Snapshots

Slam fest

2012-01-25T18:21:00.000-08:00

After a recent discussion about all the dunks going on at high school basketball games we decided to do a story on them. I went through the last couple of games and came back with a pretty good assortment of the power moves to the rim.

Nothing gets the crowd going like an intimidating slam dunk.

It is hard to shoot from the baseline but every now and then I get a shot that makes it worthwhile.

Something's afoot

2012-01-25T17:39:00.000-08:00

I don't trust this dog. That devious look on his face spells mistrust, lies and treachery. That dog is hiding something behind that evil smirk, some dark secret, some guilty event eats away at its conscious. It is waiting to strike with a vengeful fury on those that oppressed it. Behind that facade lies a veil of animosity and a thirst for blood. That look speaks volumes of its desire to purge the world of my existence.

Either that or it just took a piddle.

Duh!

2012-01-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

Above the rim

2012-01-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

I've had the opportunity to see some pretty good dunks covering the different high school basketball games this year. Last night's West High basketball game had this great dunk off a no look pass where the player hung on the rim for a few to admire his dunk.

It also featured this not so spectacular miss on the dunk with the ball bouncing back about a dozen feet. Still a cool shot though.

New year, new hikes

2012-01-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

With a new year of hikes ahead I headed out to Morgan Territory to to get back on the trail. I was greeted with one of the coldest hikes I can remember.

Blowing fog and a cold wind whipped over the park as I headed out rom the staging area. I was hiking solo today taking a short 6-mile loop and it was going to be a chilly time.

The lack of rain left the trail rock hard and it felt like I was hiking on cement. The hills were brown instead of a lush green from winter rains. Winds whipped the trails sending dirt and leaves everywhere.

I made my way along the trails shivering in the winds as it whipped across the grasslands and open spaces of the park's valley. Clouds and layers of fog raced across the sky above me as the sunlight filtered through the gray mist to the trail.

Hopefully the rains will come this week and I can look forward to returning to the waterfalls sometime soon. It was cold today but a good time back on the trail.

Pretzel logic

2012-01-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

It's hard shooting wrestling sometimes. The match can end at any moment with a pin and it can be a struggle to get a photo with a face in it. Mostly I end up with these bodies twisted into pretzel shapes.

The last two wrestling matches I shot I came up with some pretty unique views as the wrestlers vied for better position and a pin.

After a while all I see are feet and elbows, go figure.

Don't think, feel

2012-01-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

This is another quick iPhone photo I grabbed on the way to another assignment. I parked next to the old jail on Seventh Street and the first thing I noticed was the red brick contrasting with the sky and wispy clouds. I grabbed a quick shot and played with the lighting effect in the Dynamic Lighting app for the phone. I am starting to like this idea of random photos, I should try and do a series. Don't think about what to shoot- just do it as they say.

The road

2012-01-05T13:28:00.001-08:00

It's a long way to nowhere.

1st dog of the year

2012-01-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

A new year brings a slew of new assignments and today was the first Pet of the Week for 2012. Lucky me I drew a pit bull with an attitude. He really didn't want to sit still for a photo and wanted to put his best side toward the camera. This bodes well for 2012.

Leaves

2012-01-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

A lonely little leaf and some filter work courtesy my iPhone. I have to do this more often it's kind of fun.

Winter colors

2012-01-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

The last few leaves cling to the branches in winter.

Shooting from the hip

2012-01-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

For my last hike of 2011 I took a solo trek up the rugged slopes of Eagle Peak in Mount Diablo State Park on New Year's Eve day. I decided to travel light and would rely on just my iPhone's built in camera for whatever pictures I would take.

This has to be the fewest pictures I have taken on a hike, but that's ok, this was more about getting out and getting my mind right. Just for fun I decide to shoot the pictures with the the Hipsmatic app or process photos with the special effects filter in the Snapseed app.

It's kind of gimmicky looking but for the occasional shoot I like the effect.

The Year in Review: The best photo of the year

2011-12-28T22:40:00.000-08:00

Looking back over the year one photo stands out in my mind what photojournalism is. It wasn't a photo from a fire with flames leaping toward the camera. Nor was it a crime scene with a shell casing laden roadway marked off in crime scene tape. It was a very quiet photo that I took by accident on a quiet Monday morning.

Walking back to my car after covering a Memorial Day ceremony I took this photo of Charlie Norton giving a kiss goodbye the grave of his wife Betty Jean who is buried in the Little Arlington section of the Tracy Public Cemetery. I don't think this photo ran, the editors were a little leery about the emotions in the photo but I think it says so much I can't help but like it.

Yes I felt bad about taking it, one of the many photos I've taken that have given me pause to think about the effect it may have on the subject and others. It is a hard thing to have to juggle emotions, news value and my own sense of a moral compass on assignment then make the decision in just a second. I chose to take the picture and even though I have had some twinges of second guessing my decision I think the photo speaks volumes.

I look at this photo and when I see the never ending love of a man for his wife. I see the dedication of my dad carrying for my mom in her illness. I see the memory we keep alive to those who have passed and I see a spirit that can't be shattered by loss no matter the distance.

I talked to Mr. Norton after I took the photo and he told me a story about "Fiddler's Green" a place where soldiers and those who have died can rest in peace among green hills and music as they never tire from their dancing. I wrote about our conversation here.

It has been a hard year for many of us. We lost community leaders including Tom Hawkins and Pinkie Phillips and I try to remember the last time I took their photos and what I said to them. I always wonder did I say the right thing, was I kind enough did I leave them better than when I found them. Personally it has been a hard time losing my uncle just days before Christmas this year and dealing with a family crisis for most of the year.

Everyone always says it is better if people die if they were suffering, I guess it is true, I would't want anyone to be in pain or to suffer. After my conversation with Mr. Norton I came to hope there really is a place like Fiddler's Green where weary souls or those in pain can find comfort in the music of another life. I think about that a lot in times like this.

It may not be the most exciting image but the message and story of this photo tis the world to me. In my photo files I named this photo Fiddler's Green and when I'm feeling down about things or thinking that road ahead is too hard and filled with pain I think about the story of Fiddler's Green and things just don't seem as bad. One moment in time, one image, one story and so much to tell.

The Year in Review: Wounds

2011-12-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

One assignment this year stood out as the saddest moment of the year to cover behind the camera. Under a cloudy November sky the name of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David P. Senft was unveiled on the Tracy War Memorial marking the latest casualty from Tracy to die in the war against terrorism. Senft, a gunner onboard a Black Hawk helicopter shot himself at the Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan during his fourth tour of duty. He was only 27-years-old.

We will never know the depths of pain and anguish that Staff Sgt. Senft was going through, nor do I wish to add to the pain and sorrow his family feels at his loss. It is tragic that a young man in service to his country could be so wounded physically or mentally and then neglected by the Army to the point that he took his own life.

