Tag: animals

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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.

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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There is a pileup of unpublished furballs in the queue, and it’s long past time for you to meet each of them.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, PebblesSadie, 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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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The Cats of University Heights: Spirit

The main intersection on the neighborhood’s west side is a four-way with stop-signs at Cleveland and Meade. I meandered upon this kitty and the next one profiled on either side of Meade in the alley between Cleveland and Maryland—directions south and north, respectively.

I used iPhone XS to capture the Featured Image on Oct. 17, 2020. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/213 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 10:21 a.m. PDT. Coincidentally, the day marked the series‘ fourth anniversary.

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The Cats of University Heights: Sundown

Four years ago today, I started this series with a presumed stray, sighted only once, that I call Scruffy. Three-hundred-fifty-eight profiles later, the number of furballs to photograph is seemingly inexhaustible. At the start, I expected the series to progress a month, maybe a little longer. Foolish me. In autumn 2016, as explained in post “Why Cats?“, I worked with new eyes, so to speak, following multifocal intraocular lens replacement for cataracts and also ongoing treatment for macular edema—the latter of which is mostly now resolved. Feline field photography acted as a kind of visual therapy.

That brings us to our celebratory kitty, seen in the yard of the home where once lived Giotto and next-door to where you can find Petri (well, until his family moves sometime before Dec. 1, 2020). That makes the black the fifty-seventh putty-tat from Alabama between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. No other street comes close, and I cannot fathom why.

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The Cats of University Heights: Pepto

On the same block where lives Daniel Tiger, whom I visited with today, incidentally, resides newcomer Pepto—and, yes, that’s his real name. Within furball spitting distance, you also could encounter: Fluffy, Darth Mew, Ginger, Huck, JediMilo, and Princess Leia—or Snow and Stripe, looking out windows. The block bustles with frisky felines, and it’s a wonder they all tolerate one another so well.

I first saw two-year-old Pepto in early August 2020 and used iPhone XS to shoot a dozen portraits—none of which I would use unless compelled by lack of having anything better. Opportunity presented on September 8, when I lugged Leica Q2, seeking the orange and white for the umpteenth time. The Featured Image is a close crop. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 4:54 p.m. PDT.

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The (Honorary) Cats of University Heights: Mona

Among the 355 other profiles in this series, seven were seen or live beyond the neighborhood’s designated boundaries. Mona—and that’s her real name—makes eight. She joins special members: BuddiesChill, EnvyMoophie, Ninja, Promise, and Sammy. My wife and I met the kitty and her owner while walking home from Smart and Final on Sept. 22, 2020—along Mississippi, before Lincoln leaves behind North Park.

I used iPhone XS to capture the Featured Image, at 9:39 a.m. PDT. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/177 sec, 52mm (film equivalent).

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Flickr a Week 41a: ‘He’s Coming To Get You’

We celebrate Sunday with self-titled “He’s Coming To Get You“, which Charlie Marshall captured on May 1, 2019, using Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM lens. Vitals: f/8, ISO 2500, 1/320 sec, 150mm. “I saw this wolf in the HIghland Wildlife Park near Kincraig,” Charlie says of the Scotland shot. “At the time, he was chasing another wolf”. The photo is a keeper for composition and drama.

“I’ve been a keen photographer since I got my first camera at the age of six (I saved up ice-cream wrappers and sent off for a small, leaky plastic camera)”, Charlie says. “I spent a lot of time in my twenties and thirties using disposable cameras, which forced me to focus really hard on composition because there was nothing else to focus on”.