Category: Photo

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Look at This!

One of our new apartment’s major benefits is the wrap-round corner windows that look out onto the street. I have arranged Katris blocks to make a catwalk beneath for Cali (right) and Neko to look out—and, oh, do they. The view is human-pleasing, too, but more for its expansiveness than the sights.

The Featured Image, captured at 1:21 p.m. PST today using Leica Q, shows the anxious kitties looking out at squirrels. One of them scurries up the tree that is a couple meters from the glass, then typically stays still in the branches. Poor Cali goes absolutely nuts, when he does. She runs from room to room looking out; there are street-facing windows above the bathroom and also my office desk

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The Cats of University Heights: Tink

Happy Caturday! Please welcome the second feline portrait captured using iPhone X. Maven was the first. I chose the Featured Image for composition and artistic value; the furball is actually beyond the field of focus. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/60 sec, .97 ev, 6mm; 10:37 a.m. PST.

Meet Tink, whom I encountered yesterday on Meade between Cleveland and Maryland, outside a house diagonally across from Pee-Pee‘s place. I wonder if Tink is new to the neighborhood, as the residence is along one of my regular walking routes.

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The Cats of University Heights: Maeven

Drumroll, please. We present the first portrait in this series shot with iPhone X, which went on sale just four days ago. This morning, as I walked down Monroe past Park Blvd. towards Texas Street, a faint furball tickled my periphery at Georgia. About halfway down to Mission, the kitty sat motionless, transfixed, in the middle of the sidewalk. I could hear birds beckoning in the distance.

I crept up slowly, smartphone snapping away, just in case he bolted. Rather, the cat turned and approached—and would hardly let me get away, for the amount of attention he demanded. He kneaded the sidewalk with his ginormous paws as I petted him. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Johnny

The series exits from hiatus, during which my family changed residences in the neighborhood. It’s catchup time! We resume with a Coon-like beauty who reminds me of our long-lost Kuma. But the nose, and his distinctive scar, are missing. I nickname the pretty feline Season, for no particular reason.

We encountered each other, from a distance, on Oct. 11, 2017, as I walked from Park Blvd. The cat traipsed up a hill as I approached but stopped long enough for 10 fast portraits shot with iPhone 7 Plus. The Featured Image is a close-crop, meant to give illusion of being in the wild. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 20, 1/1030 sec, 6.6mm; 11:34 a.m. PDT. 

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What’s the Story, Morning Glory?

Park Blvd. divides University Heights East and West—for reasons that make no sense to me. This San Diego community is about 12,000 people living in an area around 1.132 square miles. My hometown, Caribou, Maine, is residence to a little less than 8,000 folks in a city spanning 79.3 miles. Oh, Hell, I fuss. But you get the point?

Yesterday, as I walked West to East, down Monroe Ave. towards our recently rented apartment, a beautiful cluster of morning glories demanded that I stop with iPhone 7 Plus and honor them with a portrait. I shot the Featured Image—an auto-generated HDR composite—at 12:13 p.m. PDT. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 20, 1/474 sec, 3.99mm. 

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Happy Halloween!

This morning, I walked up Meade Ave. past Birney Elementary just as the students arrived—the majority accompanied by adults, presumably parent(s). The Schoolhouse is still “in escrow”, and I begin to wonder if anyone will ever buy the place. That the staging furniture remains within can’t be good indication. I say now, for the first time, that the property is across from Birney, and therefore helluva attractive location for families.

Passing each escorted kid, I could feel the vibrant enthusiasm effusing from their little bodies. It’s Halloween! Trick-or-Treat is hours away, and surely teachers will celebrate somehow. So the wait will be short before sugary delights find them. 

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The Busker

Like the Sirens’ call, festive, rambunctious live music beckoned as I left Trader Joe’s this evening. I walked to the car, set in my groceries, and returned to see who could be the player. Approaching, I pulled out 2 bucks to drop in his instrument case.

I snapped the Featured Image, at 6:08 p.m. PDT, using iPhone 7 Plus, opting for the second lens that acts as optical zoom. The choice allowed me to keep distance while shooting and clear way for other passersby to likewise show their appreciation.

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Cali Squirrel Watches

I was mistaken when stating, before we moved into our new apartment, that cats Cali and Neko wouldn’t have as much to eyeball compared to the vantage down the alley from our previous second-floor view. They spend more time at the windows watching birds and other wildlife and less demanding our attention as relief from boredom.

In the front room, along the wrap-around windows, three Katris sets make a cat walk where Cali fixates over a squirrel that lives in a tree just outside. I could reach out and touch the leaves if not for the screen being there (thankfully). The view from my office looks out onto the same street. There sits my Belham Living Everett Mission Writing Desk, which hutch makes a great perch for the animals. Cali will run between rooms when the squirrel moves. She’s a smart one. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Captain Blackbeard

One year ago today, I started this series with grainy photo of a presumed stray I nicknamed Scruffy. The plan was to post pics I had recently taken, and to add a few more, before wrapping up within a few weeks or as long as a month. I had no concept of the number of kitties that there were, or are, around the neighborhood—more than 100 featured so far.

We celebrate the anniversary with Captain Blackbeard, who yesterday evening relaxed on house steps below a sweet, 6-month old girl and her friendly dad. “He came with the name”, the gent said about his pet, observing that the beard is more white. The feline spends more time indoors, but gets occasional outside romps, and he has been with the family for about 3 months.