Today's effort

Today's effort included a morning perp walk at the courthouse.

The last time I covered courts was in Hamilton County, Indiana where it was impossible to photograph prisoners in court or en route to and from court. They were put into a sheriff's department car in a secure garage at the jail and were driven to a similarly secure garage area at the courthouse where they were taken to the courtroom via a secure elevator not accessible by the press or the public. And, of course, cameras are not allowed in Indiana courtrooms, so getting a perp walk photo was pretty much out of the question.

No so here.

The bailiff is amazingly cooperative. He showed me the best place to wait for the prisoners to be led from the courtroom to the elevator and even grouped the prisoners for my convenience. I felt like he did everything he could to help me, short of letting me poke them with a sharp stick.

It was also possible to charge down the stairwell and beat the prisoner elevator to the ground floor for another shooting opportunity. Here they are being loaded onto the prisoner transport van to be returned to jail.

The afternoon shoot was in support of a reporter's story about an effort by local fire officials to get a ban on the sale of novelty cigarette lighters. The logic behind a ban is that they look like toys, making it more likely that children will play with them and set themselves or their homes on fire.

It's a good idea, but probably violates the rights of responsible collectors. It will be interesting to see if the law gets passed and if it can survive a court challenge.

Yes, it would be easy for a kid to think these are toys.