Much has been said and debated about the decision to add the staff sergeant’s name to the Tracy War Memorial which honors those killed in the line of duty to their country. Most of those who voiced their opposition to adding his name did so cruelly and anonymously from behind their computers on the web comment section. Some showed their ignorance and contempt with obscene gestures. Who are they to judge Staff Sgt. Senft? They will never know the wounds he carried with him, visible or not. They will never know the pain and suffering he felt to the point where he took his own life. Most of us will never know the turmoil and terror of war and the effect that it can have on those who fight. Soldiers suffer and sacrifice so we can live our everyday lives and sometimes they don’t have anything left for themselves.

On Veterans Day the name of Staff Sgt. David P. Senft was placed on the black marble wall of the Tracy War Memorial. Members of the Patriot Guard Riders escorted the family to the memorial and in a very dignified ceremony the Senft’s name was unveiled. I have been to several of these ceremonies but the saddest moment of this day to me was when the flag covering the staff sergeant’s name was given to his 5-year-old son Landon.

Whenever I look at the photo I always wonder if Landon knows what happened to his father. I see him look at the letters of his fathers name on the flag and I hope he grows to understand one day that his father would have wanted to stay with him if he could have. The wounds ran too deep, the pain too much and a tragic ending to a short life.

I think the War Memorial Association made the right choice adding his name to the wall and applaud their decision in the face of the criticism. It was a sad day and one I don’t hope to repeat soon.

The Year in Review: The same old scene

2011-12-23T22:16:00.000-08:00

Some things never seem to change on assignment. For me it is life behind the crime scene tape. Six days after photographing a man who shot himself in a public suicide outside a rural fire station I stood on a side walk behind more crime scene tape photographing the investigation of a drive by shooting on Thanksgiving night. It always the same old scene-crime scene tape and evidence markers.

It's not that we had a particularly violent year, we really didn't. No murders that I can remember just lots of random crimes. An armed robbery at a Kragens store with a street blocked off, a SWAT callout for a parolee barricaded in his home, a drive by shooting that covers nearly 4 blocks- the violence just seemed to keep coming. We had people shot, robberies, home invasions-that seems to be the price for living in a town nearing the 90,000 population mark.

Throw in the occasional bank robbery, a grenade call or two and it was a year of chasing scanner calls. Sometimes the photos were fairly intense-a SWAT officer carrying a child from a house, guns drawn during a search for a suspect- but more often than not my photo was just a strip of yellow tape at night. I'm getting pretty good at capturing that.

Do I feel safe in Tracy? Sure, I guess so. One of my first assignments at the paper 14 years or so ago was covering a murder of a gas station clerk who shot in killed during a robbery. I have lost count of the number of crimes scenes I have covered since then. Contrary to what the web comments section would have you believe there has always been crime in this town, it is not a plague of shootings or a murder spree run rampant in town just recently. If you don't want to feel safe walking down the street or sitting in your house or if you want to know what it feels like to live in a real honest to god shooting gallery then move to Stockton. That cesspool stands at 58 homicides for the year with a few more days left for them to reach 60.

What bothers me about the crimes I have covered in Tracy is the level of violence in some of the crime scenes I have covered. It is not one bullet fired into a house but 14 rounds. It's not one shooting on Thanksgiving but three. I don't think it is a fault of the police not doing their job, they can't be everywhere nor would I want to live in a police state of someone on every corner watching my every move. It is a sign of the times. It's always easier to take what you want than earn it, to strike out when angry then build friendships and understanding.

What does the next year hold for my crime scene photography? I don't know. A change in the police force leadership could bring about some renewed crime deterrence. I'll wait and see what my life behind the line has in store for me in the coming year, and hopefully it will be nothing at all.

The Year in Review: The best scream of the year

2011-12-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

Most wrestling shots are collection of arms and legs flailing about with a head in an odd angle so I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to capture this photo of West High’s Matt Mahe celebrating his win by pin in a 215 pound match. You either want to capture peak action or the best emotion from a sporting match so this photo fit the bill quite nicely.

The year in review: The hottest assignment of the year

2011-12-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

Turning east onto 6th Street I could see the line of flames and heavy black smoke pouring from a fence and house fire off Falcon Court. I was still block away but I knew this wasn't going to end well.

Kids plying with matches led to the biggest fire I covered during the year. Getting on scene through the thick smoke I could see the flames licking across the front of the house. I found a good shooting vantage point in the empty field next door and watched as flames devoured the roof.

A fire crew went up the roof to ventilate the attic spaces and as I watched them work on the right side of the roof the left side began to collapse. Flames were billowing up through the gaps as the roof began to buckle. The crews cut their holes and left the roof and minutes later the right side where they had been standing caved in.

It has been some time since I saw a fire burn so fiercely in a home. I talked to the crews that were ventilating the roof and they described it as one of the hottest fires they had fought. Cutting the ventilation hole released a blowtorch of flames towards them. The chainsaw they were using kept shutting off-the engine starved of oxygen in the the thick smoke from the fire.

Thankfully no was injured in the blaze. It is tragic that the family lost their home in a criminal act but possessions can be replaced, a life cannot. It was one of the more spectacular fires I have covered and probably the top spot news event of the year.

The Year in Review: The strangest photo of the year

2011-12-18T23:29:00.000-08:00

Oh this photo wasn't from an assignment, but heading back home from a hike at the Marin Headlands we spotted this odd sight in a bay in Sausalito.

It turns out that this is a 14-foot long fiberglass sculpture by artist David Hardy who was known for creating various sculptures of babies heads he would often leave around San Francisco. So the story goes he made this giant baby, left it with a friend then one day it is floating in a harbor next to a restaurant. Go figure, but it did make for a strange sight and I managed to grab a few quick frames from the raod as we headed home.

The Year in Review: Outtakes

2011-12-17T01:07:00.000-08:00

When life gives you lemons on assignment you don't make lemonade, you keep the pictures and remember how however bad your day is going, it was worse a couple of days ago. So looking back here are some gems that never made the paper but really tell how my year went. From crazed cats to broken cameras it was quite the year.

The Year in Review: The best collision of the year

2011-12-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

Usually when I go to a crash scene it involves some kind of motor vehicle. I got lucky this year and saw two pretty spectacular impacts outside of the roadway.

The annual Bloodless Bullfights at the Portuguese Hall concludes the Festa celebration and is one of the summer assignments I look forward to. One of the featured moments is watching several Forcados try to tackle a not so happy bull who has spent the last 20 minutes being stuck by a guy on horseback. Yeah I always root for the bull to put a hurtin' on these guys.

The second collision is probably my favorite. In the words of Chris Berman; "Back, back, back, back, back......it's gone" The only thing that would have made this shot better would be the ball falling just out of reach but crashing into the fence is good enough for me.

The Year in Review: The last game

2011-12-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

Tracy High bid farewell to the current Wayne Schneider Stadium and Peter B. Kyne Field as they will be demolished a new modern complex built in its place with construction slated to begin this summer.

