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Paparazzi
By FrankTilley in Ojos Verdes
October 2, 2007

Paparazzi in Victoria? Well sort of.

After waiting outside the Victoria County Jail for 2 ½ hours for Michael Maples to exit, gave me a lot of time to ponder whether my presence across the street with cameras perched for action, officially qualified me as a member of the vulture squad. Mind you, waiting in anticipation for “Maples” to post bond, be arraigned and released wasn’t my idea of a good morning, but I had a job to do and a story to tell.

It’s really ironic because that morning I was having problems with an aging digital camera and an equally troublesome “back up” camera. One camera would freeze up and flash an error message after a single “click,” while the batteries in the other camera body wouldn’t hold a charge.

You know it, after becoming somewhat complacent while waiting hour after hour, Maples sprinted out like an Iron Man in the final 100 meters of a triathlon. The chase was on as Maples headed around the corner and down Constitution St. I caught up to him and began to pound the shutter button, while simultaneously apologizing at the same time.

 

Did I mention Karma?

As I tried to fire off multiple frames on a wide angle, the shutter would trip only once for every 7 missed frames. OK, don’t panic, just use the other camera with the 300 mm lens, but now I have to sprint across the street unless I want a close-up of his eyebrows. Click, one frame, then DOA. OK, now I have a choice of either cursing while trying to shoot with a Canon EOS1D or a Canon 20D. Neither camera performed very well and standing in the full sun for another hour completed the experience.

 

Paparazzi? Not quite, but hanging out in front of the County Jail for hours on end just to capture a defient look isn’t my thing.