Ferreting Out A Good Image

In the bag

Sleepy

Yawning

Long shot

Alert by a whisker

Supermoon Fireworks

 (C) 2014 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - Sat. 7/12/14

Not only did the Mayor's Cup fireworks fall on the night of a full moon but it was also a supermoon event.  Supermoon refers to a moon that appears larger because it is at its closest orbital point to the earth (perigee).  Obscured by clouds during the fireworks the moon was a yellow eye in the distance observing the multi-colored burst-patterns.

Tense Moments: Update

In a previous article I reported about an accident involving a pickup truck and stroller after the fireworks display in Plattsburgh City on the night of July 4th.

The accident occurred at the intersection of Pike and Bridge streets near the Campus Corner restaurant.  The Plattsburgh Police Department didn't have an officer directing all the traffic and pedestrians leaving the area at that spot.  The police and ambulance did quickly respond.

According to info from the Plattsburgh PD website blotter and a Press-Republican article the pickup truck driver was ticketed for not yielding the right of way to a pedestrian, in this case a woman pushing a stroller with two children.  His truck had reportedly clipped the stroller.

The woman, Kristy Pulsifer, age 23, and the two children, William Pulsifer, age 4, and Lila Souliere, age 2 — all from Plattsburgh — had suffered bruises.  No one else was injured.  The police blotter says the incident occurred 22:12 (10:12 PM) on Pike Street.  More details available through these links:

PLATTSBURGH POLICE DEPARTMENT
"Accidents for period Friday, July 04, 2014 to Thursday, July 10, 2014" - http://www.plattsburghpd.net/Blotter.htm

PLATTSBURGH PRESS-REPUBLICAN
Police Log: July 10, 2014. — Personal-injury accident
http://www.pressrepublican.com/0121_logs/x1736706338/Police-Log-July-10-2014-Personal-injury-accident

Diaper Day 2

They say you can't fight City Hall but in Plattsburgh you can leave a dirty diaper dumped on the ground for two days.

New Day, New Diaper

Here we go again...

http://dogtown12901.blogspot.com/2014/07/new-day-new-diaper.html

Independence My Eye

After photographing fireworks a number of times I get a little bored and start looking for a different angle, a new perspective.

Special Visitor Hanging Around City Hall

Since this is a family blog you will have to take a walk through Dogtown for more details: http://dogtown12901.blogspot.com/2014/07/special-visitor-hanging-around-city-hall.html .  Warning: Somewhat unpleasant.

Standards

PLATTSBURGH, NY - 7/6/14

(C) 2014 Luke T. Bush

A couple of people suggested to me that I should help the Ban The Bomb Trains protesters by faking an image.  (Article about the event: http://writog.blogspot.com/2014/07/meanwhile-who-was-watching-watchmen.html )

I was asked to take one shot of the protesters on the pedestrian bridge over the Saranac River with the train trestle in the background.  Then I supposed to go back when a train went through with tank cars loaded with Bakken crude, the same spot where I took the first shot, and then photo-edit them together.

Sorry.  I don't fake photos unless it's obvious fakery to make a point.

And the point is that I may be a citizen journalist/blogger but I do have journalistic standards.

When I told that to one of the suggesters he said, "Well, just label the photo that you fixed it."  He added that he could do it on his kitchen table with a cutting knife and a couple of photos.

Digital photo-editing does make things easier than the old days of prints, scissors and paste but it isn't magic.  Even the crude fake image above wasn't a snap of the fingers.  Layering was a bitch.

To create a good composite protesters-and-passing-train image both photos would have to be taken in the exact same spot with the exact same perspective and lighting.  You can see the problems involved with the above image.

Also, no one knows the train schedule.  Am I supposed to camp out all day to get the train shot?  For free?

Believe it or not I have a life.  I don't mind doing photography but not when it becomes a colossal spasm in my posterior.

Yes, the disaster at Lac-Megantic in Quebec was horrible.  But photo fakery isn't justified when raising the public's awareness about the tragedy.

Google "Lac-Megantic" and see real photos of what happened there a year ago.

And if you want special photos, don't ask me, just DIY.  You'll quickly learn how "easy" it is.

[ CREDIT: Train image - http://www.academylane.com/news/national-train-day ] 

Meanwhile Who Was Watching The Watchmen?

(C) 2014 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - Saturday 7/5/14

Local activists promoted awareness of the oil bomb train problem with a sign-carrying march and then speeches at a location near the Saranac River.

The event received great coverage — but not only from the media.

TV, newspaper and radio journalists were there.  Even someone from the Voice of Russia Radio in Washington, DC.

Meanwhile the Homeland Security helicopter kept circling the downtown Plattsburgh area.  Police officers stood guard under the Smith-Weed Bridge.  Yellow tape marked with POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS restricted any close approach to the tracks.

I followed one group of activists who carried signs and also a long banner — BAN THE BOMB TRAINS — through the downtown area, stopping at certain locations to let their message be seen and heard. 

This group walked over the Smith-Weed Bridge and then crossed to the other side of the river via the pedestrian footbridge that runs parallel to the railroad trestle.  They joined others waiting at the speakers area that had been set up for the event.  

At one point I looked over at the giant bronze eagle, a symbol of freedom, atop the towering obelisk of the Macdonough Monument while the Homeland Security helicopter made another wide loop around downtown.

While the speakers made their presentations — peacefully — I asked one participant about the helicopter.  He said it made him "nervous."

I spoke to someone else who said that a representative of the protest group had contacted the Plattsburgh Police Department about the event.  The story goes the police chief expressed concern that maybe a protester would try to block a train carrying tank cars loaded with highly-explosive Bakken crude oil.

Those damn hippies!  They'll try to put LSD in your drinking water!

(Does the term "McCarthyism" mean anything to you?)

Questions: How much taxpayer money was spent on fuel for the circling helicopter?  Was it well-spent? 

After the event wrapped up I noticed the whirlybird watcher was gone. Maybe the crew got called to help out with a cat stuck in a tree up dere in Chateaugay, bucky.

Tense Moments

(C) 2014 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY - Friday 7/4/14

After the fireworks last night there was an accident at the intersection of Bridge and Pike streets involving a mother pushing a stroller and a pickup truck.  (The camera metadata recorded with the above image says 7/4/2014 10:17 PM.)

I was on Pike Street, my back to the intersection, when I heard a thud and people yelling.  Turning around I saw the aftermath of an accident.  Apparently a pickup truck was leaving Pike Street and the driver didn't see the mother with the stroller crossing the street.  The stroller was being pulled back from the front of the truck.

The Plattsburgh Police Department must have been short one officer to direct traffic at that intersection where the Campus Corner restaurant is located.  The police did quickly respond to the scene.  The two children seemed to be OK.  One officer used a flashlight to examine the eyes of each child for any indications of a possible concussion (eyes that stay dilated, don't constrict).

The city ambulance arrived and the children were taken to CVPH for further evaluation.  The mother was emotionally distraught but from what I could see she wasn't injured.

I'll update this article with more information if it's available.