Covid Took a Part of My Life That I Haven't Gotten Back

 I'm a bit frustrated.  Covid came along and cancelled hockey season in the middle of it.  But then hockey returned the following season with restrictions.  As a result, I was not allowed event level access at Tulsa Oiler games.  That meant no access to the photo holes.

It went this way for a whole season, and I was led to believe that it would be temporary, and that eventually things would return to normal.  However, the following season, we had similar restrictions, although there was a team photographer that had floor access (event level access) and could use the photo holes.  Not only that, but visiting photographers from other teams, and even bloggers with inactive blogs were able to get access.  Just not me.

I'm frustrated.

I did some of the research to find out the specs for the photo holes and worked with another photographer to lobby to get the photo holes in the first place.  The other photographer is no longer coming to the games, but I'm still there.  and I don't get access to the photo holes.

I'd be fine with this arrangement, but it's getting harder and harder to find an empty seat along the glass, as well as clean glass.  A lot of the glass has so many smears, that I can't get good photos.  I end up throwing away a lot of what would be great shots, if not for the smears.

I have also noticed that another photographer is lately getting some access that I'm not getting.  I'm not against him having access, but sure wish I could get access.  The idea that my status as media, has been diminished because I'm part-time, as opposed to full-time media (the newspaper) who rarely show up at games.

The "full-time media" get access to the photo holes, but I don't.

I'd give anything to be able to use one of the photo holes for just one period a game.  I fear that I might not live long enough to get my life back.

A Divided Society

I'm not even sure where to begin with this, except to say that we are a divided society, and becoming more divided every day.  It's not just the racial divide, but a divide based on ideology.  And this division has become violent and hateful; not just a difference of opinion.

I grew up in the 60s and 70s when it was clear that there was racial inequality.  To me, this inequality was more to do with a lack of respect and a lack of opportunity, and not so much a lack of equal outcome.  People were willing to make the sacrifices and hard work to get a better life, but they just weren't allowed to have those opportunity.  Dr. King spoke of being judged by character and not by color.  We all came to believe that this was a noble goal that every American should want.  and we did want it.

Fast forward a couple of decades and we actually had achieved a lot of that.  More people of color had entered the ranks of the middle class, and even rich.  Television didn't only depict people of color as pathetic or as criminal.  There were role models on television (and in movies) that were people of color.  These were role models for any kid, not just kids of color.  It was truly a big step forward from the goal spoken of by Dr. King.

But the problem with this is that politicians like having division.  It's much easier for them to be elected and stay elected if they can convince people that they are victims and that someone else is the enemy; and that the politician (or political party) is their only protection.
Never mind that the politicians promising to make things better, have done nothing for the poor in decades.  Matters for the poor have gotten worse.  But it's easier for politicians to get elected on division, than it is for them to actually solve some problems.  Politicians are lazy.  It was predictable as to the path they would take to maintain power.

I don't like writing about this, but I feel that I must because so many other people are saying things in anger, and it's just getting worse.  No one is looking at the big picture and looking for an end-goal that will actually solve the problems.
The fact is, as far as racial matters, division is worse than it has been in my lifetime.  Not only are the strides made since the 1970s gone, but it's worse than before I was even born.  This is horrible, but no one is talking about it.  They're just lashing out against the last thing the "other side" said when they were lashing out against what they call "the other side".  Both sides are doing this and it just gets worse.

For the record, almost everyone that I know that is white, cares nothing about race.  Certainly, they didn't prior to the atmosphere in the last decade when all the progress disappeared and we started going backwards.
People really don't care about race.  The proof is in the number of black entertainers on television now that "all" Americans know and love.  We enjoy the movies of Denzel Washington, Samuel J. Jackson, Danny Glover, and others.  I remember seeing "The Equalizer" and thoroughly enjoying it.  I remember seeing the TV series, which starred a white actor, and it was an awesome tv show, but Denzel Washington played the role naturally.  He played it so well, no one would question that he wasn't natural for the part.  Race really didn't enter into the picture.

And almost everyone loves Steve Harvey.  He's funny.  He has common sense opinions on a lot of topics common to American families.

