the highest criteria to receive this great honor. Finally, after a week of searching, he was found! Miguel Martinez is a straight-A 6th grade student at Fillmore Middle School. He is well liked by his school peers and teachers. His 6th grade Counselor Steven Jerrems says; "Miguel is an outstanding individual in every sense of the word. A compassionate friend, respectful to all, and a dedicated student. I cannot begin to imagine a more deserving or kinder kid to receive Justin Turner's signed glove and picture."

Upon receiving Justin's wonderful gifts by Ms. Miller at the Fillmore Middle School office lobby, surprised and full of emotions, Miguel said, "It is exciting and a once in a life-time thing. It's cool to have received this gift. Most of my cousins like baseball, too."

We are all happy for our student, Miguel Martinez, and his proud parents, Angelica Andrade and Jesus Martinez.

Bob Crum

Are you keeping your New Year's resolutions? As customary, I made one perfunctory annual resolution, one that I know I can keep: I resolve not to make any New Year's resolutions! See, I win all year.

A slice of Yogiism: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” said Yogi Berra. At the outset of 2020, I am confronted with a fork in the Focus on Photography road.

Photography is dead, proclaim the prognosticators. Some readers boldly suggest that I give more credence to phonetography because the majority of my column's 2,496,390 readers are 'phonetographers' . That might be true. Until recently, my cellphone was an ancient LG G3. A Samsung Galaxy S10+ replaced it and the S10 camera continues to surprise me. So, what to do?

New technology entails a learning curve. Oh joy! If I press this and click on that-uh, not what I expected. I quickly realized that making a photo with the S10 is dramatically different than my Canon 7D2. The S10 has a few interesting camera 'modes', but no knobs and dials! Nevertheless, what the S10+ does it does remarkably well, to my astonishment.

Camera modes include food, night, panorama, pro, live focus, standard photo, video, live focus video, super slow-mo, slow motion and hyper-lapse (time-lapse). Food mode? Great. Imagine a picture of one of my gorgeous hard-boiled eggs as photo of the week. Digital noise is minimized in 'night' mode. Oh yeah, mermaid boudoir phonetography by, ahem, candlelight! Pro mode permits the capture of both RAW and jpegs. Viva la RAW! Video mode is self-explanatory, but there's also 'live focus video' mode which initiates both the wide-angle and telephoto lenses to capture the subject and background separately, resulting in photos with near subjects in focus and the background out of focus. Sounds like 'auto bokeh'! My Canon 7D2 doesn't have that! Hmm.

Pro mode permits considerably more control over the picture-making process. I can adjust ISO, aperture, shutter speed, color temp (white balance), tint, contrast, saturation, highlights and shadows. All adjustments performed with on-phone sliders. But I want KNOBS & DIALS! Samsung says that these adjustments typically made during post-processing but can now be done in-camera. Yeah, sure, I'll see. BTW, Samsung, you forgot bracketing--maybe next iteration.

While the camera performs remarkably well, it has the same problem I have shooting videos with a dSLR camera: Form factor. Because of its physical design (form factor), making adjustments on the cellphone (and dSLR camera) while shooting video is cumbersome. Though the S10 (and my Canon 7D2) are capable of recording fantabulous video clips, they aren't the best tools in the shed for the task. The better tool for shooting video is a camcorder, in my opinion.

Regardless, this S10+ cellphone exhibits promise, so I will give due diligence and spend some time photographing with this marvel of technology. I'll practice until I'm proficient with this 'pricey' device. And I will either capture some fantabulous photos or, with a dash of melancholy, gingerly toss it into the Ventura Harbor. Stay tuned.

I used the S10+ to make the honey bee photo of the week. I saw the bee flitting from one flower to another so I grabbed by S10+ and quickly made several photos in the default 'standard' mode. Because I'm so used to my Canon camera's viewfinder, handling the S10+ while trying to pan and get it to focus on the fast-flying bee was a challenge, and frustrating. Out of several photos, I particularly like this one of the bee getting buzzed at the Nectar Bar.

Next, in-camera photo editors? Is anyone interested?

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

Shawn Ducreay, 20, of Lakewood.

A Lakewood man has been arrested in connection with a commercial burglary that occurred in Fillmore.

On September 21, 2019, deputies responded to a burglary investigation at a restaurant located in the 600 block of Ventura Street. Deputies learned that a suspect smashed the glass front door and entered the business. The suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register and fled the scene. Deputies summoned the help of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigators (CSI).CSI Technicians were able to collect vital DNA evidence at the scene. The evidence was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). CODIS is a database which allows crime laboratories within the United States to share and compare DNA information with one another.

The DNA samples collected at the restaurant linked Shawn Ducreay to the crime. Investigators conducted an extensive background check on Ducreay and learned he was staying in the city of Lakewood. On December 20th, 2019, investigators located Ducreay in his vehicle and he was taken into custody.

