The following story is reprinted from the Philadelphia Daily News:
Oy vey! Bat mitzvah photographer accused of stealing guest’s purse By REGINA MEDINA Philadelphia Daily News
medinar@phillynews.com 215-854-5985
Sometime between the DJ playing “Hava Nagila” and “Last Dance” at a recent bat mitzvah party, the professional photographer allegedly stopped snapping pictures and got sticky fingers. Steve Raab, 60, of Huntingdon Valley, allegedly stole a guest’s black felt purse and apparently used a credit card it contained to pay for gas and dog food, Montgomery County authorities say.
Now, county prosecutors want to know if Raab, who specializes in weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and other festivities, has stolen other items while at work.
So far, there are no indications that Raab has stolen before, said Assistant District Attorney Steven Latzer.
Raab and his wife, Susan, 63, were arrested Friday and charged with theft, criminal conspiracy and other charges. The couple, who have run Creative Photography and Video for more than 30 years in Newtown, Bucks County, and in Northeast Philadelphia, are out of jail on bail until a March 26 preliminary hearing.
“It’s obviously distressing,” Latzer said. “You place your trust in them [photographers], you have a good time. You don’t consider the fact that the photographer is going into your things and stealing them.
“In situations such as this, not only did he steal a purse, but he also stole the trust of the people that hired him,” he said.
Steve Raab was hired to videotape and snap photos of a bat mitzvah at the Philmont Country Club in Lower Moreland Feb. 2, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
The purse belonging to an out-of-town guest went MIA between midnight and 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, the police criminal complaint said.
The purse reportedly contained an American Express credit card, an iPhone, makeup and other items.
The victim canceled the card, but not before the Raabs used it to purchase $60 in gasoline at a Philly Amoco BP and for a large bag of dog food, valued at $66.32, on the same day, according to the complaint.
Susan Raab was not at the party.
The couple allegedly attempted to buy a global-positioning system and a man’s shirt at a Wal-Mart in the Northeast, but the transaction was declined. The Raabs allegedly tried once again - and failed - to get the GPS at a Target store in the Northeast. The transactions at Target and Wal-Mart were recorded on surveillance video.
The investigation led cops to Raab’s studio at 120 S. State St. in Newtown, where Lower Moreland Township Detective Rick Small showed the surveillance photos to Raab. The photographer said he had found the credit card “laying in the parking lot” outside the Philmont Country Club, according to the police complaint.
When Small asked where the card was, “Raab, without hesitation, pulled the card from a left jacket pocket that he was wearing and gave it” to the detective, according to the complaint.
Eventually, the couple hired a lawyer who helped facilitate the return of the black purse including all missing items, prosecutors said.
Small asks anyone who believes he or she was the victim of a theft at a wedding, bar/bat mitzvah or other private party at which Raab was the photographer to call him at 215-947-3132, extension 223. *
All lawsuits between The 4EVER Group, its management team, and their respective production companies and weva and its management team have been settled out of court. The settlement documents were filed in Federal District Court in Tampa, FL on November 13, 2007. All settlement documents are part of the public record, and are available to any interested person.
Under the terms of the settlement, The 4EVER Group and weva are permitted to use any and all mailing list information that they have. Each side will pay their own attorney’s fees.
A podcast interview with Thomas Steele, attorney for The 4EVER Group, is now available at http://fourevergroup.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=280163. I n the interview, Mr. Steele discusses the settlement in great detail. Mr. Steele explains why this settlement is a victory for The 4EVER Group.
Registration is now open for the 4EVER Group’s annual event video conference and tradeshow - VIDEO 08. Being held at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive in Orlando, Florida. Programming starts on Sunday, January 20, 2008 and concludes Thursday, January 24.
Prices start are $249 per person for Videographers Network members. This provides access to all standard seminars and workshops in addition to the expanded tradeshow on Tuesday and the Signature Event on Wednesday evening.
This year’s conference includes two “Super Sessions” (at additional cost) featuring a 12 hour workshop with Randy Stubbs and a 6 hour workshop with Mark & Trisha Von Lanken. Admission to these sessions are extremely limited to provide a more intimate learning experience.
VIDEO 08 is the only national conference and tradeshow that is created and run by event videographers FOR event videographers and is the fastest growing event of its kind.
In less than an hour after the 4EVER Group sent out their latest newsletter (8/30/07), one recipient called to point out a problem with a link for the SuperStore’s featured product.
Long story short, the link went in correctly, but a computer glitch at the email delivery company scrambled the link rendering it incorrect. We apologize for any problems that this may have caused and a correction will be sent out shortly. The correct link can also be accessed below.
Limited Time OffersSave $20 Photoshop Elements and Save $25 Photoshop Elements plus Adobe Premiere Elements: North America Commercial store only at this time.Products: FULL commercial versions Photoshop Elements 5.0 Windows, Photoshop Elements 4.0 Mac, and Photoshop Elements 5.0 plus Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0Offer dates: Aug. 13, 2007-August 23, 2007MAX OFFER:Save US$200 on a conference pass to MAX Buy any of the products below and save $200 on MAX and connect with Adobe users, experts, and staff to discover new skills and explore emerging technologies. Products: full or upgrade commercial versions of: Creative Suite 3 Master Collection, Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, Creative Suite 3 Web Premium, Creative Suite 3 Web Standard, Creative Suite 3 Production Premium, ColdFusion 8 Standard Edition, ColdFusion 8 Enterprise Edition, Flex Builder 2, and Flex Builder 2 with Charting.Offer ends: Sept.10, 2007, and valid on purchases made in the North America Adobe StoreFree book with Adobe Acrobat 8:Buy Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional or Acrobat 8 Standard and get one free eBook with purchase -
“Getting Started with Adobe Acrobat 8″
“Managing and Organizing E-mail Using Adobe Acrobat 8″
“Collaborating with Comments in Adobe Acrobat 8″.
