Tag: landscape photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 24, 20239:38 pm

A Solemn Story

Sometimes the best photo isn’t the best shot but the one you need. The Featured Image won’t flatter my photographic skills—or entice you to do the same. But the serene view, overlooking the stairs going down to Swami’s Beach in Encinitas means to soften today’s grim story.

In the hospital where our daughter recuperates, the woman in the room’s other bed isn’t so fortunate. She has moaned in pain, for several days now, and a mass of relatives has come to see her. The lady looks to be quite large, and because she suffers from failing kidneys, I assumed she must be diabetic. I was mistaken. Grossly.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 11, 20239:23 pm

The Last Resort

A dozen years later, I still marvel at the retro-styled camera that launched Fujifilm into the digital mirrorless era. The X100 became an instant classic, with its fixed lens, leaf shutter, large sensor (for the time), dual digital and optical viewfinders, manual controls, and rangefinder-likeness (with respect to design). Four iterations to date—and removal of FinePix branding after the first generation—no other shooter in the series quite matches the magic and novelty of the original. Using the X100 was like that first love; none other is quite as exciting, or as intoxicating.

The photos hold up, too, as I’d like to think that the Featured Image indicates. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, 23mm (35mm film equivalent); 4:02 p.m. PDT, May 29, 2011.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 3, 20239:28 pm

The Fiery Sky

I am not a big fan of sunset snaps, simply because they’re so cliché. But this one, from Aug. 22, 2008, brings back memories of bonfires on Mission Bay Park. I used Canon EOS 40D to take the Featured Image. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 800, 1/200 sec, 85mm; 7:57 p.m. PDT.

We had only lived in San Diego for about 10 months. So much about the city and region seemed so exotic. In the weeks following, our innocence disappeared, along with that of many other people, as financial dominoes rapidly fell, leading to global economic crisis, which somebody coined the econolypse.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 24, 20239:04 pm

The Overlook Remembered

Twice we have shared the view from the Madison Avenue overlook in University Heights—2017 and 2021. The Featured Image gives glimpse from 2013. Yep, 10 years ago. Click the links to the two other musings; do compare the photo from the more recent of the pair with the one above.

You will see: Where once was a college is now a massive condominium complex. San Diego politicians can’t authorize the building of enough unaffordable housing. Why is that? Homeless encampments bear too much resemblance to refugee temporary housing—tent upon tent upon tent—seen in (other) countries besieged by natural disaster or war. Well, they give high-rise tenants living in high-cost flats something outside the window to look at.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 25, 20228:10 pm

A Very SoCal Christmas

Christmas Day assumed various nuances that made memories for the Wilcox family and others. For starters, we could celebrate free of SARS-CoV-2(severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates that oppressed the previous two years’ holidays. Summer suddenly reappeared in a magnificently mild and sunny day, with the temperature reaching 25.6 degrees Celsius (78 Fahrenheit). Even as I write, temp is unseasonably 19 C (66 F). Tomorrow is supposed to be nearly as warm as today.

As I will more fully explain in a few days, my wife and I have changed computing platforms—PCs and smartphones. At 12:30 p.m. PST, I met parents and their adult age college student to buy Annie’s 13.3-inch MacBook Pro M1 (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD). I have yet to find a buyer for my 16.2-inch MBP M1, which is a monster configuration that only a crazy man would let go—or swap for something seemingly less. All will be revealed soon enough. There are reasons.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 13, 20228:58 pm

The Real Rainbow

Responding to some of the news from Washington, DC today, I present a simple reminder. The Featured Image comes Sigma fp on Christmas Day 2019. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 125, 1/500 sec, 45mm; […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 22, 202212:29 am

False Horizon

To mark the first day of Summer, last night I stood outside my apartment and pointed Leica Q2 towards the setting sun. Scattered clouds caught my attention, set against a view rapidly changing as existing homeowners and investors build new structures—smaller within backyards, larger replacing homes destroyed to make way for multiple-unit residences.

In post-production, I throttled up dehaze setting and punched blacks, highlights, and shadows to produce the Featured Image, which is composed as shot. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 100, 1/80 sec, 28mm; 7:53 p.m., or eight minutes before sunset.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 6, 20229:11 pm

Rainbows

About 50 minutes before the fire brigade incident on March 4, 2022, a rain shower brought forth a double rainbow—and you will need to look closely at the Featured Image to find the faintly-visible second one. Vitals: f/1.5, ISO 50, 1/5852 sec, 26mm; 9:06 a.m. PST.

I happened to be out without a camera, so this capture comes from iPhone 13 Pro. The later false fire alarm occurred a few buildings down on the same street. Across the way, Jasmine, who I coincidentally watched, walked casually about. She is profiled in my “Cats of University Heights” series.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 19, 20219:48 pm

The Overlook, Revisited

Where Madison Avenue ends, an expansive view begins—across Mission Valley below to the Pacific Ocean on the horizon. In the Featured Image, left of center, on the coastal area before the water, some of the rides at Sea World are visible.

The 95-percent crop won’t win awards for clarity; the task is beyond Leica Q2‘s reach. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/11, ISO 100, 1/80 sec, 28mm; 10:21 a.m. PST, Dec. 11, 2021. Location: San Diego Community of University Heights.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 17, 20218:22 pm

What ‘Shot on iPhone’ Means to Me

The Featured Image demonstrates some of iPhone 13 Pro‘s photographic limitations. I used the telephoto lens for this pic of surfers and the San Diego coastline from Ocean Beach Pier, today. The small sensor simply can’t capture crisp detail the way a real camera can. For comparison, consider this surfer shot, which I took using Fujifilm X100F on April 1, 2017; see post “A Day at the (Pacific) Beach“.

The X100F packs an APC-S sensor and my Leica Q2 a full-frame, which capture greater detail, more light, and superior dynamic range. Apple promotes “Shot on iPhone”, which is a clever marketing campaign. Unquestionably, capable hands can produce some stunning photography from the smartphone. But the physics favor the cameras. Biology is analogy enough. Someone 2 meters (6 feet, 6 inches) tall could easily outplay someone my height—1.7 meters (5 feet, 6 inches)—on the basketball court. Height and reach are advantages, like larger electronic sensors.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 12, 20218:39 pm

Looking Down Into Arroyo Canyon

Where does four years go? By my recollection, before yesterday’s expedition, my wife and I hadn’t visited the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge since late-May 2017. The Featured Image (warning: 33MB file), captured using Leica Q2, […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 18, 202012:09 am

Flickr a Week 47: ‘Golden Autumn Hour of Washington DC’

Serene shots like self-titled “Golden Autumn Hour of Washington DC“, by Nicolas Raymond, may be memories until Election 2020 turmoil eases into historical oblivion. “Early morning autumn scene featuring the Washington Monument as seen from […]