Keeping with my black-and-white commitment for all of June, today, I used Leica Q2 Monochrom to capture the Featured Image, which is composed as shot. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/2.8, ISO 200, 1/6400, 28mm; 2:30 […]
Category: Leica
Light Traffic
Lots of people are overly, ah, proud during June every year, around San Diego neighborhoods Hillcrest, North Park, and (here) University Heights. Stepping back from the parade of flags—and distracting colors galore—I will use Leica Q2 Monochrom to primarily shoot black and white. When need for color arises, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra will fill in.
The Featured Image is first photo of many other monochromes to follow between now and last day of the month. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/11, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, 28mm.
You Fill Up My Senses
For a seeming paradise environment, San Diego air fills with bad smells: chemical (mostly from pesticides); exhaust (mostly from construction machinery and vehicles); rotting food (from compost and garbage containers); skunky stink (from pot smokers); and urine (from the homeless), among many others. (Got an hour to read? I can give a fuller list.)
So it was a surprise, and relief, when my wife and I hit a sweet smelling zone while walking on May 26, 2023. The Featured Image shows why: Hedge of Honeysuckle. Thank you, neighbor, whomever you are! At a time when more residences erect fortress fences around their properties, someone else chooses a natural barrier that delights the senses—eyes along with the nose.
Bruce is Missing!
Last night, Sunday, one of my neighbors rang the doorbell, and as I rushed to the door she pulled back the leash on her dog Apple, asking: “Have you seen Bruce?” Visibly anguished, she explained that the cat disappeared on Friday night. She, as I suddenly recalled, had gone away for Memorial Day weekend, trusting his care—and that of housemates Guido and Little—to friends.
Bruce is quite independent, and he is known in the neighborhood for his lion trim and for walking with his owner when she takes out Apple. Seems like everyone knows Bruce, which must explain the outpouring of support to find him. Neighbors are out searching and calling his name. Another made and posted lost cat signs. This handsome tabby has quite the following, and he really should have his own Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.
Urban Husky Revisited
The “Urban Husky” residence is no longer a construction site. I had wondered if the mural would be a casualty of the renovation, although the artwork might be because of it. During an impulsive change of direction while walking today, my wife and I passed by the property.
I couldn’t go on without grabbing a fresh capture. The Featured Image comes from Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4, ISO 100, 1/1250 sec,, 28mm; 2:01 p.m. PDT.
Regarding Leica Q3
German camera company Leica today announced the Q3, which is now available for preorder. While being tempted to trade in Q2 and upgrade, I am overly enamored with my existing equipment, which more than achieves the “good enough” threshold.
I obtained Leica Q2 on the last day of 2019—and wrote a review two years later (do read it). For sure the new thing tempts, but I must resist—and for another reason that will be explained below.
The Photobomber
Consider the Featured Image as start of a two-parter. The intended subject of the street shot is the big guy hanging on to a lamppost, and I had planned to close-crop on him. But just as I clicked Leica Q2 Monochrom‘s shutter, someone scooted into the frame. The unintentional photobomber instead makes the moment.
Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/1600 sec, 28mm; 3:11 p.m. PDT, April 20, 2023. Location: San Diego’s Balboa Park.
My Pixel Tablet Turnabout
Let’s recap: In December 2022, my wife and I decided to wildly change computing platforms; we wanted freedom from Apple. On the 8th, I ordered Surface Laptop 5 for her and Surface Laptop Studio for me from Microsoft Store. Hers: 13.5-inch touchscreen (2256 x 1504 resolution); 12th-generation Intel Core i7-1255U processor; 16GB RAM; 512GB SSD. Mine: 14.4-inch touchscreen (2400 x 1600 resolution); quad-core 11th-generation Intel Core H35 i7-11370H processor; 4GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics; 32GB RAM; 2TB SSD.
Two days later, I ordered Galaxy S22 and S22 Ultra direct from Samsung. Both smartphones arrived on the 15th. Storage: 256GB for her; 512GB for me—both free, double capacity upgrades during the manufacturer’s holiday promotion. Unexpectedly, in mid-February, I traded up for the spanking new S23 Ultra. What stayed: Both our iPads, as I waited to see what new tablets Google, or perhaps Samsung, would bring to market this year. Recap over, the rest of the post explains what happened and why.
What’s the Lesson Here?
Not for the first time, car horn-honking, chanting, cheering, and clapping beckoned me to the administrative offices for San Diego Unified School District, which is but a few blocks from our University Heights apartment.
I came upon a sizable protest of people dressed in red T-Shirts. The number could have been in the thousands—size the Featured Image and companion don’t capture in part because the crowd spread out some distance. They jam-packed when marching, too. Vitals, aperture manually set for both: f/8, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 28mm; 4:23 p.m. PDT; Leica Q2.
The Flower Lady
Let’s start with a Happy Mother’s Day to the moms. Some of you work the holiday, as does this woman at her gift stand set up in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. She and her husband greeted me yesterday, and I had every intention of returning to buy flowers for my wife. But I waited too long. The lady sold out, and they were packing up when I arrived this afternoon.
I used Leica Q2 to take the Featured Image, which (sigh) is presented as composed, because I could create no crop that wouldn’t take too much context from the photo. Maybe you see something that I don’t. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 12:36 p.m. PDT.
Bon Appétit!
In April 2016, I started to write “Why is Hollywood Obsessed with Viral Armageddon?” In June 2017, I shot a photo to illustrate the post, which wasn’t finally finished until March 2021—nearly a year after the World Health Organization declared SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 to be a pandemic.
San Diego’s Museum of Us exhibit “Cannibals: Myth & Reality” must be ongoing because I came upon the same sign still in place six years later—as you can see from the Featured Image, captured using Leica Q2 Monochrom, on April 20, 2023. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/160 sec, 28mm; 3:23 p.m. PDT.
A Burst of Orange
Forgive my Gazania obsession, please. The flower observed languishing on April 29, 2023 has turned to fluff (can you say seedlings) and new buds burst in its place. You must understand that these orange lovelies took root on their own; they were not planted by the apartment complex’s gardener/landscaper. I am delighted by their presence.
I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image, today. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 3:22 p.m. PDT. A second shot, using the camera’s dedicated Macro mode, misplaces the focal point; otherwise, I would have shared that one instead.