All the history, the championships and memories are in the history books now. The final game was played under the stadium's aging lights on the grass and mud that many a Bulldog player wore proudly on his uniform.

It was good to be there to watch the team take the field one last time, a little piece of history for Tracy High. Construction is scheduled to take one year and in 2013 I hope to be on the sideline as the Bulldogs take their home field once again.

The Year in Review: The cheesiest photo of the year

2011-12-12T17:26:00.000-08:00

After a while all the high school graduation pictures start to look the same. Kids in robes-people smiling-people cheering-etc. it gets challenging to come up with something fresh or different.

At the Tracy High graduation this guy wanted something a little different than the traditional grip-and-grin diploma photo. he decided to strike a pose with one of the school board members and I knew I had my shot for the day from the graduation ceremonies.

A life of its own

2011-12-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

I was dog tired after my 21-hour day photographing the lunar eclipse and sunrise at the Isenberg Crane Reserve outside Lodi so I waited to post a short story and photos of the eclipse until Sunday night. I wrote a brief story and uploaded eight pictures of the eclipse and put them on the website just after 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.
I checked the story before I went to bed and saw 1 comment and a handful of views on the web counter.

Arriving at work this morning I checked the website homepage and noticed something odd. The eclipse story was at the top of the most viewed articles? How could it get a couple thousand page views overnight I wondered. Top stories usually have at least 4,000 page views or so and then I noticed the web counter on the eclipse story. Shortly after 10 a.m. the eclipse story I posted Sunday evening had already tallied 110, 218 page views. WTF?!?

Now 4:30 Monday afternoon and that same story is at 111,527 page views. Somehow the story made it the Google or Yahoo search engines and a query for "Lunar Eclipse" calls up my story and pictures as a result. It's kind of weird how things take on a life of their own on the internet. My photos and story have been bouncing around the globe and may have been viewed all across the country and other continents.

it just seems odd to me how a photo taken in a dark. chilly field outside Lodii is suddenly seen everywhere. My photo made to to some science website where the photo was linked with images of the eclipse collected from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pheonix Arizona, Sidney Australia and Rikuzentakata Japan. How does a photo from a wetlands near Lodi fit in to the global picture?

A Google images gallery even had some of my Snapshots blog pictures from the eclipse. It is true once it is published on the web it takes a life of its own and can appear in the least likely place you might think. The story now I guess is our most viewed web story ever, easily surpassing our Sandra Cantu coverage, and it did that in less than one day. It will be interesting to see what the final tally for people viewing the story will be, I'm guessing it will come close to the 150,000 mark and then interest will die out.

Nice to know someone thought my pictures were worth seeing, I guess it made my cold wait in the morning mist worth it. Funny thing I think the sunrise photos I took right after the eclipse were the best shots of the morning. Maybe I will have to look and see if they are making their way across the globe too.

Rise and fall

2011-12-11T00:35:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a solo trip out of town to try and capture the lunar eclipse scheduled for early Saturday morning as the moon set in the west. Since I was going to be up already I decided to try for some sunrise art and decided to do my photography over at the Isenberg Crane Reserve outside Lodi.

All my prior trip to Isenberg have given some beautiful sunset and sunrise photo opportunities. The only problem I might have would be fog from the wetlands or a low cloud deck either of which could obscure my view of the eclipse. I arrived at Isenberg just after 5 a.m. and began to rig my camera. All the eclipse photos were taken with my 300 mm lens and the 1.4 extender. The lower the moon sank toward the horizon the more it dipped behind clouds. Just after entering totality around 6 a.m. the moon disappeared for good in the morning mists. I was able to capture some of the moon's eerie orange glow as it bathed in the Earth's shadow.

With the eclipse over I waited in the chilly morning air for daybreak. Sandhill cranes cackled all around me as dawn began to illuminate the fog and clouds above the wetlands. Clouds made for a pretty sunrise as the Sun's orb rose in the cold gray sky. Flights of thousands of cranes and other water birds circled above as the dawn broke.

I photographed the procession of cranes and other wetlands visitors as they left for their daily flights until about 7 a.m. and then chilled to the bone I headed for the nearest cup of coffee.

The next lunar eclipse for us is going to be in 2014 so I have some time to warm up and get ready. Sunrise and sunsets at Isenberg are always spectacular and I look forward to a return trip for pictures of their colorful hues.

The Year in Review: Back in the swing of things

2011-12-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

I really thought I had lost my mojo. My super secret bunker dance had been failing me on assignment and I was stuck shooting mundane putting photos of golfers. Then low and behold the photo gods answered my prayers and the bunker dance brought not but two local players into the beach at a golf tournament I was assigned to cover. Just like Stella I had my groove back.

One of these days I will have to make a You Tube video demonstrating the bunker dance. Not not really, well maybe....not.

The Year in Review: The best photo that never ran

2011-12-08T23:26:00.000-08:00

I knew this photo didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making the paper as soon as I tripped the shutter. I was covering a Tracy High baseball game when something odd happened...

I was shooting from the third base line and had my camera focused on on the pitcher when the home plate umpire called a balk. I remember seeing people moving out of the corner of my eye from behind the camera and wasn't sure what was going on. Seems like the pitcher stopped his motion when he caught sight of this "fan" running on to the field. Buck naked wearing a mask and some kind of weird wig he ran around the infield before heading out to left field.

I didn't pull the camera trigger as he passed by from the front, no way Jose. Even I have standards. As he cruised into deep left field it looked like the outfielder might be setting up to try and tackle this idiot. Instead the streaker did some kind of weird hippie-hop dance and I had my shot. The guy then climbed the chain link fence straddling the top where he waved to the crowd before jumping down. I can only imagine what kind of nasty spiders and bugs were lurking in that ivy as he climbed up in the buff.

So yeah I had my streaker shot which was destined never to see the light of day anywhere but on my blog. It ranks as one of the stranger sports shots I have ever taken in my career.

And what was the count on the batter? I think it was two balls, no strikes.

The Year in Review: The weirdest crime scene of the year

2011-12-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

So after getting lost for about 15 minutes looking for a dirt farm road I finally arrived at the scene of a big methamphetamine and gun raid north of town. As I am looking around this creepy old farm I spot this lovely display. It must be lonely being a meth fiend.

The Year in Review: Big bang theory

2011-12-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

My two favorite fireworks shot this year are very different. I had a chance to shoot the annual city fireworks show from a vantage point near their launch at the old Heinz factory. It seemed as if they were exploding directly overhead.

The other memorable fireworks shot was during a photo shoot with the fire department igniting illegal fireworks to show their danger. They decided to ignite a particularly large one called a Dyno-Stick. As soon as the flare's flame touched the fuse it blew up showering sparks everywhere and giving us a good scare. Too much fun with the rockets red glare.

The Year in Review: Sudden impact

2011-12-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

This had to be one of the worst years for accidents that I can remember. Every year has their fair share of fender benders but 2011 was filled with on the road carnage the likes I can't remember.