Offer ends August 31, 2007
Additional Offers - Coming :
Buy Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium or Creative Suite 3 Master Collection:and get 15 royalty-free stock footage clips from Artbeats. (US$2985 value)
Offer starts: Sept.10, 2007 at 5pm PT , and valid on purchases ma Offer ends: November 30, 2007
Save up to $150 when you buy Photoshop Lightroom together with Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop CS3 Extended.
Photoshop CS3 upgrade together with Lightroom - save $75
Photoshop CS3 full together with Lightroom - save $125
Photoshop CS3 Extended upgrade together with Lightroom - save $100
Photoshop CS3 Extended full together with Lightroom - save $150
Offer starts Sept. 5 at 5pm PT - on-going offer
New Products:
New Adobe products currently include:
Creative Suite 3 Master Edition: All The Best Creative Tools Together For The First Time Ever - Adobe Soundbooth CS3 - Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended - Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional
Adobe ColdFusion 8 Standard Edition and Enterprise Editions released!!
Shure SE310 - Sound Isolating High-Definition Stereo Earphones (Black)
Includes Free B&H Photo Gift Card - $50.00 & Apple iPod shuffle 512MB Pocket-size Digital Music MP3 Player. The SE310 from Shure is a high-quality in-ear headphone that’s perfect for use with your portable music or media player. The high-definition single balanced armature drivers provide highly detailed audio reproduction suitable for all genres. The Tuned BassPort optimizes the low frequency performance to deliver an excellent bass response. The in-ear design and soft sleeves give a stable, comfortable fit that blocks up to 90 percent of ambient noises.
The stylish, ergonomic design looks great both in and out of your ear. Several extra ear sleeves in varying sizes are included so you can find the best fit. A detachable extension cable gives you added reach when needed. A small, durable carrying case is also provided for storage and protection.
The amazing variety of Podcasts has established The 4EVER Group as the New Media leader in the industry. With the addition of the first VidCast, The 4EVER Group begins offering even more useful content.
“Julie Hill, from Elysium Productions, was the driving force with this first VidCast,” said Steve Wernick, Director of Development. “She also did a lot of the work, from running the camera to editing the video.”
The interview, which ran just under an hour, was with Jeannie Savage, from Details Details (www.aboutdetailsdetails.com), an Irvine, CA-based wedding and event planning company. “Jeannie already works with Elysium’s Wedding Life TV show, and has tremendous experience in this industry, so she was a natural first guest,” added Wernick. “She’s also a strong advocate for professional videography.”
Ironically, not having video at her own wedding led to her interest in video. “My conservative father gave an extemporaneous toast, and I don’t remember it all,” said Savage.
This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below).
It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant.
Give out any of this information and bingo, your identity just got stolen. The scam has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado. This (scam) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they’re with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.
This post is WAAAAY overdue and I apologize…I’ve just been busy, busy, busy! I’m actually posting this while on a business trip to Honolulu (I know…you don’t feel sorry for me!)
To follow up on my previous posts about the Adobe VIP training, Friday was our last day there and the entire day was tightly scheduled. We began at 8am in a room where we each had a computer to work with all of the CS3 applications hands-on. Bob Donlon was at the front of the room with his own computer which was projected onto a large screen so we could all see what he was doing and follow him. A large portion of the day was spent with After Effects of which I consider myself a novice at, so I was a bit worried whether or not I’d be able to keep up!
One thing I found very interesting is that 75% of the computers in this training room were Macs. Only about 5 or so computers were PC’s. Luckily I was able to get one of those since I’m not much of a Mac person!
We looked at Soundbooth for a while and I was very impressed with how they listened to a lot of videographers who said that Audition was too complex for what we need an audio editing program for. Soundbooth is easier to use, but still packs a lot of punch! Right away the first thing I liked is the fact you can see both your waveform and a spectral view of your audio file simultaneously. You can also import a video/audio file so not only do you see the waveform & spectral video, you also have a small window showing your video! How cool is that? There are ‘handles’ on the corners for fading in and out and some other tools that make quick work of audio editing. The healing tool does an incredible job of removing pops and clicks within the spectral view and is something I find invaluable in my productions. In addition, there are some high quality, royalty free sound effects and music tracks which will ship with CS3. The music can be changed to fit the length of your production and as time goes on more will be available through the Adobe website. Talk about cool!
We went over the new “Flex Bins” in Premiere for a while which help with sorting and organizing your footage. Multi-cam editing was visited and Adobe has removed the need to render files before you can start editing a multi-cam sequence. For wedding videographers who sometimes have an hour or more multi-cam sequence to edit, this will save you some precious time and annoyance. But the biggest thing with Premiere is Dynamic Link between After Effects, Soundbooth, Photoshop, and Soundbooth…such a time saving concept is right up my alley.
Photoshop CS3 Extended has a cool new feature where you can import short video clips, merge it into a ’stack’, then use any of the Photoshop tools available, such as the healing brush. We played with a clip where a logo needed to be removed from a man’s shirt. Normally you might make a mask, which as we all know can be a pain to match up to moving video and/or can show up as obviously, well…a mask layer. So the next thing is rotoscoping…what a pain at 30 images per second! So this new ability to use the healing brush is a huge time-saver and it looks really good!
This post is getting a bit long, so I’ll post later about After Effects since it’s the application we spent the most time on. It also seems to be this big mysterious, scary program for people like me who don’t use it very much and I’d like to address that too. So please come back for more later!
Registration is now open for the 4EVER Group’s annual event video conference and tradeshow - VIDEO 08. Being held at the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive in Orlando, Florida. Programming starts on Sunday, January 20, 2008 and concludes Thursday, January 24. 