Tag: nature photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 17, 20226:44 pm

Bitter Blue

Earlier today, I came upon a notice warning that my hosting software is using an outdated, meaning unsupported, PHP version. Updating fatally crashed the site—so severely that I couldn’t access via tried-and-true Recovery Mode. Hours later, after reverting versions, the site came back to life. A single plugin presumably toasted everything. With the offender disabled, I will try the newer PHP once again.

But first, I had better fulfill my daily posting goal, which is how we come to the simple Featured Image, which I captured using Leica Q2 on May 13, 2022. I stopped for no particular reason before the flowers, along a sidewalk somewhere near where San Diego neighborhoods North Park and University Heights meet.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 12, 20229:41 pm

Palm Canyon Misadventure

My wife and I drove over to Balboa Park, today, to explore Palm Canyon Trail, only to find much of the path blocked by chain-link and sign. We covered greater distance walking from the parking lot to the path’s entrance. Well, welcome to the wiles of San Diego’s hidden natural wonders.

Still, I relished having dirt, rather than cement, beneath my shoes—and the outside-the-city feeling of being inside the canyon, beneath the cover of various tree species, with bird call above and the only other sound being the intrusive roar of jets flying overhead to land at the airport (yeah, flightpath).

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 4, 20228:17 pm

The Better Barrier

Across my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights, increasing trend: homeowners surround their front yards with obnoxious fences that while providing privacy create fortress-feeling and block residents’ view of surroundings—and beneficial sunlight. If you want to live in a dungeon, please sell your property to someone who will appreciate the local climate and move elsewhere. Perhaps Chicago, where you can add bars to all the windows, too.

Contrast that to the Featured Image, taken today using Leica Q2. While walking past this hedge, and not for the first time, I stopped to really look at its lovely practicality. The residents have privacy, which includes keeping dogs from peeing or poohing on the lawn, while providing a natural, beautiful barrier for their enjoyment and for other people.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 8, 20228:20 pm

The Abandoned

Weather forecast of searing heat inspired me to take a long walk this morning before temperature rose—and it did, eventually reaching 35.5 degrees Celsius (96 F) in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. I mostly stayed in the alleys, where buildings’ shadows offered some relief. In the one separating Campus and Cleveland, I came upon a hapless plant, beret of pot.

What you don’t see in the Featured Image—and what I should have captured—is the back passenger tire of a Honda SUV. That precarious placement is what initially drew my attention to the neglected thing. Presumably, someone left out the item as a freebee. Perhaps languished from the second day’s unseasonable scorcher, or already ailing, the wilted plant appealed much less than its pot. Hence the presumed abandonment.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 11, 20229:33 pm

Return to Nextdoor

I last quit Nextdoor on July 28, 2020, protesting the ridiculously ambiguous tenets of the so-called “Good Neighbor Pledge”. My account is now reactivated. Testing the limits of that pledge is one of my goals in what may be a temporary return. Why bother? You ask the right question.

Burgeoning crude oil per-barrel costs, surging inflation, rising prices on seemingly everything, the Russian-Ukraine war, and potentially devastating consequences (globally) from the West’s sanctions against Russia are precursors to economic crisis of frightening magnitude. S-o-o-o, my neighbors and I may have reason to buy and sell or barter items some time in the not-so-distant future.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 9, 20229:29 pm

When Summer is Every Day

San Diego may be a costly place to live, but the year-round summer, where lush growth and tweeting birds are constant, is big benefit—or so say I, the Maine boy. The Featured Image, roses growing alongside a house in an alley, demonstrates. The nearly 100-percent crop contrasts the blurred hanging flower pot behind.

Vitals, aperture manually set: f/2, ISO 100, 1/5000 sec, 28mm; 1:51 p.m. PST. I used Leica Q2 to make the moment on Jan. 1, 2022.

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 WilcoxFeb 14, 20229:57 pm

Where Do You Hang Your Heart?

I saved the Featured Image, captured on Jan. 2, 2022 using Leica Q2, for Valentine’s Day. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 28mm; 9:43 a.m. PST. The tree rises above a utility […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 4, 20227:49 pm

Lemons and Oranges

Winter, or what I call late Summer, is when citrus trees bear luscious fruit in Southern California. Consider this lovely lemon tree that greets residents of quaint cottages along the Alabama-Florida alley. Who wouldn’t want to live in such a charming retreat, tucked away and lush?

But bring your high-paying job. Charm isn’t cheap in San Diego, given rising real estate costs. Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,095, according to Zumper (about which I am largely unfamiliar). When I last cited the company’s data, February 2021, the median was $1,810. Yikes! Two bedroom: $2,895.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 30, 20219:27 pm

Leave It Be

Wet weather welcomed the last week of the year, here in San Diego, with sporadic rain showers. Today, for awhile, the sun emerged from behind scattered clouds and I took advantage for several, desperately wanted […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 17, 20218:51 pm

Red Flower Monochrome

For the third day in a row, the Featured Image comes from Leica Q2 Monochrom. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4, ISO 200, 1/400 sec, 28mm; 1:01 p.m. PST, today. I used the camera’s dedicated Macro mode, which is activated by turning a ring around the Summilux lens.

I spotted the red flower—with, if I recall rightly, white stamen and yellow pistils—while walking along Arch Street in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. The water droplets drew my attention, and I figured Why not black and white?—being no other choice really.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 6, 202110:12 pm

Tiger Moth Caterpillars

While walking along Louisiana today, Annie and I came across two of our neighbors tending their flower garden. Gracie, one of the “Cats of University Heights“, belonged to them before she passed away at age 19. Seeing my camera, the wife turned my attention to three caterpillars munching leaves.

I immediately exclaimed “Woolly Bear caterpillars!”—for their colors and fuzziness. But the resemblance ended there. My memory is a larva with orange band in the middle and black at both ends. If I rightly recall, and please correct me if mistaken, that caterpillar eventually becomes the Isabella tiger moth.