But politicians have pushed the race card because its easy to get people to believe you're on "their side" if there are actually "sides".
And the news media isn't helping with their seemingly endless hunt for sensational stories.  And if they can't find one, they will make one.  I'm remembering a case in 2012 when two white guys drove around north Tulsa shooting indiscriminately at black people.  They killed several and injured others.  There was immediate outrage in the community.  News outlets from all over the country flew to Tulsa the next day to cover this story.  But what story they actually published had already been written before they even got their plain tickets.
Tulsa citizens identified these guys and they were turned in and arrested in less than 48 hours, yet the news media didn't cover that as much as they wanted to paint a picture of racial division.  The truth is that people turned these guys in.  White people turned them in.  They did it because it was the right thing to do.  They did it because they were good people, but to listen to the news media, Tulsa is full of racists.
Stories like this are reported from all over the country.  And although I'm sure racists are out there and that they need to be stopped, the truth is that majority of people are trying to do the right thing.  But the news media would have you believe that there is more and more division.  So the division we see now, is caused because of that perception created by the news media to sell advertising with their sensationalism, rather than doing the right thing, which would be a more upbeat story following a tragic shooting, but the upbeat story wouldn't sell as much advertising.

I recently read a great article by Walter Williams, in which he cites the "Welfare State" as the main culprit for why black young people aren't progressing economically.  You read this article and give it fair consideration, it makes some uncomfortable conclusions for black men in this matter; but Walter can do that since he is black.  I suspect that if I wrote that, or anyone not black, in today's political climate, they would receive a serious backlash, if not outright violence.

As far as athletes taking a knee during the national anthem, no matter what they say, the fact is that this is disrespect.  It is disrespect for what the flag stands for, and what the nation has struggled for.  People aren't perfect and neither in the nation, but things were getting better.  If there is division now, we need to step back and look at the big picture and figure out why.  This didn't just happen overnight.

If athletes want to protest, I think they should be able to do so, but when you insult the flag, you are insulting a significant part of the society, and this will just cause more division.  There are certainly more constructive ways to bring attention to the problem, than just making the problem worse and then complaining because its getting worse.

The national anthem was one of the few things left in our society that had unity.  We were Americans.  and now, the Left have taken that away from us too.  Soon, there wont be anything left that unites our society.  We'll be irrevocably divided.

Another point of division is the political ethnic division, which is being created, again, by political leaders.  They think that this "tribalism" is a good thing because people of different ethnic backgrounds get to express their pride.  However, it would be much more comfortable for people to be united under one banner, and still maintain their ethnic pride.  That's not mutually exclusive, but political leaders have convince people that it is.

I know our country has done things wrong, or stood by while wrong things were happening.  But it's not exclusive to the United States.  And its not exclusive to one race either.  That fact is that this is strong trait in the human race.   Human beings do horrible things to other human beings, or they sit silently and let it happen.  It's all the same, and despite what politicians might want to make you think, "all" human beings are guilty, not just one particle segment.

I would hope that we could come together as human beings and work towards unity, rather than insulting each other over differences.  Is that too much to ask for?

Americans Are Turning Against Americans (without thinking)

There is a lot of emotion going on in politics today, and the political battles are being fought via lies, distortions and tugs on the heart strings of Americans, turning them against other Americans.  Politicians are lazy.  They don't want to work in order to get the vote.  Instead, it's much easier to just villianize other Americans and instill fear as a means to get the vote on their side.  This happens all along the political spectrum, but it just seems like the Left take it to an increasing level.

I will cite Saul Alinsky's "12 Rules For Radicals", and it's suggested reading, by the President himself, as proof that this is going on, and that it is going on purposely.  And of course, those on the right, such as Ann Coulter and Karl Rove also do this to a degree.

What really gets me is that our president makes appeals to the public (using distortions and/or outright lies), and then gets his followers to take it from there.  And then when something horrible happens such as a shooting, then he comes out as "presidential" and says that we need to tone the rhetoric down.  And of course, his followers have pushed the rhetoric way beyond those on the right.

I don't condone those on the right of their distortions.  And I recognize when they are using fear as a tactic to raise funds, to get people involved in their mailing lists, etc.  These are all tactics that are much easier to do than to come up with real solutions and actually make the calls necessary to actually fix our ever increasing budgetary problems.

While the country slides further and further into the inevitable crash (which will only hurt those on the bottom the worst), both ends of the political spectrum continue to divide.  And unfortunately, so many Americans just jump on the bandwagon of their political choice, and attack those that disagree with them.

This is unamerican, but it seems that people don't care anymore.  They're more interested in saying that they are right and the "others" are wrong, than to just "agree to disagree" and get on with our lives.  We would all benefit if people could just have their opinions, even share their opinions, but not demonize those who have other views.

