In this article we completely depart from the usual theme of wildland fire and dip our toe into photography. So if you have no interest in that topic, scroll down to the next post.
When the new iPhone 7 Plus was introduced about a month ago Apple promised to add functionality to the phone’s camera in October that they called “Portrait Mode”. Yesterday the updated software, iOS 10.1, became available which enabled the feature.
This makes it possible to intentionally blur the background in a photo, leaving the foreground in focus. It changes the depth of field, that is, what is in focus. Photographers call this the “bokeh” effect and can help the viewer of the photo concentrate on the primary object without being distracted by the background. This is usually only possible with digital single lens reflex (SLR or DSLR) cameras.
The photos below that we shot this afternoon are first, the unaltered original, followed by the Portrait Mode effect of the same photo. It’s all done just by taking one photo, but you end up with two.
Apple does this by having two cameras in the iPhone 7 Plus, each with a different lens, 28mm and 56mm. In Portrait Mode the phone compares images from the lenses, triangulating to determine the distance to various objects. Then it decides to artificially blur the ones that are farther away.
This feature is only available in the iPhone 7 Plus, and is not included in the smaller iPhone 7.
Above: Junkins Fire. Undated photo by the Incident Management Team.
The Junkins Fire has spread very little over the last two days. Most of the changes to the perimeter have been on the south side east of Highway 165, and on the northeast side south of Greenwood.
The number of personnel assigned has grown to 918. The latest size estimate is 18,132 acres. Evacuation orders are still in effect for County Road 387. Highway 165 and Custer County Road 358 are now open, however some spur roads in the fire area remain closed.
Progression map of the Junkins Fire. The large blue area burned 9,442 acres on the first day, October 17. Click HERE to see a higher resolution version.
Firefighters are working on containing the northern flank, progressing east from Highway 165. Indirect dozer and hand line will be constructed along the Hardscrabble Creek drainage in preparation for planned firing operations. The northeast and eastern divisions remain in monitor and patrol status with engines continuing to secure areas around structures.
Along the southern portion of the fire, crews continue burning operations where needed, constructing direct line where possible. Multiple water sources have been established to assist as mop up operations continue.
A bobcat on the Junkins Fire near Highway October 25, 2016. USFS photo by Daryl Bressan.
Above: Aerial photo of the fire in Blue Cypress Conservation Area, October 24, 2016. Florida Forest Service.
(UPDATED at 1:30 p.m. EDT October 25, 2016)
The Florida Forest Service reported today that the wildfire east of Vero Beach, named the Johnny Marsh Fire, self-extinguished when the grass fire reached willow trees. The estimate of 1,000 acres will be updated after an aerial recon Tuesday afternoon.
(Originally published at 5:14 p.m. EDT October 24, 2016)
The Florida Forest Service is responding to a wildfire in Indian River County in the Blue Cypress Conservation Area 19 miles west of Vero Beach. At 4 p.m. EDT they reported it was about 1,000 acres, and three miles long (north-south) by 1 miles wide.
The fire was reported Sunday evening and continues to grow on Monday.
Map showing heat detected at a wildfire by a satellite at 12:30 p.m. EDT October 24, 2016.Aerial photo of the fire in Blue Cypress Conservation Area, October 24, 2016. Florida Forest Service.
(Above: lightning strikes in the 24 hours before 1 p.m. PDT October 24, 2016.)
Thousands of lightning strikes have occurred in southern California between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon.
Total #Lightning strikes since Sunday. Updated total shows 2149 total strikes over forecast area (including San Diego coastal waters). pic.twitter.com/tV8kS60oq7
One of the more laborious and least appreciated tasks at a large wildfire or other incident is assembling and storing the paper and electronic records. These official government documents from a fire provide a record of significant events and actions taken, provide information to address payments and claims and must be collected under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. Some records have permanent value for developing lessons learned and long-term value for managing natural resources. Documentation Unit Leaders are assigned to incidents to be responsible to assemble the files.
As the 38,000-acre Beaver Creek Fire in Colorado and Wyoming was winding down after 97 days, the incident management team (IMT) realized they had filled 26 boxes. And they needed to make copies for all three of the primary agencies that were involved.
The National Wildfire Coordinating Group has established very specific, detailed guidelines for maintaining incident records. They have even established a permanent Incident Records Subcommittee.
Example of archived documents, from Incident Records Training PowerPoint.
The photo above is obviously what the NWCG wants to avoid.
The IMT at the Beaver Fire looked for alternatives to creating scores of boxes of paper that would most likely end up sitting in a dusty warehouse for decades.
…As this incident progressed, the documentation grew and grew. The Documentation Unit Leader (DOCL) was maintaining three sets of documents so that each of the agencies involved would have a set.
In August, the Incident Business Advisor (IBA) assigned to the Beaver Creek Fire recommended that the agencies order an Archivist to scan and catalog all the documents related to the fire. At first, the agencies were hesitant to agree to this request due to a concern that a complete set of these documents could not be provided.
But eventually the agencies did agree and the Archivist (a DOCL) started this work.
The documents are now scanned and named following the established document system. The original set of documents will be stored by the incident agency.
Each agency will now have a complete set of the indexed incident documents for the Beaver Creek Fire available electronically. If a hard copy is needed, it can be printed or obtained from the archived paper files stored at the Forest’s headquarters.
LESSON: Consider utilizing an Archivist to organize incident documents in an electronic format for easy access by multiple entities.
Congrats to the IMT for saving mountains of paper and telling others about their success story. However, a few more details would have fleshed out the lesson they learned. For example, how did they physically scan the documents — what hardware and software did they find useful. And what file formats are the documents in? Would the electronic record they made meet the national guidelines for the one official record that would serve everyone’s needs, including those required by the Freedom of Information Act?
The photos below are from an Incident Records Training PowerPoint presentation, and show how paper documents are stored.
Example of archived incident documents, from Incident Records Training PowerPoint.Example of archived documents, from Incident Records Training PowerPoint.Example of archived maps, from Incident Records Training PowerPoint.
Fun fact about the making of the warehouse scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (see photo at the top of our article). The warehouse is a painting, not a real warehouse or a computer generated graphic. A hole was cut in the painting through which the live action was filmed. From VashiVisuals:
Michael Pangrazio created some of the most famous matte paintings in Cinema history. His work in Star Wars (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Temple of Doom (1984) and 65 other films is some of the most memorable ever. By the 1990’s almost all matte paintings were produced using computer software and the analog method slowly and sadly faded away.
The warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark took 3 months to paint onto a sheet of glass. The glass was positioned right in front of the camera and it extended the set deep into the background. This example is often called the most effective and beautiful matte painting ever.
The live action in the scene was shot through a hole in the matte painting.
Jeff Zimmerman of Zimmerman Media took some excellent photos at a fire in Lake View Terrace north of Los Angeles last week. The fire spread quickly during Santa Ana wind conditions and burned about 60 acres before several hundred firefighters from Los Angeles County and the U.S. Forest Service contained it after a two-hour battle.
Thankfully for Jeff, California has a different, some would say more enlightened, way of handling the media at emergencies and disasters than some other areas. There are few restrictions as long as the reporters do not interfere with incident operations. Their rights are protected by California Penal Code 409.5d.
