Wizards in winter

I remember the days when a single row of Christmas lights around the eaves of your house was considered a nice decoration job for the holidays. A string of C6 bulbs was enought add a warm glow to the Christmas season. But today one string doesn't cut it. You need to light the house up so the International Spapce Staion can spot you from orbit.

These two homes in Tracy tied for the best decoarated home and grounds in the annual Rotary decorating contest. The home in the top photo is at 2465 Travao Lane and already has a spot on YouTube. The other winner is located at 850 Kings Canyon Court. Both feature thousands of computer controlled lights to sync their flashing to music.

Eye of the storm

It is hard to fathom the events of the past two weeks in Tracy. The saga of Kyle R. has reached international status as newspapers, television stations and media outlets follow the story. And in this whirlwind tale of torture, abuse and terror I find myself in the center of this media storm.


I must have driven by the house at 630 Tennis Lane a hundred times. It is an ordinary looking house by any account. But with news of the alleged abuse the street took a on a different look. Television crews with their live trucks line the curbs. An ordinary street turned into a crime scene and international center of news. It is a little unnerving.


As the story unfolded the media interest grew and intensified. I would make trips to the street to shoot side by side with television crews. Driving down Tracy Boulevard to other assignments I would see the antenna masts of a half dozen camera crews parked along the street. Neighbors complained about the commotion and the unwanted attention.


Tracy was now the center of a story that was reaching readers across the nation and drawing interest abroad. With the growing interest in the plight of Kyle R. my assignments were growing. I was covering the Kyne-Kimball awards and received a call to break away and cover detectives removing more evidence from the house. The story seemed to dominate the newspaper coverage and most of our thoughts of work. It was the topic of most everyone I met on assignment. The story was like a fire that reached firestorm status. It fueled itself as it spread and grew. It tried to dominate every moment at work.

I have covered events that have reached national importance. The tire fire that burned for years south or town and the Jones Tract floods were both news events that drew dozens of reporters and wound up newspapers and televisions across the country. The visit of presidential candidate John McCain was nothing less that a media frenzy so I have seen my fair of crowds. The court appearances of the four suspects in the abuse case have been crowded to say the least.



In two weeks I made three trips to the Stockton courthouse to photograph the arraignments of the four alleged abusers. Photographers and reporters filled four rows on either side of the courtroom for the first appearance. The last arraignment we had settled down to only four rows of cameras. It is a brief glimpse as they brought in and we shoot as many pictures as fast as we can. There is no talking when the court session begins and all you can hear from the rows of media is the sound of camera shutters firing. It is unnerving to stand so close to someone accused of such a heinous crime.

The story has dimmed in the public eye, the next court appearance for the accused isn’t until January and the coverage has entered a time where we are catching our breath and preparing for the next wave. Covering the events so far has been hard with such a horrible tale to tale and it has taken a toll on us in the newsroom that have covered it closely to those in the community that have followed the story closely. We are in the calm before the next chapter of this storm strikes Tracy

Garbage in, garbage out

I wonder how you can tell which garbage can belongs to the photographer's desk?

1000

This was another one of those personal milestones. Shooting a West High wrestling match I reached the 1000 assignment plateau for the year.

I knew early in the year being the only photographer I would be shooting a lot but I didn't think I would hit the 1000 mark so early in the final month. Eleven days into the month I hit that magic number with my 37th assignment.

I've burned out one camera shutter with the volume of shooting I do and I pray the backup camera lasts a little longer. I should finish up with about 1050 assignments or so for the year which would be the most ever I've shot.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Everyone has their holiday traditions. Some light the Yule log, some kiss under the mistletoe, some enjoy a nice fruitcake. I have my own special holiday tradition that makes most people think I’m a fruitcake. Tucked away on the Wednesday photo calendar was a one-line entry. It simply said, “Dressing the Dog 2008”.

Of all the visits I make to the Tracy Animal shelter through the year this is my favorite. Amid the gnarling teeth, angry growls and hatred of my camera by anything with paws is a special Pet of the Week photo. Once a year a dog is dressed up in the Christmas spirit for a picture.