There used to be a saying in this country of "I might not believe what you believe, but I'll fight for your right to say what you believe".  The truth is, no one says that anymore.  In fact, they no longer think you have a right to believe anything other than what they want you to believe.  Everyone seems to want a totalitarian style of public discourse on every subject surrounding our lives.

I only wish that people would come to realize what is going on and start to change this, but I don't see it happening.  I see it only getting worse.

My wife and I just returned from our visit to Yellowstone National Park (and surrounding area).  I've heard about Yellowstone all of my life but never been there.  The place is truly spectacular, but we even enjoyed the scenery just inside Wyoming.  It's a beautiful place.
The park is huge.  There's no way to go there in a day and see it all.  You really need a minimum of three days to see the place, and four days would probably be better, especially with children.

Although you can see some natural elements similar to what you find in Yellowstone, Yellowstone is truly unique with the combination of so much in one place, and then there's the wildlife.
Most of the park is situated over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super-volcano in North America.  The caldera is considered to be active, but there hasn't been an eruption in thousands of years.  Half of the geothermal features in the world, are situated at Yellowstone.  Besides "Old Faithful", there are many geyers in the park that bubble up with beautiful blue water and orange, yellow, and rust colored minerals lining each pool.  They are very photogenic.

18th century French trappers called the place Roche Jaune.  The are said to have translated from the Minnetaree people who named it "Mi tsi a da zi", which means "Rock Yellow River".  Later, the French translated it to English as "Yellow Stone".  However, once you see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, you have little doubt how the area got its name.

My wife and I visited during the last week of May, which is right before the official tourist season for Yellowstone begins.  As a result, some of the seasonal activities at Yellowstone (and Cody) were not open yet.  However, prices are right during that time and the crowds are a little better.  The downside is that our first day there, the park was closed because of snow the night before. However, the next three days were open and we managed to travel a "loop" a day within the park, and managed to see the major (and many minor) sites.

First of all, I want to mention that the price at the gate is $15 for a car.  However, if you get a seven-day pass, it's only $25, and since we were going to visit for three days, that's what we chose.  It's was a bargain.  You get a map of the park when entering, and this is helpful in determining which "loop" you will take for that day.   On our first day, we took the loop where the geysers were the featured attraction.  Of course we visited "Old Faithful".  My wife took video of the eruption and we watched it shoot water 150 feet into the area.  It was quite dramatic, having smaller eruptions at first, and then slowly building to the bigger eruptions, which lasted over a minute.
We were told that Old Faithful erupts approximately every hour and a half, although that time might vary so it's good to ask a park ranger when you are there and find out when the last was so you have an idea when to be watching.

My favorite geysers though, were not Old Faithful.  That's one to visit because it's famous and we were at the park; so we felt compelled to go; but my favorite geyers were the smaller ones that merely bubbled and steamed a little.  The minerals in the water gave off a pretty blue hue, with yellow and rust colors along the edges of each pool.  They were gorgeous; definitely photogenic and photos don't do justice to how beautiful they were.

The loop we took on our second day in the park, was in and around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Wow.  That was amazing.  There are different locations along both sides of the canyon which provide great overlooks at the falls, and the river at different points (and elevations).

I should mention that Yellowstone Lake was awesome in itself.  It's beautiful.  That blue water was so pretty and we were just amazed at how large this lake was, and we'd barely heard of it prior to our visit.  I should also mention that whether you are at the lake, along the geyers, or around the canyon area, you will see wildlife.  We mostly saw bison and geese in prolific numbers.  I was amazed at how many we saw, and there are no fences or restrictions of these animals.  You will encounter them on your visits, photograph them, but not approach them.  They are wild animals.  They are used to seeing people, but they are not used to people approaching them too closely.

I got a laugh when I saw signs in the park saying that there's a $5000 fine for feeding the bears.  I kept thinking that death was a bigger penality than a $5000 fine.  I guess they fine you $5000 if you live through feeding the bears.

For the record, we never saw black bears while we were there, but we saw people looking into a wood area as we arrived at one place, and they said that there'd been a black bear there just a minute or two before.  We did see some grizzly bears about 150 yards from the road on our last day in the park.  That was great.  I wish they'd been closer, but I'm glad they weren't too close.  They were minding their own business and we were watching from afar.  I'm sure the bears knew we were there though.

