Category: Critters

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 31, 202012:01 am

Flickr a Week 53a: ‘Donna’

On January 1, I introduced this series; now comes the final post of 2020 on the last day of the year. Longstanding Internet tradition demands a cat, who joins two others in entries “Devil’s Eye” and “Lotta Love, Lijah“. Wolfgang Franzen used Leica Q2 Monochrom to capture self-titled “Donna” on Nov. 30, 2020. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 6400, 1/60 sec, 28mm. The portrait is a keeper for beautiful bokeh, compelling composition, creamy black-and-white, and high-ISO detail. Then there is the feline’s mood-setting character.

I came to this photo when searching Flickr, which Wolfgang joined eight years ago this month, specifically for the camera. If you wonder why: I am the proud owner of the Q2 Mono, which arrived from Leica Store Miami on December 28.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 25, 20205:38 pm

The Bee Tree

I am not a photographer and bear no illusions about ever being one. My composition skills are raw, and rarely cooked, and I lack the post-production sense that someone else would use to create art. My camera, the Leica Q2, is professional grade and seemingly beyond my skills. But I handle the all-in-one well enough, and it is satisfying to use—enjoyable and versatile.

I am a storyteller, however, and use photos to mark moments or to illustrate a narrative. Take as example the Featured Image (warning: 30GB file), which I captured today along Georgia Street between Lincoln and Polk in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 11:36 a.m. PST. The original was portrait, but I cropped square.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 24, 20209:53 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Measure

I really should be more observant about where kitty portraits are taken. This one is on North—or could be Campus—nearby Madison or Monroe. For some reason I failed to use the iPhone XS camera for quick, GPS-marking shot. Sigh. The Featured Image comes from Leica Q2, on Dec. 4, 2020. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 125, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 9:41 a.m. PST.

The black earns nickname Measure, for how it sized up my approach and the motion of nearby birds.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 19, 202010:30 pm

Cali’s Cushion

Buzz about the Leica Q2 Monochrome piques my interest in black-and-white shooting using the standard model, which I purchased on Dec. 27, 2019. B&W is what I see in the EVF (electronic viewfinder) when composing, but the sensor saves color as RAW and black and white as JPEG. Seriously? DNG me something I can meaningfully edit.

Last night, Cali hopped up on Neko‘s chair, which he hasn’t used much lately. So I grabbed the Q2 for a quick, spontaneous portrait, which is close-cropped but otherwise not manually altered. Vitals for the Featured Image, aperture manually set: f/2.8, ISO 4000, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 6:19 p.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 13, 202012:30 am

Flickr a Week 50a: ‘Rastplatz’

Our nature trek starts with Enzio Harpaintner and self-titled “Rastplatz“, which translates from German as “resting place”. He used Fujifilm X-H1 and Fujinon XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens to capture the little bird, on […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 12, 202011:53 pm

The Tree Tragedy

I can’t speak for my wife, but to me a pair of benefits marshaled my interest in choosing our current apartment: The front windows and what I call the “squirrel tree” majestically before them—as expected, providing plentiful wildlife entertainment for our cats Cali and Neko to watch; for the humans, too. Yesterday, the management company overseeing the property snuffed out magic, and life.

Time is immeasurable this year, thanks to triple-P: pandemic, politics, and protests (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2, also known as COVID-19; Election 2020; and racial riots). As such, I don’t recall how long ago the building manager spoke to me about the tree—two or more months, seems like). He said that the perennial would likely be dramatically trimmed back; being top heavy, the branches pulled the trunk into brickwork before it (see first photo). Some discussion drifted to removal, which I opposed, promising in threatening tone: “The day they cut down that tree is the day I give notice”.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 6, 20208:06 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Sundae

There is a pileup of unpublished furballs in the queue, and it’s long past time for you to meet each of them. We begin with the fifty-sixth beastie seen behind window or door—this one along Madison between Cleveland and Maryland. Candor, Pebbles, Sadie, Sentry, and Swirl live along the same stretch of street, while John Adams, Ludwig, and Snowy can be found closer to North Avenue.

The black and white earns nickname Sundae for appearance and to play on words—or their pronunciation: I captured the Featured Image on Nov. 29, 2020, which was a Sunday, using Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 9:53 a.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 25, 20207:36 am

Flickr a Week 48: ‘I Gabbiani di Sirmione’

For our last Wednesday of the month, we turn to Massimo Della Valle, who on Nov. 26, 2017 used Ricoh GR II to shoot self-titled “I Gabbiani di Sirmione“, which translates from the Italian as […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 17, 20206:07 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Domino

Eight minutes before encountering Puss, on Oct. 30, 2020, my wife and I passed by a Tuxedo along the same Mission apartments where lives Rebel. The black and white shorthair is the fifty-fifth found looking […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 10, 202011:29 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Puss

How surprising: I am seeing some new kitties along North, where it intersects Madison, or in the alley between Campus. Four appeared today, but two vanished before I could close the distance for photos (you’ll see them soon). I encountered the series‘ newest addition, nicknamed Puss, for no particular reason, on Oct. 30, 2020. The Featured Image comes from iPhone XS. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 40, 1/122 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 9:16 a.m. PDT.

Somebody’s outdoor space is luxury. Look at the cat trees and surrounding plants. In perennially sunny San Diego, the cat can have indoor furniture outside for much of the year. What a habitat! My question: Does he (or she) spend time within the caretaker’s residence, too?

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 6, 20208:37 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Sadie

Meet the fifty-fourth meow-meow looking out from behind window or door. Sadie is a sweetie, living a less lonely life than in her previous residence. Sickness took Sadie’s owner away, and she stayed alone inside the house for about a year—tended to and fed twice daily by kindly neighbors. Eventually, he passed away, which is how she came to be taken into a new home not long later by a friend of the cat’s caretaker.

A few days ago, I got the full story from the friendly woman with whom Sadie now lives. But the Featured Image, captured along Madison beyond the West side of Cleveland, is from Sept. 28, 2020. I used Leica Q2 to make the moment. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 8:37 a.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 31, 202010:37 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Prowler

Like Spirit, this fine feline appeared in the alley between Cleveland and Maryland on one side of Meade—not far from our old apartment, actually. Our long, lost Maine Coon-mix Kuma hung out in the same area, favoring his ledge. Real name unknown, I dub the shorthair Prowler, for its cunning, slinky movements.

Unfortunately, I carried along iPhone XS and not trusty Leica Q2. The Featured Image, which is cropped a little more than 100-percent, is good enough from the smartphone but would be great from the camera. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/489 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 9:15 a.m. PDT; Oct. 5, 2020.