Ducreay was booked into the Pre-Trail Detention Facility for PC 459-Burglary. He remains in custody on $10,000.00 bail and has a court hearing on January 6th, 2020.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Forensic Sciences Bureau (FSB) played an integral role throughout the investigation. FSB is a full-service laboratory responding to all law enforcement agencies in Ventura County. The 31 full-time forensic scientists and 8 support staff of the FSB analyze approximately 8,000 cases per year.

Nature of Incident: Burglary Suspect Apprehended
Police Use DNA to Help Arrest Fillmore Burglary Suspect
Report Number: 19-148862
Location: 600 Block of West Ventura Street Fillmore
Date & Time: September 21, 2019 3:30 am
Unit(s) Responsible: Fillmore Investigative Bureau/ Sheriff’s Crime Lab/ Gang
Unit (S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
(A) Shawn Ducreay, 20, of Lakewood
Prepared by: Sergeant Vince Alvarez
Approved by: Captain Garo Kuredjian

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

Pictured is newly appointed Fillmore Middle School Principal Trina Tafoya

December 13, 2019

Dear Fillmore Unified District Community,
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of changes in leadership taking place at Fillmore Middle School, Sierra High School, and Heritage Valley Independent Study. The changes will take effect on Monday, January 6, 2020.

Fillmore Middle School:
New Principal
- Ms. Trina Tafoya will be the new Principal of Fillmore Middle School. Ms. Tafoya is a professional educator who has worked at the secondary level with experiences as a classroom teacher, Teacher on Special Assignment, Assistant Principal, and Principal. She is currently in her second year as Principal of Sierra High School and brings with her a wealth of experience in advocating for the academic success of all students.
Departure of Assistant Principal, Alicia Pane
- Alicia Pane has served our District with distinction as an accomplished Teacher on Special Assignment and most recently as an Assistant Principal at Fillmore Middle School. Mrs. Pane will be leaving Fillmore Unified du to a full family move to the East Coast. We wish her safe travels and continues success.
Education Services
- Assistant Superintendent Micheline G. Miglis will resume her full-time duties as the Assistant Superintendent of Education Services. She will provide ongoing support to
Fillmore Middle School and all Fillmore Unified schools in her role as Assistant Superintendent. Thank you Ms. Miglis for your work in leading Fillmore Middle School.

Sierra High School and Heritage Valley Independent Study:
Mr. Pablo Leanos returns as Principle of Sierra High School and Heritage Valley Independent Study. Mr. Leanos is a professional educator who has worked at the middle and high school levels with experiences as a classroom teacher, counselor, site administrator, and Principal on Special Assignment.

Congratulations to our leaders on their new roles and opportunities. Each of our school leaders have demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting all students and work tirelessly to promote academic success. Thank you in advance for your continued support of Fillmore Unified Schools.

Sincerely,
Adrian E. Palazuelos, Ph.D

On Sunday, December 29th at 4:20pm California Highway Patrol responded to a crash reported on Highway 150 in Ojai, also known as Ojai-Santa Paula Road. A motorcyclist was riding a 2017 Harley-Davidson westbound on Highway 150 and for reasons still under investigation, lost control of the bike and went off the road, hitting a mailbox and tree before coming to a stop. The rider was pronounced dead at the scene. On Monday, December 30th the rider was identified as Austin Reed, 20, of Fillmore. Cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Fillmore’s Margaret’s Concina closed back in March of 2017 after 40 years of service to the community. On Wednesday, December 25th the following was posted on the Margaret’s Cocina Drive - In Facebook page: “Happy Holiday to everyone. Been a while since we have posted anything on here. Just wanted to say that it’s been a few years now that we closed but after a long wait, we were just notified by the Ventura County Health Dept. that we have been approved for our blueprint plans to reopen; now we’re just waiting on the City of Fillmore to approve these plans to pass. Hoping for positive thought for the next approval of plans to pass, then we can start construction…Hoping to re-open Fall of 2020.”

Submitted by FHS Alumni President Mark Ortega

In September of 2019, the Fillmore High Alumni Association awarded $18,000 to Fillmore High graduates from our Continuing Education Grant Program. Over 25 Fillmore High graduates were awarded 2019 Continuing Education Grants. Alvaro Nathan Garnica is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and is currently working on his Pharmaceutical Doctorate Degree at University of Southern California. All Graduates of Fillmore High School are eligible to apply for the award. The application can be printed out from the Alumni's website at www.fillmorehighalumni.com (Click on Scholarships). The deadline to hand in applications is June 30th. Congratulations to all the 2019 Continuing Education Grant recipients. If you are a member of the Alumni Association you can see a complete list of the 2019 awardees by logging into the Alumni's website. Do so by clicking on the "Members Only" page link at the top. If you are not a paying member of the Association, you can pay online by clicking on the "Membership" link.

Bob Crum

This column concludes editing the previous photo of the week. (review online) Recall that I exported the image (from Adobe Lightroom program), in the tiff format, to Photoshop Elements 2020 (PSE), with NIK plug-ins. In the tiff format, it's now a digital photo, not just data.