Our last day in the park was in the northern loop, which took us up to the Mammoth area.  We saw the springs there, and then stopped for lunch.  After lunch, we saw deer in the middle of town, not far from our parked car, eating dandelions and grass.   And then not far from people eating lunch at a picnic table, there were three bison munching on the grass.  Two locked horns and appeared to be fighting, but then one rolled over on his back, and it was clear that they were playing.

After seeing this place, I am really awestruck at how beautiful a place it is, and also how important a resource it is.  I think it is a shame that so many Americans have neither taken the time to visit, or just don't have the money to travel that far (as was the case for my family for most of my time growing up).  As an adult, I now realize that I should've visited Yellowstone much sooner.  I can't say that I'm without words (obviously), but it is difficult for me to describe the depth of my feelings about experiences during my visit.  My descriptions are at a high level, but the words really can't capture the feelings I had even afterwards.  Maybe in a few months, reflection will give me some words.  Right now, I can only tell you that I highly recommend visiting Yellowstone National Park, and I have already told my wife that we have to return in a year or two.

Below are links to the photos I took on each day of our trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157629945211258/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157629977718698/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157629991867582/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157630035827638/

Custom White Balance v Dialing In the Color Temperature

In my efforts to improve results in my photography, I have been creating a custom white balance in almost all of my photography (indoor and out). This has allowed me to get good colors with little or no post processing to make color corrections. I do continually look to improve though, and I've seen other photographers that dial in the color temperature (in Kelvin) rather than using a custom white balance.

A friend of mine dials in 4900 (I think that's the color temperature he uses) when photographing hockey at the BOK Center. He swears that this gives him good color. I think he arrived at this by trial and error, but his results are pretty good. However, I just don't believe that this can be as accurate as a custom white balance.

I am intrigued by the notion of dialing in the color temperature though. My wife and I recently bought some LEDs to replace compact florescent bulbs that we had been using in our home. I noticed that the package lists a Kelvin color temperature of 4900. I did some test shots under this lighting and the colors were right on.

Although I think if you have the light manufacturers' specifications on what color temperature their bulbs produce, I believe that over time, there is variation from their factory color temperature. So although when brand new, these bulbs produce a particular color temperature, over time, that can change. This is why I still use a custom white balance.

Now with this all stated, I want improved colors, if possible. So in addition do what I'm currently doing, I keep wanting to know if there's a better way to arrive at a custom white balance.

I currently use an Expo card and put it over the front of my camera lens. I point the lens at my light source, and take a reference shot. I'll note that this usually requires turning off auto-focus. Once I get the reference shot, I turn auto-focus back on. I then set my camera to use this reference shot (it's a neutral grey image, or should be) as my custom white balance, and then I put the camera into custom white balance most rather than auto. That's it.

What I don't know is if there's a better method and/or tool for getting a custom white balance. I've seen some photographers that have a lens cap that has a white balance len within it. They put the camera at their light source with this cap over the lens. From there, the method is the same for using that image as their reference (their custom white balance).
I've heard of people using a coffee filter over the lens to produce their reference image, but I'm not sure how good that really is. It hasn't been calibrated to produce a neutral grey from a light source. Likewise, I've seen that people have used the cap off of an old Pringles potato chip can. They claim this works pretty well, and of course, it would be less expensive than an Expo card or any of the white balance lens (such as the Balens) that I've seen.

One thing I like with the Expo card is that I can use it with all of my lenses. Since the Balens is set to attach to the front of a lens, you need a different one for each size (diameter) of lens that you have.

Many studio photographers will use a grey card and take reference shots of it to get their custom white balance. This is a little tougher to do at a sporting event, and so I like the use of a tool such as the Expo card.
I keep mentioning the Expo card, but I am not completely endorsing it. I'm happy with it but always looking to improve. It's just that I'm picky about investing more money in a new (and expensive) solution that may or may not be any better than what I'm using now.

ColorRight.com has products for coming up with a custom white balance, and many swear by it. However, the cost is way too high for me to try if it's not any better than what I have. I'd sure like to know if it would be an improvement. Their website claims it's the best, but then again, all of these vendors claim their product is the best.

Hockey - Arkansas Razorbacks v Oklahoma Sooners

I was fortunate to attend a hockey game September 16, 2011 in Springdale, Arkansas. This was a game at the Jones Center in Springdale, between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Oklahoma Sooners.

2011.09.10 - Oklahoma Thunder v Indianapolis Tornados

Full photo set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157627521948331/

Full photo set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/les_stockton/sets/72157627521948331/