For Mother’s Day, our daughter bought Baby’s Breath for Annie. The flowers often accent others and looked kind of lonely in the IKEA TILLBRINGARE pitcher. Molly’s mom has a birthday and roses to fill out the make-shift vase.
I used Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to capture the Featured Image and companion. Vitals for the first: f/1.4, ISO 160, 1/120 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 11:16 a.m. PDT, today.
I initially treated the Featured Image as a throwaway. But on reconsideration, seeing the sharp detail of the rose petals and the shift in emphasis brought by using the dehaze control in DX Studio, I present this simple shot on a busy Saturday night.
This one comes from Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens. Vitals: f/6.3, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 62mm; 5:48 p.m. PDT, May 9, 2026. Composed as captured.
The Featured Image isn’t the first Fortnight Lilies shared with you, and I suppose no new are necessary. But as I walked past these three, the potential composition grouping piqued my interest. So, I hauled out Galaxy S26 Ultra, switched to Portrait mode, and took the shot. Vitals: f/1.4, ISO 64, 1/5000 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 12:35 p.m. PDT, yesterday.
Putting aside a few early-on complaints, this Samsung is the best smartphone that I have ever owned. The physical balance in the hand is exceptional, and it’s comfortable to hold. I carry my phones bareback; no case, so consider me a connoisseur about physical balance.
“If it lives, kill it” might as well be the axiom across San Diego city and the close-in communities, like the Village of University Heights or nearby Hillcrest and North Park. Insecticide is spread among so many properties that I am surprised there are any insects at all. Butterflies still flourish as do house flies, crickets, and some spiders. But they don’t thrive and their numbers are diminished.
Far more serious is the carnage among things that grow. Homeowners chop down trees, tear out grass, and replace lovely green spaces with cold concrete and wood structures, so-called Accessary Dwelling Units, or ADUs. The city wants them, and residents are rewarded for erecting ADUs. Other folks keep the lawn space but replace grass with wood chips or sand; trees of every kind, even those bearing fruit, are destroyed and replaced with succulents.
Our daughter brought home Baby’s Breath as an early Mother’s Day gift. I write on Wednesday, the holiday is Sunday. I take full blame for the haphazard way the flowers are crammed into the IKEA TILLBRINGARE pitcher. Annie, the artist, can make any changes tomorrow.
The Featured Image, cropped square from a 4:3 original, comes from Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Vitals: f/1.4. ISO 160, 1/120 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 8:11 p.m.
Well, that’s what Google Image search claims are the pinkish flowers. Also known as the chandelier plant, or Kalanchoe delagoensis, the succulent is native to Madagascar.
I used Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens to capture the Featured Image, on April 4, 2026. Vitals: f/6.7, ISO 140, 1/250 sec, 105mm; 1:04 p.m. PDT. Location: Panorama Drive, in San Diego neighborhood University Heights.
A basketball hoop hung in a San Diego alley isn’t that an uncommon sight. I have seen several in my neighborhood of University Heights. But this one stands out for adornment: Black-eyed Susan vine. That raises question: Who would want to shoot baskets and ruin the lovely flowers?
The answer could be nobody. I haven’t seen any signs of activity around this hoop recently, which could mean something else: No aspiring basketball players live nearby, and that would easily explain how the vine climbed so high.
I am a longstanding fan of the Leica Q series of cameras. I owned the original, Q2, and Q2 Monochrom. The 28mm f/1.7 Summilux lens is fantastically sharp, the body is compact, and the overall ergonomics are exceptional. I was particularly intrigued when Leica released a 43mm Q3—enough to consider trading both Q2 models against the purchase price.
But the newer Q3 is perennially out of stock, being a fairly recent release, and it’s quite expensive. I instead sold both cameras locally and used the funds to buy the Nikon Zf and 40mm lens kit and two additional lenses: NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S (for focal length, low-light capability, macro shooting, and portraits) and NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR.
During last night’s Presidental debate, Kamala Harris led Donald Trump to the slaughterhouse and gave him a quick kick. He marched inside, where the two ABC News moderators butchered him. That’s a fair assessment of how efficiently Harris taunted Trump, and he overreacted. Over and over.
The tactic let the Democrat largely ignore most questions directed by the moderators. She repeatedly deflected by switching to Trump, effectively making his record—and let’s be honest, ego—topic du jour. Not only did the moderators fail to call out her lack of answering, or ask her follow-up questions, they pestered the Republican with corrections even though, by my count, her lies massively eclipsed his. The, ah, event started out one-on-one but quickly disintegrated into a three-on-one beating.
For the third time in three years, we present another sunflower seen in the same location on Mississippi in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights (see previous posts from 2022 and 2023). I passed by the beauty today while talking on the phone with one of my sisters.
I pulled out Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, set to Portrait mode, and captured the Featured Image, which is composed as shot and not otherwise altered (e.g. no edits). Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 12, 1/800 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 3:42 p.m. PDT.
While walking this evening, I stopped to regard one of my neighbor’s flower gardens. Initially passing by, I turned around, pulled out Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and shot the Featured Image in Portrait mode, which produces bokeh-like background blur. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/125 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 6:27 p.m. PDT.
Phone photography was on my mind as I strolled sidewalks; yesterday, Google unveiled new smartphones, including the Pixel 9 Fold, Pro, and Pro XL. The latter two are all about the cameras, and the experiences artificial intelligence and software can magically make.
The crazy thing about San Diego is the way flowers, plants, and trees grow. Anywhere. Everywhere. Unexpected places. Along an alley across from fencing where grapes grow, I passed passion fruit today. That’s two different neighbors’ fence lines.
I initially whipped out Galaxy Samsung S24 Ultra for a shot of four fruits lined up. But busy bees brought my attention to the flowers, where luck delivered good-enough composition and a bee in flight. What’s not to like about that?