Late afternoon, on June 27, 2021, as my wife and I walked along Madison, from Georgia towards Florida, an odd-looking insect made me stop and wonder. I am something of an amateur entomologist, or used […]
Tag: nature photography
Like None Other Nearby
In the neighbor’s yard where I photographed a Monarch four months ago, a striking flower caught my attention today. Initially, I walked past, then turned about, and stopped for two quick shots—f/2.8 and f/8—choosing the […]
Well, Stone the Crows
And I am so glad this bird isn’t a raven (gulp, unless I misidentified, which easily could be). I’ve been humming Stevie Wonder song “Superstition” since the sighting earlier today and only while writing made the subconscious mental connection: Ravens as forebears of bad luck, or worse. But I’m not really superstitious—or wouldn’t be if not for the odd encounter.
While walking along Madison, approaching the alley between North and Campus in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, the flyer landed on a fence beside me. He seemed to want something, and I wondered if perhaps people feed him. Of course, the encounter could have been, uh-hum, an omen. The bird perched long enough for me to step back, pull out Leica Q2, and compose two shots (changing aperture between) before flying off.
In the Shade
Most of the Southwest is under a severe heat advisory, with temperatures in mountainous locales, like Julian, reaching 29 degrees Celsius (84 F), which is way above normal. Borrego Springs is currently 39 C (102 […]
Forever Autumn
It is juxtaposition time—autumn leaves to contrast yesterday’s Spring sunflower. I used Canon EOS 20D to capture the Featured Image on Nov. 5, 2005. Vitals: f/3.5, ISO 800, 1/125 sec, 110mm; 4:14 p.m. EST. Image is presented as straight RAW-to-JPEG conversion, which means no alteration; composed as shot.
Reviewing this site’s posts, I prolifically blogged during November 2005—despite my demanding, full-time job as a trade analyst. Some of my most personally iconic musings were written during that month. Here’s a shortlist, in order of publication:
The Swarm
This afternoon, while walking and talking to my sister who lives in Florida, I came across bees buzzing around a front yard along Mississippi between Mission and Monroe here in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. I excused myself briefly and shot a short video using iPhone XS.
Strange thing, when finished I observed the insects swarming about the next property. That kind of deflated my working presumption of a disturbed nearby hive. So I snagged another short video, followed by the Featured Image taken using Leica Q2.
A Flower Forest
When my wife drove to Hillcrest today on an errand, I asked her to drop me off for a leisurely walk home to University Heights. Along Maryland Street, just beyond where once was the Butterfly […]
Bee Better
This is an odd post: Disappointing photos. Today, while waiting for my wife to fetch me from the ophthalmologist, I stopped to gawk at bees busily bouncing about flowers for nectar. Hundreds of them gathered and proved no threat to me as I closed in and captured 20 shots, using iPhone XS.
Grumble. Can the Apple cameras do no better than these, which are the best of a bad lot? I experimented with standard and Portrait modes—and all the pics look artificial at best, and not sharp enough at worst.
A Tree Grows
When looking through Nokia N95 photos to illustrate the previous post, I happened upon a palm portrait that my wife, Anne Wilcox, made using the cameraphone on Sept. 14, 2008. I startled seeing how much shorter was the tree then than I remember seeing recently. So, today, I ambled over to the corner of Adams and North, in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, for a fresh pic.
The Featured Image shows how the palm has risen since she shot it (left). Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 6mm; 4:10 p.m. PDT. I used iPhone XS for the taller tree (right). Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 25, 1/1992 sec, 26mm (film equivalent); 1:25 p.m.
An Early Easter Bouquet
Palm Sunday is unseasonably toasty here in San Diego. As I write, the official temperature is 27 degrees Celsius (81 F)—and that’s the forecast high, which means more sizzle to come by early afternoon. As I walked along Madison—between Alabama and Mississippi in University Heights—orange and yellow flowers beckoned my attention. At first, I passed by, then turned back for a quick shot, using Leica Q2. The Featured Image is the first of four captures and best composition. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/2000 sec, 28mm; 10:13 a.m. PDT.
As I lay low for the final photo, an older fellow walking a dog asked, as he passed: “Have you got good Macro on that camera?” I replied affirmatively—even though not using the mode right then. Vitals for that shot, which is cropped: f/8, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 28mm; 10:14 a.m.
Daring Daffodils
Soon after shooting the Monarch on the aromatic purple flowers, on Feb. 23, 2021, I captured a delightful collection of daffodils; but they bleached out in the sunlight and they weren’t focused within the narrow […]
The Monarch and I agree: What an Aroma
San Diego is a three-season climate: Early Summer, Mid Summer, and Late Summer. The first fully flourishes: Little birds tweet; crows caw; citrus grows in residents’ yards; squirrels scamper; and non-perennials burst with fresh flowers; among many other delights. In some other locale, these things would be signs of Spring, but Summer never really ends here and merely transitions from states of vitality—which booms this fine February. Despite the drier-than-typical third season, lusciousness abounds. Sights and sounds of vibrant life are everywhere.
Smells, too. While walking along Meade Ave. between Alabama and Mississippi, in the University Heights community, on Feb. 23, 2021, a wondrously friendly fragrance greeted my nostrils, and I stopped to regard the source—the purple flowers you see in the Featured Image. The Monarch presented photographic opportunity, and I pulled out Leica Q2 for two deliberate but hasty shots. Luckily, the first is wings down; the unpublished other, they’re up. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 10:39 a.m. PST.