The Cats of University Heights: Fraidy

A combination of circumstances complicated capturing today’s featured feline. On May 20, 2017, early evening, I walked down Mission Cliff towards Trolley Barn Park, where movie “ET: The Extraterrestrial” would be shown on a humongous air-inflated screen. At Park Blvd., a skittish kitty skirted across my way around a parked car. I got down low and looked for the flighty beast. Problem: I couldn’t make out anything in the viewfinder. The Diopter Adjustment knob moved out of place, so I shot blind so to speak.

The other problem is about software intelligence. I switched everything to auto, to compensate for the viewfinder problem. But the Leica Q didn’t adjust the settings for my shooting situation. The cat briskly moved to my flank across a front yard to a second car (the Featured Image) then over another lawn and onto the sidewalk, trotting away. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 100, 1/80 sec, 28mm; 7:32 p.m. PDT. Many of the other shots are 1/60 sec. Auto-set higher ISO and faster shutter would have made a better moment. There are reasons why the camera has manual controls. But blinded, I didn’t see what needed correction. 

Now, every morning and evening, I fine-tune the Diopter Adjustment before taking Leica Q outdoors. I hope to not repeat the drama affecting today’s selection, which was cropped and sharpened (in a feeble attempt to cover up motion blur and misplaced focus point) from the original DNG in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Also in this series: ScruffyRoly PolyWooSkullBiscuitThe ColonelWhiteChipper,  Frisky, Stretch, Needy, Farfisa, Mates, Hunter, Pee-PeeBlue, Blue Too, Bonded PairPatience, Fess, Jumper, Frenemy, Looker, Cozy, Scout, Lurks, Skit, Mini, Betty, Black and White, Stalker, Bell, Chill, Sammy, Scratch, Poser, Star, Grey and White, Watcher, Herman, Comet, RomanWillow, Chub, Nimbus, Watson, Lilo, Kit, Pepe, Twilight, Sebastian, Spot, Booger, Ash, Veruca, Riley, Mellow, Bonde, Flower, Glass, Black, BeBe, FangBruceSiamesePounceTortie, and Haiku.