A few photographers wrote asking why I don't export to Photoshop (PS) instead of Elements (PSE). I could have, but PS compared to PSE is like comparing a Dodge supercharged 6.2L Hemi Hellcat engine producing 797 HP to a Toyota 2.5L 2Arfe 4-banger. Since I'm not creating 50 layer composites, I don't need the power of PS. Editing a Fillmore parade photo with Photoshop would be like driving my 454 HP Maserati GT sport coup three blocks to Vons to fetch a banana!

Photoshop Elements is Photoshop without some bells and whistles. It's like my Maserati V8 running on four cylinders. Most PSE editing functions are similar to PS. However, add NIK plug-ins to PSE and PSE sings like Lady Gaga. Presently, the plug-ins include Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Dfine2, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro, Silver Efex Pro, and Viveza. I use Color Efex Pro 4 and Viveza 2 extensively. The key that makes NIK plug-ins so fantabulous is their U-Point technology. It's awesome sauce!

Let's edit! If the image has excessive digital noise (in low-light photos), I use Imagenomics, a third-party plug-in. On occasion I use both Imagenomics and NIK Dfine because they use different algorithms. Plug-in algorithms are better than boiled beet greens. But I digress.

In the original capture, Spanish moss on the tree limb is the wrong color. Using Viveza, I put a U-Point on the moss, closed down the circle of influence so that only the moss is affected and adjusted hue, saturation and brightness. Ah, much better.

I created another U-Point placed on the tree under the Sunstar. The bright sun washed out the green color, restored it with the 'green' slider and an increase of saturation. I also applied 'structure' to the overall image to enhance the tree's leaves.

Afterward, I applied 'Tonal Contrast' with a Color Efex Pro filter. Satisfied with the photo's enhancements, the last step was to resize the image and resolution. Bidda bing-bidda boom-DONE. And almost as much fun as a bubble bath with a mermaid.

While some profess photo editing is a time-consuming pain-in-the-buttocks, I embrace it as a creative exercise. And it's not rocket science. Learn it and it's like eating ice cream.

It's a new year and time to reassess the direction for this column through 2020. Some have said that I often get too technical. Others look forward to more in-depth technical info. I need your feedback. Please take a moment to email me your preferences. It's important! Also, please tell me your status: photographer, photography enthusiast, wannabe photographer or phonetographer. Include your favorite photographic genre: Landscapes, portraits, pets, wildlife, flowers, street photography etc. and if you are you more interested in photography or post-processing (editing)? Also, might you be interested in participating in a photography club get together once a month? Think fun! Receive a shooting assignment, submit your photos the following month to be reviewed & discussed. Please write now before you forget! I am looking forward to hearing from all of my 2,395, 557 readers! Happy New Year!!!

The photo of the week, Brush Creek, is from my nostalgic archives of photographic haunts. Scenic Brush Creek, north of Kernville, presents a variety of fantabulous photo ops, with or without mermaids.

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

Anna Ramos (aka “Peter”) was chosen as this year’s Piru Grand Marshal because of her devotion to the Piru community. She gives of herself unconditionally to her family, friends and the community. She defines Piru and what Piru is all about, being one - FAMILY. We were honored to have Peter as our Grand Marshal.

Submitted by Piru Neighborhood Council

The 42nd Annual Piru Christmas Parade and Festival, on Saturday, December 14, was a huge success.

Anna Ramos (aka “Peter”) was chosen as this year’s Piru Grand Marshall because of her devotion to the Piru community. We were honored to have Peter as our Grand Marshall.

There were 24 entries with several competing for the “Piru Disney” theme awards. Piru School’s “Let it Snow” and La Verne Nursery’s “Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs” took top honors.

The Fillmore Marching Band and the Mariachi Band were entertaining - as always – followed by music by Juano & Friends – which got the crowd dancing.

Piru’s first Corn Hole Tournament attracted 14 teams and was enjoyed by all.

There were several booths selling toys, blankets, and other miscellaneous Christmas items.

The Carnales MC East County – hosted the Toy Give Away for the 12th year – joined this year by the Nosotros Car Club who also donated toys for the kids in Piru.

We want to thank our sponsors: San Salvador Mission, Piru Pizza, Piru Petroleum Club, Rancho Temescal, and Fillmore Piru Citrus. We also want to thank all the volunteers – as well as the Piru Neighborhood Council for making this event a success.

Fillmore High Head Football Coach Sean Miller

After two years at Fillmore Flashes Head Football Coach Sean Miller has resigned. Miller has a 15 – 5 record over the last two years, making playoffs and breaking several school records, such as passing yards in a game - 311 against Carpinteria on September 27th; most passing yards in a season - 1,875, and 24 touchdown passes in a season.

The team was only able to play eight games in regular season due to cancelations against Santa Clara and long time rival Santa Paula, because of the Maria Fire.

Fillmore finished the 2019 regular season 7-1, which got them into the Citrus Coast League CIF-Southern Section Division 13 playoffs, where they beat South Pasadena in the first round but fell short to Yorba Linda in the 2nd round of playoffs.

Coach Miller, who still teaches at Fillmore High, is focusing on obtaining his Masters Degree, and has recommended Flashes Defensive Coach Tony Tafoya for the job.