This is the Sacramento Delta, home of the infamous delta smelt, about half an hour before sunset. Which picture do you like better? The one on the left sports the original lens flare, which seems to give it a slight sense of liveliness. The flare has been photoshopped out in the other image, which gives it a quieter look. I’m undecided.

Please note that there’s no question here of which picture is the more “authentic.” Flare is an artifact of lens design, not a part of the scenery. This is purely a matter of which version you like better.

October 10, 2019 — Above Antioch, California

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OUR DEADLINE MATH PROBLEM

It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

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We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

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