Tag: people

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 21, 20238:23 pm

The Golden Man

Following up yesterday’s “The Photobomber“, we come to the intended subject of that photo—the golden man in the Featured Image and two companions. When passing him in San Diego’s Balboa Park on April 20, 2023, I was puzzled. He hung so still to the lamppost, I wondered if he was some statue—which there are a few round about. Then he moved, startling me and breaking my stare.

In the first of the three shots—all from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra—he looks at approaching people. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 50, 1/310 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 3:14 p.m. PDT; composed as shot. Unfortunately, none of the trio aptly captures just how gold painted is his face.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 20, 20238:40 pm

The Photobomber

Consider the Featured Image as start of a two-parter. The intended subject of the street shot is the big guy hanging on to a lamppost, and I had planned to close-crop on him. But just as I clicked Leica Q2 Monochrom‘s shutter, someone scooted into the frame. The unintentional photobomber instead makes the moment.

Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/1600 sec, 28mm; 3:11 p.m. PDT, April 20, 2023. Location: San Diego’s Balboa Park.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 14, 20239:29 pm

The Flower Lady

Let’s start with a Happy Mother’s Day to the moms. Some of you work the holiday, as does this woman at her gift stand set up in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. She and her husband greeted me yesterday, and I had every intention of returning to buy flowers for my wife. But I waited too long. The lady sold out, and they were packing up when I arrived this afternoon.

I used Leica Q2 to take the Featured Image, which (sigh) is presented as composed, because I could create no crop that wouldn’t take too much context from the photo. Maybe you see something that I don’t. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 12:36 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 3, 20239:35 pm

The Witnesses

While wandering around Balboa Park on April 20, 2023, I passed by several spots where people evangelized their religious faiths. Among them, Hare Krishna was one and Jehovah Witness was another. For the latter, I stopped to chat with a tall gent, wearing a broad smile, thick-frame eyeglasses, and straw-like hat.

He regularly comes down from Vista to San Diego to spread the good word about Jehovah. I didn’t think to mention that my apartment is located about three blocks from a Kingdom Hall. He graciously agreed to be photographed—and the woman, whom I believe was his wife, too. The Featured Image comes from Leica Q2 Monochrom. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/1250 sec, 28mm; 3:16 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 30, 20239:57 pm

Power Outage!

Quite literally, as I hit the button to post about cats Firecracker and Dynamite, lights flickered and went out. That was 6:41 a.m. PDT today. Power would remain out for us and others in portions of San Diego neighborhoods Hillcrest, Normal Heights, and (here) in University Heights until 5 p.m. sharp.

The SDGE outage alert in my customer portal at first estimated utility restoration at 8 a.m., then 9 a.m., then 2 p.m., then 3 p.m., and finally 6 p.m. We prepared for an evening in darkness and possible food spoilage in the refrigerator and freezer.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 25, 20239:21 pm

Balboa Buskers

We return to my most recent visit to San Diego’s Balboa Park—April 20, 2023. Busking can be friendly among musicians but competition for prime location leads to jockeying for position, too. Then there is the decibel factor, when one performer is so loud he or she drowns out and therefore drives away other buskers.

That’s the story behind the Featured Image. After shooting the companion photo—both with Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra—I came upon a flutist packing up and moving along. For good reason: The sax player bellowed with great gusto, such that no one could appreciate the higher register of the flute.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 23, 20238:07 pm

Just Fountain Around

Before taking stealth shots of a pair of content creators, I turned Leica Q2 Monochrom onto a skateboarder going around Bea Evenson Fountain in San Diego’s Balboa Park. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s 10x zoom lenses—that’s 230mm film equivalent—let me close the distance on the two women but the photo is muddy rather than sharp.

By contrast, the captures from the camera are richly detailed with great dynamic range, even close-cropped. The smartphone’s small sensor cannot compete with the Leica’s full frame. High IQ, meaning image quality, lets me crop in and get much the same benefit of the Samsung’s zoom caapability. That said, 230mm is huge reach and not to be easily dismissed because of its overall utility on a device carried in the pocket.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 22, 20239:18 pm

This is Not a Selfie

Google Photos presented a seemingly self-portrait taken eight years ago today. I was buying new eyeglasses and when trying on frames took pics to text my wife for her opinion. I wouldn’t have cataract surgery that replaced my natural lenses with implants for another year. Meaning: At the time of the Featured Image, I couldn’t see well without my spectacles. That explains why the smartphone is in focus, rather than me. I couldn’t tell the difference.

I really loved the Google-branded, Motorola-made Nexus 6. I still have one in the closet that belonged to Mom before she died. One of my sisters has another that belonged to her twin (also passed away). Yeah, both devices came from me.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 21, 20239:41 pm

Content Creators

Yesterday, I drove my daughter and her best friend to Balboa Park, where he pushed her around in a wheelchair. She will require rehabilitation, which starts next week, before being able to properly walk. Her left foot is painful and not fully functional, possibly from neurological damage. But her cognitive capabilities look good.

We are now on day 50 since she was found unconscious and suffered cardiac arrest. Our girl was released from an in-patient physical rehab facility on April 11, 2023. Being wheeled about the park was a big outing for her; meanwhile, I walked around, looking for photo ops. The young women in the Featured Image is one of them.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 11, 202310:33 pm

Miracle Molly

Today, an in-patient rehabilitation institute released our daughter into home care and continued treatment on an outpatient basis. We are not sure yet where she will go. The facility that the recovery physician recommends can’t do intake assessment until mid-May. Another brain injury hospital could take her this month, but there is an insurance hang up to get by. Assessment is scheduled for later this week.

She did suffer brain damage from the incident, which I won’t yet discuss specifically. While her cognitive capabilities are seemingly quite recovered, a neuropsychologist told me that she nevertheless shows deficiencies in the five categories assessed for measuring brain function. For example, the double stroke caused memory loss, diminished reasoning and spatial capabilities, affected some motor functions, and left behind lingering pain in one foot.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 9, 202310:27 pm

Canyon Zooming Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

While walking along the Vermont Street Bridge, which separates San Diego neighborhoods Hillcrest and University Heights, I caught a flash of blue in the canyon below. Someone, presumably homeless, trudged through the foliage—lush and tall from heavy rains—towards a more protected space. Through the trees, I could make out red color that could be from a tent.

I whipped out Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and captured the Featured Image using the smartphone’s amazing 10X optical zoom capability. The companion pic is 3X, which I chose after seeing that 1X, which is 23mm film equivalent, would barely show the subject. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 50, 1/120 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 10:15 a.m. PDT, today. The other: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/522 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 10:15 a.m.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 8, 202310:18 pm

Bob Dines Korean

I remember this meal. My father-in-law wanted to eat someplace different. We ended up at a Korean restaurant somewhere along Convoy Street in one of San Diego’s commercial Asian areas. But I don’t recall why we were thereabouts, being far from the places closer to his apartment and where he preferred to eat. Good guess: Tax preparation with his financial advisor, which office is located a short driving distance from where he ate.

The Featured Image—from Motorola-made, Google-branded Nexus 6—catches Bob as he looks up at some distraction. Seconds earlier, he was engrossed in the bowl’s contents. Vitals: f/2, ISO 310, 1/17 sec, 26.6mm (film equivalent); 2:54 p.m. PDT.