Blue Mountain Lager by ExP

Blue Mountain Lager is produced by Blue Mountain Brewery based out of Afton, Virginia. Blue Mountain Lager doesn’t disappoint if you’re a light lager kind of person. The brewery also has a nice little pub / restaurant where they serve Blue Mountain Lager on tap, along with several other styles of beer. Blue Mountain Lager is really hard to find outside Charlottesville area, unless you go to a specialty shop like Beer and Wine. This brew is definitely worth a 6-pack if you’re looking for a nice crisp lager in the Fall or Spring.

B. M. Lager doesn’t have any overpowering qualities and stays true to Continental Style Lagers. They also claim that they use mountain water from the Blue Ridge Mountains and farm hops locally in a sustainable methods. Overall I give this beer B+ (A+ = The best / F = Territble).

On a different note: Photographer questioned by police

A photographer from Long Beach, California was questioned by police for taking photos of an oil rig. You can read the full story here , which details the photographer’s account and what remembers about the situation. If you don’t want to read that article, in a nutshell, the photographer was out taking photos June 30th, of an oil rig, which in all accounts should be legal to photograph. A local police officer rolled up on the photographer, asked for the photogs ID and ran a background check on him. He wasn’t handcuffed or thrown in jail, but it does raise a red flag as to why he was questioned begin with. This is apparently the second citizen in a month that was questioned about what he / she is taking photos of. To add more fuel to fire, Long Beach Police Chief stated the police officer is perfectly within his duty to detain, ask questions and decide aesthetic value of the photo.

Quotes from the Police Chief:

“Police Chief Jim McDonnell has confirmed that detaining photographers for taking pictures “with no apparent esthetic value” is within Long Beach Police Department policy.”
“McDonnell says that while there is no police training specific to determining whether a photographer’s subject has “apparent esthetic value,” officers make such judgments “based on their overall training and experience” and will generally approach photographers not engaging in “regular tourist behavior.”

This situation affects all of us who take photos, whether for fun or professionally. While I agree in some instances police action is probably a good thing. However, I completely disagree with the fact that the authorities / law enforcement should be the determining factor when it comes to artistic value of a photo.

Your thoughts on this?

http://www.ottokphotography.com/ Otto K.

They have no reason to be judging based on aesthetic value of a photo. Geez. Nice idea for the triptych.

NR | ExP

I agree Otto, the law is very vague in that regard, honestly it doesn’t even make sense.

http://sarahenicephotography.com/blog Sarah

That’s simply ridiculous. I don’t see how it’s okay for them to be this serious over a photographer when clearly, he wasn’t taking any illegal photos. I mean, what the heck?

NR | ExP

It’s a double edge sword for Law Enforcement these days as well. If they don’t take action on something, they get in trouble, if they take action, it’s harassment. At the end of the day, caution with common sense should go a long way, for both parties.

Jholmes7405

Unfortunately, the Long Beach experience is a sign of the times. I expect to see a lot more of this, and I don’t think that there is much we can do about it. It is a lot worse in some other countries as soon as you wander out of the tourist sites.

NR | ExP

In other countries, it’s blatant how they don’t want you taking photos. In some cases in the US it’s like that as well, especially around sensitive locations. The problem with this type of changes in the US is that we’ve enjoyed so much freedom for so long that any changes to the law is considered to be an infringement to the citizens.

Some changes are welcome, but when the L/E is given so much latitude to decide what’s a ‘good’ photo and what’s not, they should also exercise common sense. L/E should not be the deciding factor of aesthetic value, it’s beyond their scope of capability.

http://ginniehart.shutterchance.com Ginnie Hart

We have a houseguest from Atlanta visiting us here in the Netherlands and he makes his own beer. He’d love to try your B.M. lager, I’m sure. We visited the only Trappist brewery in the Netherlands yesterday and had so much fun seeing how they make the beer. Quite an experience.

And on the police side of things, UGH! I guess since 9/11 there are too many cautions put into place, for good or bad, some of which are affecting us as photographers. Two sides of a coin. It’s like we’re going back to a Big Brother watching our state of affairs!

NR | ExP

ATL is not that far from VA, relatively speaking. I would also love to see Trappist make beer, I think it’s an awesome tradition. I love old school brewers, they bring so much character to the beer. It’s a testament of how good their product is when they’ve been around for a few hundred years bottling beer.

It is Big Brother, sadly they never stopped watching out state affairs, just in the back taking notes…

http://yzblog.hu Yz

excellent product shots!

NR | ExP

Thanks for dropping by Yz

http://www.michellegaruik.com/ Michelle

First beer triptych I think I’ve seen, nicely done. LB police are out of control and officers trying to detain photogs on artistic value is a slippery slope. It will never hold up.

NR | ExP

Beer x 3, what could be better right? You live in that are, have you ever had any issues Michelle?

pixeldreamer.de

well done, like the crips coloring
pixeldreamer.de

excellent professional food shot, well done

Blue Mountain Lager

On a different note: Photographer questioned by police

Posted by N. Rosales

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