The fortunate thing is the vast majority of accidents we had in the area did not result in a fatality. I manged to make it through the year with out having to watch them cover a body with a yellow tarp. There were lots of calls for an air ambulance to take a critically injured driver away but no one died when I was at the scene.

The crashes were some of the more spectacular incidents I have been to. I walked up to more than one crash expecting a dead body. Walking through mud and bits of broken glass and plastic car parts it's sad how you can become cold and oblivious to the carnage and be more interested in the composition and storytelling of the scene.

Hopefully the roadways will be calmer in the coming year and the toll on the traffic will be much less.

Life in the slammer

2011-12-08T00:16:00.000-08:00

Ok so today's Brighter Christmas Jail assignment was a tad strange. Maybe strange is the wrong word. How about weird??

So aside from the fact that the city manager shouted that he was "too pretty to be in jail;", to a 3-year-old getting a $5,000 fundraising bail amount then getting over $6,000 to the guy who flipped us off because he had to wait to make a right turn I would say yes it was weird time on 10th Street and Central Avenue today.

It is for a good cause and I guess I can take a little weirdness every now and then.

The Year in Review: WTF?

2011-12-07T23:51:00.000-08:00

You know some assignments are going to go bad quickly, like when a guy in a giant chicken suit and sneakers is running in a marathon or a land shark is devouring a kid on a football field. Its those little signs that tell you maybe you should have stayed in bed or become a plumber.

I had quite a few assignments where my subjects were dressed lets say, “uniquely”. Makes for an interesting edit back at the office.

I think the most annoying costume was the “Nutri Beast” good nutrition mascot. He was supposed to lead students in exercises but all he did was a bad skit and pose for pictures. On days with assignments like this I just go across the street and get a cookie. That’s why I’m fat. That and I like cookies.

The Year in Review: How far we’ve come

2011-12-07T23:39:00.000-08:00

Celebration and sadness, terror and triumphs, a time of new beginnings and closures, these were just some of the assignments I covered this year. And as the days wind down on 2011 I will be taking a look back at some the year’s memorable and forgettable moments.

It was a year of section championships and horrific crashes. Gunshots echoing in the night and cheers celebrating are victories. Tears as we remembered those love ones who have left us and quiet smiles as we celebrate the beauty and joy around us.

A year of racing to fires and watching the warm glow of a sunset cross the sky, the sadness of a father’s loss and the joy of a song on a warm summer day.

Another year closes and it’s stories slip into the pages of our hearts and minds but we will take one last look before we say goodbye.

Coming soon

2011-12-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, its Christmas!

2011-12-06T00:08:00.000-08:00

Right around Thanksgiving I was thinking about decorating the office Christmas tree with crime scene tape. I was about as far from the holiday spirit as you can get. Shootings, web story comments, leaky roof-it was like someone was telling me to go fa la la la la myself. Merry frickin’ Christmas. But on the horizon there was that magical date penciled in on my calendar for December. No it's not Christmas, who cares about that. This is an even more special day filled with joy, merriment and a humiliated dog. Yep it was time to Dress the Dog.

Just like mistletoe and drunk relatives passed out in a bowl of eggnog Dressing the Dog has become a holiday tradition. Where else can I wrap two dogs with electric lights or sprinkle a possibly toxic fake snow on an unsuspecting puppy? Maybe in Arkansas but that it is too far away so I settle for going down to the Tracy Animal Shelter to see what holiday shenanigans they have cooked up for me to photograph.

We’re a long way from our first holiday photographs that had a Santa hat forced on a reluctant dog. Yep, we're in the big leagues now. What did the shelter staff have in store for this year? How could they possibly out do the ever-popular “Yiddish cats in a box”? What could possibly top that? How about a visit from the jolly old elf? Yes boys and girls a visit from Santa himself to pose with our lucky Pet of the Week would be our centerpiece this year.

With the sleigh in for repairs Santa rolled up in his red Scion. I was thinking how common is to see a guy in a Santa suit pull up to an animal shelter next to a sewer plant-just act natural. After the meet and greet we got to see who would would be making their special guest appearance with Santa for the photo. Drumroll please, today’s winner- a pitbull! Yep, Merry frickin’ Christmas to me!

It wasn’t all that bad, our model for the day was Elsie, a pitbull and border collie mix who was afraid of Santa just about as much as some 4-year-olds. One nervous bark and then Elsie looked for cover behind a shelter worker. Not so fast you have to get dressed for the photo (this is called Dressing the Dog after all).

I was told that Elsie had already tried on her outfit and loved it. This assignment was getting better by the minute. A dog that likes sweaters and mittens, nice. The pictures would be taken in a decorated spot in the cat kennel room so all the cats could laugh and call her names and not let poor Elsie join in any cat games. So as Elsie cowered and quivered and lay on her belly, and while she was getting dressed shook like a bowl full of jelly. Ok enough of the Christmas stories crap; lets get down to taking pictures.

Elsie is in her outfit with more of a whimper than a bang, Santa is set to rock and roll and I’m wishing I had actually died of heat stroke on Mount Diablo a couple of months ago. So anyway might as well see if Elsie will sit still. She had the shimmy shakes going pretty good but we pressed ahead with the pictures. For a pit bull she was surprisingly calm, I think she was too terrified of the big guy dressed in red next to her. She just sat there and tried to duck down. Short of strangling Elsie (and we did try that once) we did our best to make her sit up and look festive for the photo. I felt like one of those really bad mall photographers trying to take a picture of an uncooperative kid sitting on Santa’s lap. It was hard to get Elsie to focus and look at the camera; even the squeaky toy didn’t hold much of her interest. I fired away as Elsie surveyed the room looking for a place to hide and before I knew it the photo shoot was a wrap.

Could this be a true Christmas miracle, could the special holiday edition of the Pet of the Week photo go that easy? Just for fun we tried another dog and took a few quick shots to send off to a rescue group. Still no calamity slipping the Christmas outfit on the dog. Back in the shelter office we tried the Santa hat on the office cat that is notoriously ill tempered and has no patience for such tomfoolery. She seemed less than amused at her outfit but oddly intrigued by a dancing snowman we added to the picture.

And with a few final shutter clicks Dressing the Dog 2011 slipped into the history books. It’s for a good cause and hopefully Elsie will find a new home for the holidays and beyond. I don’t think I’m quite in the Christmas mood yet, maybe I need to field a call of someone mistaking the navigation lights on Santa’s sleigh for a UFO, and then it would really be Christmas in Tracy.

Until then, Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to one an all. Be safe and see everyone next Happy New Year!

A tale of two tapes

2011-11-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

So there was a little bit of déjà vu the other night as I stood behind the crime scene tape taking pictures of a shooting scene on Cypress Drive Thanksgiving night. I had that uncanny feeling I had been there before.

I have spent a good deal of time behind the crime scene line and one shooting scene sort of blurs into the next. But still there was something oddly familiar about this view I had of the crime scene tape flickering red and blue in the lights from a police cruiser.

