Category: Living

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 23, 20176:19 am

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.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 22, 20175:21 pm

The Camel

For one of her birthday activities, my wife Anne wanted to ride the Skyfari Aerial Tram across San Diego zoo. We walked back through the park to the exit, despite detours due to massive construction of new habitats. Among my favorite animals: Camels and llamas; if you have never read my absolutely true llama story from 1980, please do!

Norwegian designer and photographer Martin Fagerås inspired me to even attempt a camel shot because of this brilliantly captured moment using Leica Q, which I also carry. I came across his Flickr when looking for shooters using the amazing full-frame compact. Obviously, I couldn’t compose anything as compelling as he did, particularly at the zoo.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 22, 20176:18 am

The Cats of University Heights: Haiku

What a surprise. Nearly across the street from where I spotted the Tortoiseshell for the first time on May 15, 2017, a grey and white tiger-tabby greeted my Mrs. and me four days later. We visited the ever-friendly Haiku (real name) where Cleveland Ave. meets Golden Gate. I shot the Featured Image using Leica Q. I cropped the original DNG, for composition, before exporting the JPEG from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Vitals: f/7.1, ISO 100, 1/100 sec, 28mm; 9:13 a.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 17, 20176:19 am

The Cats of University Heights: Penelope

I am amazed whenever discovering a never-before-sighted furball so close-by to my apartment. This tortoiseshell made my acquaintance from a distance late-afternoon May 15, 2017—one block away, on Cleveland just past Madison before the overlook. She sat on a doorstep waiting for someone to let her in. From the empty driveway, it’s a guess the owner hadn’t come home from a day at the job.

The Featured Image is the second-to-last of 13 captures, and I debated about choosing this one because the kitty’s distinctive bob-tail is obscured by bushes. I captured the moment at 5:35 p.m. PDT, using Leica Q. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/800 sec, 28mm. The pic is close-cropped from the original, which shows the yard and the next (I shot from the sidewalk).

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 16, 20171:53 pm

Clever Homeless Habitat

The Vermont Street bridge, passing over Washington, separates my neighborhood of University Heights from adjacent Hillcrest. It’s not uncommon to see tents below, as some of the area’s homeless seek shelter from the elements. But bright colors make them obvious.

While looking over the side, I saw something either new or so camouflaged it hadn’t previously caught my attention. At first, I thought a palm tree had collapsed or perhaps city workers had gathered fronds. But stepping back for different perspective, I could see an entrance. The Featured Image is a crop (see the original below the fold), shot using Leica Q at 12:02 p.m. PDT today. Vitals: f/4, ISO 100, 1/800 sec, 28mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 16, 20176:09 am

The Cats of University Heights: Pounce

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 […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 15, 20176:13 am

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, […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 10, 20177:46 am

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!

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 9, 20176:09 am

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.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 6, 20176:27 am

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.

Living by Joe WilcoxMay 4, 201712:05 pm

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?

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 2, 20176:39 am

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 […]