These loud squawkers occasionally fly around our block. We see, and hear, them every few months. They come and go, not staying long. I’d love to know where do they live and why they are irregular guests.
Without a good telephoto lens, I have failed at nearly every attempt to get a pleasing portrait of the birds. Typically, three or four group together. In the Featured Image, you see two—and this shot, from March 31, 2018, is the best to date. Sigh.
Is gone—and two others with it, a residence and auto-repair shop. The owner waged a war with graffiti artists, which he (or she) eventually won. The place was repainted several times, despite appearing to be derelict, before being leveled by (presumably) new owners. By all appearances, another fine cathedral of unaffordable housing will rise in the San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, at the corner of El Cajon and Mississippi across the street from BLVD North Park (located in UH, not NP).
I shot the Featured Image on Feb. 25, 2018, using Leica Q; many times since then, I planned to update with something showing more of the corner. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, 28mm; 1:19 p.m. PST. Best I can offer for now is the first of two companion captures—a stuffed bear, sitting on the diagonal corner. Photo comes from Leica M (Typ 262) on March 31, 2018. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/9.5, ISO 200, 1/350 sec, 50mm; 11:47 a.m. PDT.
The Featured Image is an attempt to soothe the soul, following an insane few days that promise to be absolutely crazier. I captured the flowers on April 2, 2018, using Leica M (Typ 262) and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Vitals: f/4.8, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, 50mm; 10:24 a.m. PDT. Photo is composed as shot; no edits.
As for the bizarre goings on, to start: During a massive rally of up to 1 million people (my guess, 250,000-plus) in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, protesters broke into the U.S. Capitol during certification of the electoral vote that confirms the 2020 Presidential Election winner. Violence ensued, and lawmakers were evacuated, including Vice President Michael Pence. A woman (Ashli Babbit) from here in San Diego was shot and killed by police. Politicians quickly called the assault an “insurrection” and failed “coup”, blaming President Donald Trump for instigating the incident.
This afternoon, a film student from Los Angeles bought my first digital rangefinder, acquired in early March 2018 as part of the Oberwerth Set. He graduates from the M6 film camera, which he plans to continue using.
His interest in the Leica M (Typ 262) matches the manufacturer’s purpose: Provide an experience with digital benefits that is barebones close to using a Leica film shooter. The M262 is super streamlined, with mostly manual controls, two main menu pages, and no frills. That means no video, no Live View, and no connectivity (Bluetooth or WiFi). The shutter sound is smoothly soft, making the rangefinder more discreet on the street.
Along Florida Street, near Adams Ave., is a house with spacious yard where live at least three fairly large felines—and quite possibly, from reviewing photos, four, if not more. Two days ago, we met the tiger tabby Tigger. The second, I call Coon. If not a Maine Coon, the longhair is size of one.
Among the three different confirmed cats, Coon is the most frequently seen round about the yard. I have stalked the kitty for more than a month, seeking the right portrait—a task that distance and reach of the Leica Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens hampers.
A few days ago, BetaNews Managing Editor Wayne Williams emailed asking if I could contribute content after being silent for ages, especially as the site’s 20th anniversary approaches. He doesn’t fathom the potential terror that request will unleash.
I have written a total of two tech stories for BN in 2018—surely to the delight of my many commenter critics. Reason: Joe Wilcox is on a self-imposed writing hiatus as he looks distrustfully at the many so-called innovations that he championed during a 25-year technology reporting career. He is disgusted to see how we have become commodities stored in the pantries kept by Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and most every other advert-licking, AI-snorting, location-tracking, tech purveyor of promises looking to consume us for profit. Burp.
Along Lincoln Ave., near Vermont Street, a black shorthair stared out a window as I passed on April 2, 2018. The beastie is the twenty-second to appear in the series from behind a window. The beauty that I nickname Sky (can you guess why) is either the thirteenth or fourteenth Halloween cat, depending on whether or not Betty and Betty, Too are the same animals. The others: Black, Fang, Farfisa, Frenemy, Mika, Pee-Pee, Peohe, Siesta, Skull, Token, and Wink.
I captured the Featured Image using Leica M (Typ 262) and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4.8, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, 50mm; 10:33 a.m. PDT. The companion photo is the uncropped original.
As my wife and I approached the Adams Ave. overlook on April 7, 2018, she spotted a beautiful, bushy-tail tabby skulking behind two cars parked before the canyon. The furball then lay low beneath one of the vehicles, barely visible in the shadows. I have only ever seen one other cat, Grand, in this location— most recently in July 2017.
I am a deliberate shooter, who typically captures an average three photos per subject. But in this instance—laying down on the ground wearing sunglasses and manually focusing Leica M (Typ 262) on a darkened subject—I shot blindly about a dozen-and-a-half portraits from two vantage points while turning the focus ring (and adjusting the aperture). Among them, only one is truly worthy, while denying you glimpse of the magnificent tail (sorry about that).
The series serves up more tortitude, with, like Lucy, another tortoiseshell seen on Georgia between Meade and Monroe. Dancer is another from the street, but closer to Mission; Chunk, Sunshine, and Tortie live elsewhere in the neighborhood. Earning nickname Torbie, for what appear to be some tabby-like features, the feline is the twenty-first featured behind a window.
We acknowledged one another on April 4, 2018, at 9:26 a.m. PDT, as I walked by. I used Leica M (Typ 262) and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens to capture the Featured Image. Vitals, for the heavily-edited crop: f/4.8, ISO 200, 1/350 sec, 50mm.
While walking this evening, I unexpectedly came upon a kitty that I hadn’t seen since our first meeting on Sept. 4, 2017. Bandit, the Tuxedo hung out in a yard near where Monroe Ave. crosses […]
Nearby the same building where, on Georgia at Monroe, I met Peso in May 2017, another kitty greeted me and my wife on April 2, 2018. As I knelt down to snap some portraits, a woman walking by with a child said that “her name is Luci”. I had not encountered the long-hair tortoiseshell before—and doing so suddenly caused concern that I hadn’t seen Peso for several months. I do hope that he is okay.
Luci gave grovely meows but never approached Anne or I—that day or April 4, when I captured the Featured Image, using Leica M (Typ 262) and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/11, ISO 200, 1/45 sec, 50mm; 4:30 p.m. PDT.
Five minutes afer seeing Snow looking out from inside an apartment on Louisiana Street, my wife and I encountered another window watcher—twentieth for the series—at the corner of Mississippi and Monroe, on March 19, 2018.
I shot the Featured Image, chosen purely for cropped composition, at 3:12 p.m. PDT, using iPhone X. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/371 sec, 6mm. The companion, captured on April 2 at 6:18 p.m. with Leica M (Typ 262) and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens, is more color accurate and intimate; you wouldn’t know from the vantage point that the cat looks out from a second-floor window. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4.8, ISO 200, 1/90 sec, 50mm.