Then I knew exactly why it looked so familiar, it was going to be the cover of the Tracy Press on Friday. We built the paper on Wednesday as everyone was scheduled to be off for the holiday. To go with the story on crime around the holidays ramping up I found a photo from a stabbing I covered in December of 2010 on Eaton Avenue. This was the view a year ago.

So as we publish a story about the efforts to curtail the crime near the end of the year three separate shootings in town wound two in one day. The story seems to change but the sights always remain the same behind the line.

Over hill and dale

2011-11-23T23:33:00.000-08:00

Our last hike a week or so ago was a trip to a small park tucked into a open spaces near a subdivision near Dublin. We were heading out to one of our urban excursions where the road meets the trail.

Dublin Hills is part of East Bay Parks system and is nestled in the hills and T at the end of a new housing development arching up the hillsides. Heading out on the trail takes you along side the homes before branching off into grazing land for cattle.

The trails are not to steep but littered with cow pies from all the not-so-content cows that eyed us warily along the trail.

I found myself shifting back and forth between color and black and white as the vistas and farm land called out for subtle gray tones.

There are a few weeks left in the year and I'm not sure where we finish 2011 on the trail. Diablo's canyons Morgan Territory's streams would make interesting sights as they rain brings new life to dry creek beds. It would be great to catch the last glimpses of color on the leaves before winter's grasp closes in for the season.

Bad Cat-atude

2011-11-16T14:04:00.000-08:00

"Hey fatboy....yeah you. No pictures! Get that f-----g camera out of here!

10-57

2011-11-14T21:29:00.000-08:00

I was just about done with my shift today when a call came across the scanner of 10-57. That is a report of shots fired. The police department was getting multiple calls of shots fired in an area on the western edge of town near Fabian Park. An ambulance and fire engine were staged nearby in case anyone was hit so I decided to head out and see how bad it was.

This was one of the oddest shootings I have been to and in some ways one of the most dangerous. Reports were sketchy but someone had fired shots into the quiet neighborhood in a drive-by shooting just before 5:30 p.m. A lot of shots

Some residents in the neighborhood heard five or six rounds fired off. Others heard what sound like dozens of rounds being fired. All told police recovered 14 shell casing from the street. A two block stretch of Ogden Sannazor had five shell case spread over nearly two blocks where residents heard the shots and then a car race from the scene.

On Valencia Drive nine cases were recovered from an area no more than 30 feet long. Cones marked the path of the shooter down the street. It was a display of senseless gunplay. Fortunately no one was hit and police could find no damage to nearby houses or cars.

I hope this is not a new trend, random gunfire in quiet streets and hopefully this latest burst of violence is quashed quickly. I don't wish to return to the days of standing in the night behind the crime scene tape. I am done with those days for certain.

End of an era

2011-11-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

It was a bittersweet moment standing in the cold last Friday night as the Tracy High Bulldogs played their last game on the natural turf of Wayne Schneider Stadium. In July the stadium will be razed and a new modern stadium erected in its place complete with artificial turf. The project will take a year forcing the Bulldogs to play the 2012 season in nearby West High or Kimball High stadium.

It is a long time coming but in someone ways it is sad. It was the one of the last links to the Tracy High I attended and graduated from in 1982. The classrooms I attended are all gone, demolished or renovated to a point where they bare no resemblance to the halls I attended. The football field where I graduated from on a Friday night in June was one the spot that hadn't changed in all the years. It was the one constant-the same tradition passed down through the years. But it will be gone in a few months.

Sad as it may be it was a long time coming. Walk up the steps of the home bleachers at Tracy High and it seemed you could feel the aluminium buckle beneath your feet. The lights were yellow and dim and my football shots showed the effects of such aged lighting equipment. Midfield in the rainy months was a quagmire and the sidelines weren't much better. Yes it was time for a change. I guess I wanted to hold on to a few memories from my younger years.

The new stadium will be a great place for the Bulldogs to play and the new field with modern lights will be a better shooting environment. While the old stadium might have fond memories the new venue will create its own memories and highlights and is sure to be home to thrilling games and championships. It's really not the place that makes the memories, it's the people in them.

I feel honored to have been at the stadium for the last game ever and two years from now I will feel another bit of pride as I photograph the first game at Tracy High's new football stadium. It is the end of an era, and the opening of a new chapter at Tracy High.

Sunset

2011-10-31T00:48:00.000-07:00

Every fall the Sandhill Cranes begin their winter migration to the wetlands outside Lodi. Just off the side of the road thousands of the cranes gather at sunset for another evening in the marshes. And in the waning light of gold and purple hues I find some of the prettiest photos I can imagine.

Photographers have this thing about early morning and late afternoon light. As the day progresses the color temperature changes and the color balance shifts. Morning produces generally cooler light with blue and cyan colors dominating. Late afternoon light gives us warmer tones in the yellow to orange range. Photographers spend so much time waiting for the right moment and the right light to coincide with each other.

The Isenberg Crane Reserve is just a little patch of dirt parking lot and a small observation platform overlooking a wetlands where the cranes roost. And as the sun dips and the sky begins to change color the sound of the deep cackles fills the air. Dots along the horizon mark their approach as they wheel overhead looking for their place to land.

As the evening grows darker more cranes arrive for their evening slumber in the wetlands. The sky shifts color growing steadily darker as the cranes reflect in the pools of water spreading into the distance. The silhouette of Mount Diablo grows darker a fiery sky glowing around as the last of the stragglers arrive to roost. and then the light slips away and we are in the darkness amid the calls of the crane in the faint dusk light.

When winter settles over the valley we will return to Isenberg and watch they dawn break over the wetlands as the cranes lift off for their daily rounds. Sunset at Isenberg has slipped on down and we wait for the light of daybreak.

This is Halloween

2011-10-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

I can remember trying to scare the neighborhood trick-or-treaters in my younger years. A Halloween mask, strobe light and some eerie music piped through the stereo in the living room is all it seemed to take. Looking back my attempt was pretty much a feeble amateur hour effort. If you want to see how the pros going about putting a fright in their neighbors take a stroll through the eerie side of Halloween in Tracy.

Spooky masks and strobe lights are so last decade when it comes to terrorizing the neighbors. Grab yourself an armful of animated monsters, some friends who like to dress up in ghoulish outfits and a yard full of macabre decorations that even the next door neighbor’s cat thinks about twice before visiting. Add a dash of computer controlled light and music effects and pinch of steel sculpture twisted enough to terrorize visitors and you can join the elite ranks of Tracy haunted houses ready to put the screams into the Halloween night. For a story previewing some of the Halloween Eve haunts in Tracy I paid a visit to three homes preparing to get their fright on.

The Fulkerson family and their Kings Canyon Court house of horrors is one of the long time haunts for Halloween in Tracy. A macabre graveyard scene greets trick-or-treaters who then face a haunted house maze of dark corners inhabited by demonic clowns and monsters of movie fame. Their next door neighbors joined in with an singing pumpkin display with computer controlled light effects and music.