Oh sure you see the occasional dog walking the street in some oversized sweater, or even spy a poodle in a raincoat if the weather turns wet. But we are not limited to such mundane garb, we have vast wardrobe at our disposal. Santa ties, Santa hats, mittens and bells will decorate or dog. And for the first time we will add a string of Christmas lights for that ultimate holly-jolly look.

Arriving at the animal shelter I find that this year’s photo will sport a pair of pooches. Joy of joys, two dogs for the price of one! One is a little wiener dog looking fellow and the other one was a, umm he is a…heck it doesn’t matter what he is, we’re stringing Christmas lights on him!

Oh one thing though. I find out that the entire Tracy Police department command staff is on their way to the shelter to tour the facility with the candidates for police chief. Some photographers shine under such pressure, some dig down deep to work harder and faster. Others like me just say crap, crap, crap, crap over and over (ok so it wasn’t exactly the word crap I was saying). Anyhow the Christmas lights aren’t getting any dimmer, the dogs are ready and I am ready so let’s start decorating those dogs!

So in past years you see some dogs just won’t go along with the whole getting dressed up idea. They squirm, they fidget, and they plead for mercy. But still the mittens must go on. This year’s pair seemed oblivious to their holiday outfits. They put up little fight as neckties and hats were strapped into place. No one even seemed to mind their matching red mittens.

So just about the same time we started to get the dogs into the outfits the bus filled with police department brass arrived. Now I was under the gun so to speak. The shoot took a definite up- tempo feel. We plunked the pair in their Christmas finest down and went about stringing the lights.

Now it just isn’t like stringing lights on a Christmas tree. How many times have you seen a tree with paws and tail? Even worse how many trees squirm around the floor as you try to get the lights around them? The shelter workers managed to get the dogs set with a couple of loose wraps of lights which also had the advantage of tying them close together. I had a brief bout of panic with the thought of the dogs being electrocuted by a short in the light string just as a police lieutenant walks through the door. My emergency plan was to have a fire extinguisher handy and alibi in place.

So with everything in place and a soft multicolored glow coming form the dogs I started to take their pictures. Now usually the pet of the week contestant is less than cooperative. They jump, spin and posture their posterior before my camera in attempt to try my patience. But my pair of Christmas dogs is quiet and cooperative. Maybe they understand the true meaning of Christmas is peace on earth, goodwill toward me. Or perhaps the utter shame of wearing mittens and Christmas lights has sapped their will to move. Either case I quickly snap my pictures before the tour group heads into the office.

So with a round of high fives and belly rub for my canine models this year’s Dressing the Dog slips into holiday history. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Bah, humbug!

In true Grinch tradition vandals descended on a East Avenue home to vandalize their holiday decorations.

A Santa was decapitated, inflatable snowmen had their throats cut and giant snow globe was broken. Somebody should be getting a lump of coal in their stocking this year for sure.

Chew toy

I just can’t figure it out. The mere sight of my camera is enough to send some dogs into gnarling frenzy.

Teeth bared, they spin about in hopes of catching one of my limbs in their jaws to crush the life from me. Or maybe they just want to see what I taste like.

I tell them all the same thing, photographers are high in cholesterol and taste like old coffee grounds.

Heck, even the ferret was eyeballing me.

You make kitty scared

"Not the lens, anything but the lens!

Soak up some sun

With Tracy and most of the central valley blanketed under a thick layer of fog Alice and I headed over the Altamont in search of the sun and a nice hike.

About halfway to Livermore the sun broke through the gray layer as we headed for the Del Valle Regional Park. A hint of a breeze, plenty of sun and warm temperatures greeted our arrival to the Sailor Camp trailhead.




Our hike was planned to be an easy three and half-mile walk that would takes us to the edge of the Ohlone Wilderness. The hike would climb quickly as we traveled the fire road trail bordered by withered trees and California Buckeyes laid nearly bare of their fruit.






Acorns rained down from the trees and a white seed fluff floated across he trail in the light breeze. Colors were vivid on the trail as winter leaves stood out in stark contrast to the groves of trees in the distance.






The hike was a good chance to burn off our Thanksgiving feast and get a healthy dose of sunshine to fight the winter blues.