Tag: Leica M10

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The Cats of University Heights: Princess Leia

We celebrate this fine Friday with the start of a two-part Star Wars theme. Who would have guessed that yesterday I would meet a Calico named Princess Leia along Louisiana between Meade and Monroe. She worried me, though, with her scratchy and continuous mews, that she might be lost—or maybe just lonely. She sounded and moved like a mature madam. I regret only getting her name from the tag.

I used the Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens to capture the Featured Image, which is composed as shot. Vitals: f/11, ISO 100, 1/45 sec, 50mm; 12:30 p.m. PDT. The companion, cropped 3:2 and auto-corrected, comes from Google Pixel 2 XL, which I acquired last week to replace iPhone X. (Oh, yes, it’s gone!) Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 91, 1/4673 sec, 4.6mm. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Little

My wife called it a “tiger cat convention”—three beasties from the same household gathered around the front yard. We had never seen such a sight, and the owner later told me that it was a rare occurrence.

Little, who is shy compared to companions Bruce and Guido, is reasonably reluctant. At about two weeks old, he pushed through a neighbor’s fence to escape several dogs. That gent didn’t know what to do with the kitten; Guido’s mom stepped in, even feeding the furry tyke from a bottle those first days in her care. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Gipper

We follow up Dare with another white furball that my wife and I saw along the Campus-Cleveland Avenues’ ally between Madison and Meade on May 22, 2018. As expressed a few days back, there is a backlog of photographed but not published cats. More are in store.

I captured the Featured Image using the Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. The companion photo is the uncropped, but edited, original. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 50mm; 10:29 a.m. PDT. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Dare

A few buildings down from where Moose lives along Adams Ave. East of Park Blvd., a shorthair—who for no particular reason earns nickname Dare—looks out on May 20, 2018. The putty-tat is the twenty-fifth window watcher among the 184 profiles since the series started in October 2016.

I captured the Featured Image using Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Focus was a bit difficult to nail perfectly. The portrait is good enough if not viewed full size. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/60 sec, 50mm; 10:51 a.m. PDT. 

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The (Honorary) Cats of University Heights: Envy

The one-hundred eighty-first profile in the series is the fifth where we take liberties with the neighborhood’s boundaries. One-half block beyond, along Mississippi between Lincoln and University, the juxtaposition of squirrel outside taunting its freedom before an indoor kitty was just too timely to resist. So here we be, with a shorthair I dub Envy. The rodent remains nameless.

I shot the Featured Image with iPhone X on May 22, 2018 at 4:06 p.m. PDT. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/417 sec, 6mm. The companion comes from Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens, one minute later. Vitals: f/8 or f/11, ISO 100, 1/45 sec, 50mm. The original camera capture is more color accurate than the handset; however, I changed contrast and hues to make the animals more obvious. 

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Panorama Fire

This morning, someone posted to the NextDoor social network about an overnight fire and explosion in a garage behind a house on Panorama Drive, which is along one of my regular walking routes. My wife and I were going that way anyway, so we joined other University Heights rubberneckers taking a peek at the dramatic aftermath.

For the record: I have never seen so many residents roaming that part of the neighborhood on a Saturday morning. We’re talking exponential increases, folks. 

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Louisiana Loafing

More manual focus practice is needed with the Leica M10. While walking late this afternoon, as such, I honed in on the Louisiana sign, where the street crosses Monroe Ave., in my San Diego neighborhood.

Taken with Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens attached, the Featured Image is composed as shot. I pulled back highlights to draw out the clouds, but otherwise contrast, dynamic range, etc. are straight up; no adjustments, post-production. Vitals: f/4, ISO 100, 1/180 sec, 50mm; 5:53 p.m. PDT. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Donuts

Eleven days ago, I spotted for the first time a handsome, and lanky, tiger tabby resting in the driveway of a home on Louisiana between Adams and Madison. While we greeted one another on other days, he presented best profile opportunity—and our Featured Image—during that first meeting.

I wanted to immediately add the shorthair to the series but waited, hoping to get his name. For the next week, I purposely walked by the property in search of an owner, whose acquaintance I finally made on May 15, 2018. The eleven year-old cat is Donuts—yes, plural, which makes sense to me, strangely. Donuts’ dad also is from Maine, but down south in Bethel (I grew up in Caribou). It’s a cultural thing. Your sweet thing isn’t singular but in abundance.