If dark, narrow passages aren't your thing then maybe a stroll through Phil Walter’s zombie infested bone yard on Lincoln Boulevard is more to your taste. Giant spiders, a demented scientist and other horrors wait beyond the gate.

If you want to think big then a the view of Bill Kirk’s steel pumpkin man sculpture on 2oth Street is what your looking for. His 14-foot tall animated pumpkin man skeleton tearing apart a human skeleton will draw more than a few curious stares come Halloween night. A hand made hanging cage rounds out the torture theme for his Halloween display.

Yes it is a different world for Halloween today. My futile attempt to scare the neighbors pales to today’s animated, computer controlled nightmares. I’ll be content to sit at home alone this Halloween with a scary movie on the television. I have had my fill of haunted houses for the year.

True colors

2011-10-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

The days are growing shorter and the hot winds of summer are turning into a distant memory as fall settles over the valley. The colors are deepening as the leaves turn their dark colors. This is a great time to be a photographer.

Alice and I decided to check the trails of Mount Diablo for the colors of fall and see if we kind find a tarantula or two on their daily rounds. We chose Black Point Trail which takes us to White Canyon.Our last trip there was in February when the mountain is deep in winter. The colors and hues are different now as the the mountain readies for the long stretch of gray. But we had one last view of the mountain's true colors, a rainbow palate as we head into the dark months.

For this hike we tackled the steepest section of the trail first, making our was slowly up the trail looking for a glimpse of a tarantula roaming about. We never found one but we enjoyed the fading colors in the trees and hillsides. An occasional new flower would sprout, one last chance before the winds of winter arrive.

It was a great hike, so different from last weeks melonchloy colors and dark tones. The vibrant colors and sunshine across the rugged trail were reminders why I like the mountain so much. Even as the colors fade and the rains will eventually come the mountain will take on a new life awash with streams and waterfalls and we will visit the rugged trails again.

Through a lens darkly

2011-10-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

Some of our hikes our adventures, some are exploring and some are just a long trek to the outdoors. Then there was our hike on Saturday. Taking a rare afternoon start we headed to Castro Valley's Five Canyon Open Space for one of the more unusual hikes we have taken.

So imagine parking in a residential street then a fe shirt steps later you are delving into brush with spiders and the occasional sly glimpse of a deer on the trail. Above the steady drone of cars traveling on Interstate 580 fills the air. Yes it was a weird moment as we headed into a wilderness carved out next to suburbia.

It was a short hike for us, and I really didn't take that many photographs. But the ones I did make it have an almost disturbing uneasiness to them. They look out of place, more imagined than discovered on the trail.

I think Mount Diablo is calling for my next hike, wash out these brooding images from my mind and back to the splendor of the trail.

Really?

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

This was just what the doctor ordered. Here I am trying to beat a case of laryngitis when I have the uber joy of shooting a soccer game in the rain. Yay for me.

It wasn't a driving reain, just enough to force the rain jacket on and make my cough even better. I also had to keep checking the lens and eyepiece for rain drops. The rain dropped the contrast down and for the life of me I fought the focus all night long. And whatever you do don't drop the camera down and take a breath, you will fog the eyepiece for the next three plays.

At least I didn't suffer alone. People actually camer out to watch high school soccer in the rain. they huddled under their umbrellas and were miserable just like me. At least I got paid to watch the game.

Oh yes it is a joy to shoot in the rain. Even more when breathing is a an option. This unseasonable rain is bringing me down. I'm ready for 80 degree weather anytime now.

Smooth operator

2011-10-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

I’m sort of not sure about this write up from the Tracy Animal Shelter staff. Either this is one slick dog or someone needs to check their meds.

The staff at the paper said he didn’t look to suave. They thought he needed a mustache.

Arson fire

2011-09-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Four teens are sought as suspects of starting a two-alarm structure fire that destroyed a home on Falcon Court Thursday afternoon.

The original call was for a grass fire but it ignited a fence that set fire to the hour sending flames into the attic gutting the home.

Firefighters fought for over an hour against the flames, abandoning the fight on the roof when it began to collapse and eventually attacking the flames from a distance with the ladder truck's aerial hose.

No one was injured in the fire but there were tense moments when the roof began to collapse with fire fighters on top. Everyone made it down and out of the home safe before the stone chimney caved in crashed down into the home.

It was a needless tragic fire but I was able to grab some good photos of some of the battle with the fire.

First fall

2011-09-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

As September slips away and the days grow short the summer has officially ended. Fall is here and soon the colors will change on the leaves and the warm winds will grow cool as the season changes. The muddy months will come soon on the mountain and trails.

On Saturday I took the first hike of fall by myself. I needed the quiet time and the solitude of Morgan Territory was perfect for my needs. The scenery changes as fast as the weather going from the damp coolness of Coyote Trail forest to the arid grasslands of Volvon ended in the cool breezes on my return leg.

Soon the rains will come, the trail will darken and we will explore the winter scenes of the waterfalls and streams that flow around us. But for now I enjoyed the Fall of colors as they beckon a change in the season.

Another peak

2011-09-19T00:20:00.000-07:00

For a couple of weeks I had been planning my own little death march at Mount Diablo State Park. I was going to take a solo hike on the one peak that hiking partner Alice and I thought was was the worst Diablo could throw at us. I was going to take another try at Eagle Peak. Early Saturday morning I started up the slope and a little less than four hours later standing in the parking park I was wondering what had been so wrong the first time. This hike was easy.

Ok easy maybe is the wrong word for it but I was surprised at the end of the hike. This wasn't the death march I had planned for, far from it. No, this was more of a light hike. It was an 8-mile round trip with a climb of 2,347 feet. The maximum positive gradient I faced on the trail was 20.5% with a total time for the hike clocking it at 3 hours 44 minutes. All the nerdy numbers are courtesy of my Motion X GPS app on my iPhone 4 I carry on hikes. Yeah this was supposed to a killer and I came up with a cake walk. Well maybe not a cake walk. It wasn't bad but this hike had its moments.

Way back in June of 2007 Alice and I tackled this very same peak and we both came out beaten. The Snapshots column I wrote after the hike described it as a 14-mile all day adventure. I remember we ran out of water about 2/3 of the way through the hike. There seemed to be an endless amount of climbing along the steep arid trail. So how can a one hike be so different from the other at the same peak? I think I know the answer.

Looking at the hiking blogs and articles about climbing Eagle Peak most describe the same route: Start at Mitchell Canyon Road, head to Deer Flat, take Meridian Ridge Road to Eagle Peak Trail up to the peak down to Coulter Pine Trail which takes you back to the parking lot. Think of it like a big counter-clockwise loop up the mountain. In 2007 we decided to take the steepest portion first and made the loop clockwise, starting at Coulter Pine Trail and working our way up the peak. Many aching muscles later we claimed our victory on top.

