Earlier the same morning—May 12, 2017—that I spotted the siamese on Meade, a tiger-tabby leaped away as I approached on North Ave. He perched inside a fence in the yard next door to where The Colonel […]
Author: Joe Wilcox
Leica Q, Rose for You
Two afternoons ago, while waiting for my wife outside Apple Store Fashion Valley, nearby flowers beckoned me to try out the Leica Q dedicated Macro mode. The Featured Image is as shot, converted from DNG […]
The Cats of University Heights: Siamese
The morning of May 12, 2017, as my wife and I turned from Cleveland to walk down Meade Ave., a flash of Siamese sped from the sidewalk into a heavily-foliaged front yard. As we passed, […]
Fujifilm X100F Review
During the camera film era, Fujifilm battled kingpin Kodak with brighter, more vibrant colors that either photographers loved or hated—perhaps both. That was last century. In the 21st, Kodak is a shadow cast against aged Kodachrome, while its rival has successfully transitioned from print to digital—and with amazing bravado. Fuji’s transformation started six years ago with the cleverly-engineered, retro-designed X100, which I reviewed in May 2011.
The compact digital camera’s success led Fuji to develop a series of additional bodies and lenses; all are designed with professional shooters in mind. The X series family features compact, mirrorless designs that incorporate digital SLR-size sensors and manual controls—meaning dials and buttons to directly manipulate settings rather than rely on software menus. The X100 line—from the original to the S, T, and now F—remains the most distinctive for how well features and benefits balance set against truly innovative design concepts.
The Cats of University Heights: Bruce
Last week, driving up Texas Street—one of the neighborhood’s major boundaries—road work compelled my wife and I to go home by way of Monroe instead of Madison. I sat in the passenger’s seat; a woman walking a dog accompanied by a cat riveted my attention. At home, soon as Anne pulled over, parked, and stepped out of the Honda Fit, I slipped into the driver’s seat and sped away to capture a portrait of the handsome, fluffer-tail cat walking the dog on Monroe. Of course, after pulling to the curb, and walking about several streets, I couldn’t find the beast—or his owner. But the Fujifilm X100F was ready.
Ten minutes later, I abandoned the hunt and started to drive home. Damn, I had gone one block too far and passed a doorway just in time to see the dog-walker, her mutt (that’s affectionately meant), and the feline disappear into an apartment (or perhaps duplex). I noted the building’s address number and nearest cross-street (Alabama) for future scouting. Last night, on my second day twlight’s attempt looking, I spotted the handsome furball waiting for his master’s return. Oh yeah!
The Cats of University Heights: Fang
You don’t see them here, but this feline hissed and bared teeth as I safely shot her portrait from the sidewalk, with fence and some distance between us. Meet one black cat that maybe could bring bad luck if crossing your path. Hehe. I spotted the feisty furball yesterday morning, on Maryland Ave. somewhere beyond Meade.
Note: Date and timestamp in the metadata are both wrong, being incorrectly set in the camera—the interesting Leica Q, which ISO had been preset for low-light on another day (I should have checked and changed before shooting). Vitals: f/16, ISO 3200, 1/2500 sec, 28mm; 9:19 a.m. PDT. The Featured Image was cropped and converted, but not otherwise edited, from DNG to JPEG.
The Cats of University Heights: BeBe
Grey May descended yesterday, as persistent clouds preceded expected weekend rains. As my wife and I trudged up Maryland Ave., not far beyond Morla the tortoise’s house—but across the street—Anne spied in an alley a cat perched by a woman sitting on a ledge talking to another neighbor. The lady explained that the all-outdoor furball responds to name BeBe, or nothing. The animal’s mother is a feral grey tiger-stripe that no longer breeds (she was fixed). The daughter had one litter before her operation.