So jump to 2011 and with Alice out of town for the weekend I had set my sights on a return trip up the trail. Looking at some online article on the peak they mentioned a different route, a slight change that shaves miles of hiking and avoids the calf-aching climb up from Coulter Pine Trail. The route I would take on Saturday would jump off from the Mitchell staging area, head out on Oak Road to Mitchell Rock Trail. that would lead me to Twin Peaks where it eventually joins with the Eagle Peak Trail to climb to the top. From there everything was the same with a the return route heading to Meridian Ridge Road to Deer Flat and then Mitchell Canyon Road to the parking lot.

Looking at the map it doesn't seem like such a big difference but on my new route I would get to see Mitchell Rock and Twin Peaks before I tackled Eagle Peak. This also gives me claim as having climbed all the major peaks at Mount Diablo State Park as Twin Peaks had been the lone holdout. So on Saturday with 5 liters of water and my old Canon Digital Rebel to test out a new camera strap I set out to climb Eagle Peak. The new route looked promising but I did forget to mention one thing, one little note everyone most people said about the trail I was taking. It was bad, I think the exact word that came up more than once was "treacherous". And looking back at the hike they were absolutely right.

If you have ever hiked the trails of Mount Diablo you know there are two basic types of trail. One is the wide dirt fire road trail. These are easy to hike on, most you can hike two or three people abreast and the footing is generally good except for the occasional loose gravel. The other type of trail on Diablo is whatever they can carve into the mountain side. These trails are narrow, single-track dirt and rock, sometimes covered in scree-a nasty combination of loose pebbles and dirt that make for slippery footing. They are uneven, rugged and generally make for slow painful hiking. While our hike in 2007 was longer and steep in one spot it was on these wide fire roads. No such luck this weekend. Welcome to the most treacherous and scary trail I have been on to date.

So imagine a nasty, narrow trail with uneven rocks and poor footing. That is the entire trail on my way up. I trade hiking distance for trail quality. The trail is unrecognizable in spots to the point they put signs, lots of them to make sure you are heading the right way. Sure it starts off nice, a single dirt patch cut through the grass but as you climb the grass fades away and you are left with a rocky trail zing-zagging up the mountain. The steep long climbs are replaced with rocky switchbacks. The trail is overgrown in spots and branches, shrubs and anything that can scratches and tugs at you, scraping your pack, face and grabbing the hiking poles at every chance.

Seriously, this is not a fun trail. It is not for beginners- it is not for some experienced hikers. If you are claustrophobic this isn't the trail for you. At a couple of spots I had to hike sideways as the trail was too narrow and the drop off to my left was a little intimidating. I put my back against the brush lining one side of the trail and scooted across the narrow spots. In some places I had to stop and think where would be the best place to put my feet and then the hiking poles. This is a trail not for the timid. You have to pay attention to stay safe on this trail for sure.

And to add insult to injury this trail is steep. I still have to climb the same distance up the peak even if I am hiking a course six miles shorter. With the trail troubles said and done it did seem to be an easier climb. I think I was just more deliberate and paranoid where I was stepping.

I made a short stop at Mitchell Rock, a large rock formation that juts out from the trail. If I would have had a hiking partner with me I might have ventured closer to the edge but with no one around to seem me fall and call for help I decided to press on to Twin Peaks. The trail gets rockier the higher you go and at Twin Peaks it is a mess. The trail began a roller coaster up and down route just past the Twin peaks and I began to get worried I had missed the trail in all the rocks. Heading further the trail began another steep climb as I was officially now on Eagle Peak Trail. A short distance later I found the junction where we had climbed from Coulter Pine Trail in 2007. From here on out it would be the same hike as before.

Huffing and puffing I kept a steady pace up the rocks until I reached the plateau. A sign marker made it official I was at Eagle Peak's maximum hight of 2,369 feet and I had made it up the hill in just one hour 45 minutes. I took a break for water and pictures and then continued along the ridge. The trail descends down from the peak pretty rapidly through some nasty scree rocks that had me pause and plan my steps. After the slow descent I began another climb for what seemed forever as I hiked to the Meridian Ridge Road junction. I finally caught a glimpse and knew I would soon be downhill all the way to the parking lot.

Aside from one fall on the loose gravel of a very steep section on Meridian Ridge Road I made it through the hike unscathed. I barely drank maybe a liter and half of the 5 liters of water i carried but it is always better to be prepared. Overall it was a good hike, fantastic views of Mitchell Canyon and the surrounding area once you make it to the top.

I will probably add this hike to my list of must do once a year along with a summit climb. The views are too good to pass up and I will take the trail's treachery in stride. I may even get brave one day and try the old Eagle Peak route and see how I do on a solo 14-mile hike. I'll get my death march in yet.

Sunset

2011-09-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

The view last night at Kimball High was too good to pass up.

Never forget

2011-09-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

For about 15 to 20 minutes, I guess I was like everyone else across the nation, sitting in front of the television in disbelief.

It took a few minutes for it to sink in what was really happening — it seemed surreal, the video of the airplanes, the buildings burning and the panic and confusion. I remember calling then-Editor Cheri Matthews and asking if she was watching the news, too, and what we should do next. It was a little after 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001.

Forget that everyone seemed to be in a state of shock and grief. That didn’t matter. Put that all aside for someplace later. I grabbed my camera gear, jumped in my car and headed to work in a world that had suddenly changed. News reports on the car radio were still filling in details of the terrorist attacks: two planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers, a crash at the Pentagon, and some reports of a downed plane in a field somewhere.

All the attacks were on the East Coast, but the ripple effect was about to strike us.

At the office, I remember we started planning our news coverage — we were already getting calls into the office. West Valley Mall was closed, shopping centers looked deserted and the streets were eerily quiet. I think my first assignment that day was someone who had called about putting an American flag up in front of their house.

There was an impromptu church service at noon, in which people sat in stunned silence. Some wept while they listened as church leaders tried to console them about the morning’s events.

Back at the office, I went over the photographs that were coming across the wire service. The pictures were horrifying — stark images of the destruction and death from the attacks. We did our best to sort through images that might be too graphic to publish as we kept a television on in a corner of the office, playing scenes of the tragedy in New York.

Somewhere in the middle of this, I had to drive to Highway 4 to photograph a fatal accident. Everything I saw that day was about death and destruction — it was getting to me. Somewhere around 10 or 11 p.m., my day ended. As I sat on my couch, the television newscasts kept showing the airplanes crashing into the towers and their collapse. I remember turning the news off — I had seen enough for one day.

But, to me, the worst part was still ahead.

We were thousands of miles from Ground Zero, and yet residents in Tracy could feel the effects in the wake of the attacks. That Friday, the city organized a prayer at City Hall. Hundreds of people gathered hand in hand and prayed for the victims of the attack and for peace.

The saddest moment was when the group sang “God Bless America” to end the prayer vigil. Some cried during the words — others buried their face in their hands. It was just too much for some.

Later that night, at a candlelight vigil at Lincoln Park, Tracy residents gathered to mourn the country’s losses. A man and his wife held an American flag as they sat in anguish.

In those weeks that followed, there was a new sense of patriotism. I covered more assignments of people with American flags than ever before. I was given a small plastic flag that still sits above my desk to this day. A section of steel girder from one of the towers and a crushed New York City fire engine stopped in Tracy as part of a nationwide tour. The girder and fire truck were met by Tracy firefighters in a somber ceremony commemorating their profession’s losses. Tracy fire engines to this day carry a decal remembering the terrorist attacks.

But as the patriotism swelled, so did our fear.

People were scared, and their fear turned everyday items into threats. Soap spilled on a restaurant bathroom floor was called anthrax, and hazmat teams were called in to investigate. Barricades went up at the entrance to the Defense Depot on Chrisman Road as Tracy was turning into a different world on assignment.

We covered prayer meetings of Islamic groups in Tracy that were feeling the fear and prejudice as a backlash from the attacks. It seemed like things would never be the same.

In 2001, the war against terror was launched. And in 2003, the war in Iraq began, and Tracy began suffering the ultimate sacrifice as its sons returned home as casualties of war.

I think there has been no worse thing I have had to do than visit the family of a grieving serviceman. It’s a hard thing to intrude on their loss and pain. Tracy bears the distinction as having one of the highest per-capita casualty rates in the country.

In the years that followed, I would have to visit more families and see more mothers grieve their children. God forgive me, sometimes I forget their names, but I can still remember the pictures I took at the processions, the funerals and memorial services as their families and friends grieved their losses. The photos of the names etched into a black granite wall that chronicled our sorrows changed, as the list of names grew longer.

My Sept. 11 assignment never really stopped, I think. Through the years since that day, I have seen the city residents mourn and remember the events of that terrible day together.

My assignment continues this Veterans Day, as the name of David P. Senft will be added to the Tracy War Memorial, remembering his death in Afghanistan.

It was 10 years ago. It seems so long now — 10 years and many tears ago.

Mad Max

2011-09-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Meet Max, an Australian Shepherd that has found his way through the wastelands to the supper dish one too many times.

This Road Warrior is neutered, seems friendly enough and occupies quite a bit of space when he plunks down after a hard day of chasing down gasoline across the desert.

Max here probably needs some exercise, maybe a few walks beyond Thunderdome to work off some of that junk in his trunk

Max and other fine dogs and cats are available for adoption at the Tracy Animal Shelter.

Rock on

2011-09-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

Our hikes have been getting a little strenuous lately and our weekend hike was quite the adventure as we headed Castle Rock State park for a hike and a little rock climbing.

We met up with Alice’s son Patrick who is a rock climber as he led us on a hike around the park looking for stone walls to explore.

The hike was nice through manzanita groves and past sandstone formations. Humid temperatures made it a little grueling but we were fortunate to have shade to hike through.

We found a couple of spots for Patrick to climb and Alice and I even had the opportunity to take a turn carefully inching our way up the stone face.

Hiking will take this weekend off to make way for Bean Festival and September 11^th memorials coverage but the week after that I will test my mettle with a solo adventure on the slopes of Mount Diablo.

Defense

2011-09-04T22:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think the offense has a tendency to steal the show. Think about it-the quarterbacks always seem to get all the attention. Everyone remembers a flashy run to the endzone or the game winning catch. But the hard hits on the defense always seem to slip under the radar.

When I shoot football games I always try to show the defensive side of the line. There are certain strategies you follow and positioning is the key to a good photo.

I lucked out and got a couple of nice defensive plays from both the sophomore and varsity games.

Big plays happen on both sides of the ball and I always try to come up with a few good hits from the game.

It is always worth rewarding a hard hit or a nice defensive play with a photo.

Island adventure

2011-08-30T23:17:00.000-07:00

We we're looking for a little bit of a different adventure on the hiking trail and Alice came up witha great idea, a return trip to Angel Island to check out their hiking trails. The trip would take us to the cool bay breezes and get us out of the heat for a while.

We made this trip a couple of years ago and we hiked to the top of Mount Livermore. this hike we would take a stroll around the island following the Perimeter Road which winds for a little over 5 miles or so around the island.

This would turn out to be a little bit of a different feeling hike. Some of our hikes like Yosemite are just awe inspiring vistas while others such as some of the trails on Mount Diablo are more like death marches. The Angel Island hike would be more of a tourist stroll-history lesson-pretty vista hike. A nice change of pace with plenty of photo opportunities along with a nice bit of exercise navigating some good climbs here and there.

We picked up the ferry to the island in Oakland and soon we were heading across a foggy bay to the island which at one point in its history served as an immigration station processing over one million Asian immigrants. it also saw duty as military base with forts and garrisons and even held a Nike missile air defense station int he 1950s. All that is in the past and now the island is part of the California State Parks system.

We headed out deciding to take a clockwise course around the island and made one of our first stops the Immigration Station which is now a national historic landmark. A newly dedicated memorial and walking history tour of the station took us to the beaches edge where many immigrants made their first steps on to U.S. soil.

The sights along the road are fantastic, views of the bay and San Francisco skyline with dozens of sailboats and powered ships working their way across the water. On the trail, hummingbirds and bees buzzed along the flowers dotting the road edge.

The eeriest part of the hike was arriving at the Fort McDowell East Garrison. It is a collection of empty buildings, some showing the wear of age with ivy encrusting their windows or the faded paint on their walls. As the fog rolled past above it looked like smoke from a war zone as we made our past the derelict structures in silence.

There were many vista points along the trail and the morning fog finally burned off near the end of our hike. The blue waters of bay still had patches of fog clinging to them as nearby Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate bridge were covered in a shroud of the mist.

Heading back to Oakland on the ferry we had a good view on the construction work underway on the new bay Bridge segment. Soon we re back at the dock and headed back to the valley heat.

It was a great hike, diverse scenery and awesome views. This weekend's hike takes us down near the Santa Cruz mountains for one last tune up before I test my mettle on a solo climb on Mount Diablo as I head back to the toughest trail the mountain has to offer.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

2011-08-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am not sure what was harder, taking this rambunctious dog's picture or trying to decipher the write up about the Pet of the Week.

I think somebody at the shelter has been dipping into the catnip.

Someone come to the shelter and save Dingo!

Virus

2011-08-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

I have become the unofficial West Nile Virus reporter for the paper so I have been keeping abreast of all the reports of the disease popping up in county. Tracy has a couple of the disease found in Mosquitoes trapped around town. Where they are coming from is still a mystery, although crows can have the disease and pass it on to the mosquitoes when they bite the crows. I found this gi-normous crow hanging out at a football game Saturday evening. I bet he is a carrier-he just looked disease ridden and crazy.

Here he is attacking a small child as he tries to pass on the deadly virus. Crows, don't trust 'em.