BeBe accepts food and attention from people whom she knows. As I am a stranger, she shot round a car when I approached. But she stayed to the side rather than scurry beneath, allowing me a dozen shots while not moving too close to her. Vantage point is important. I like to get down low, and she let me. The Featured Image is last among the 12, captured using the Fujifilm X-T1 and XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS kit lens at 4:56 p.m. PDT, with Classic Chrome simulation set. Vitals: f/4, ISO 200, 1/140 sec, 55mm. The portrait is straightened and cropped but not enhanced.
The Ring Returns
Yesterday, I put on my wedding ring for the first time in 13 years. The saga starts in January 2004, in an incident described in missive: “Man on the Train“. I got poison ivy—in Winter, no less—after giving a homeless guy money while riding the DC Metro. That was the suspected scenario from my then doctor, now retired, Gabe Mirkin, a well-known fitness physician whose office was around the block from our house. Dr. Mirkin surmised that the homeless dude had residue on his hands and clothes from sleeping outdoors. Brrrr.
I closed the blogpost recounting the incident: “My left hand is so swollen, today I may ask a jeweler to cut off my wedding ring”. And I did, returning to White Flint Mall, where was the store from which my wife and I bought matching gold bands in 1989. The shop had closed, but another jeweler expertly performed a clean hackjob. Whoa, color returned to my finger! White Flint is gone now, BTW. The upscale mall was torn down in summer 2015. WTH?
The Cats of University Heights: Black
I first spotted the second feline in this series on July 8, 2016; Roly Poly (my nickname) playfully tortured a black cat behind a hedge on Cleveland Ave. just beyond Monroe. Three days ago, and two […]
Regarding ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
Before my wife started watching the new series streaming from Hulu, I warned her: “I can’t imagine how I would feel if a woman”. I had already finished first hour “Offred” from the production based on 1985 tome The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Three episodes are online now—and their tone and timeliness are visceral and all too familiar, like was the Battlestar Galactica miniseries that followed the 9-11 terrorist attacks by two years. There is something that is too real, too possible—and, unlike the so-called Trump “Resistance”, I don’t refer to the current government in Washington, D.C. No imminent right-wing coup is on the horizon, as so many Liberals want to believe. That’s as fictional as The Handmaid’s Tale.
What’s disturbing is another kind of currency, which is largely lost in the torrent of “it could happen here” commentary: The plight of women portrayed in the series isn’t far removed from what many of them experience elsewhere in 2017. Not in some alternate-reality United States, but across swaths of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—if not both American continents and Europe. Severity may vary by degrees, but where on this planet isn’t there, at the least, some vestige of the subservient, objectified woman? Liberals, who as a class supposedly champion for the human rights of all people, shouldn’t ignore what is while obsessing about what might be for fear it could happen to them.
The Cats of University Heights: Glass
On April 26, 2017, as my wife and I walked down Lincoln towards Maryland Ave. from the Vermont Street Bridge, a Window watcher caught our attention. The kitty looked our way briefly, but Spring birds […]
Watch This!
For about 12 months, Apple Watch has served as fitness tracker and personal trainer—that after I had scoffed (still do) at people who are wrist-wear obsessed about calories burned and steps taken. Unquestionably, I am more exercise-aware because of the Activity app but also held back by it. All that counting, coupled with smartwatch features that distract as much as benefit, had me wanting to maintain an active regime without the coaching. Besides, I’m on a quest to simplify. I’ve done this Internet-rushing-around thing now for nearly a quarter-century.
Recent purchase of the Fujifilm X100F fits into my simplification kick, in part seeking that which is atheistically and ergonomically vintage. The digital camera is as old-fashion as it is modern. Similarly, my Grado GS1000e headphones, while oversized, look and sound nostalgic. Yesterday, USPS delivered two Clairefontaine 3.5 x 5.5 Ruled pocket notebooks (think Moleskin but with earthier colors and better paper). I will carry one in a back pocket and use pen to jot down ideas (how marvelously creative). My wallet used to be there, but last year I bought the slim, Saddleback Leather Front Pocket ID Wallet, which will last longer than me. Simplify! Circling back, this afternoon I put aside Apple Watch—perhaps temporarily, maybe forever.