Tag: photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 17, 202310:04 pm

Rest in Peace, Santa

There is moaning and wailing at the North Pool tonight. Who will drive the sleigh and deliver presents to all the good boys and girls (if there are any) on Christmas Eve? Santa somehow got himself tangled in a sticky web and a spider sucked all the fluids and organs out of his body. Chris Kringle is crumpled.

I used Leica Q2 to capture the tragic Featured Image today. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/640 sec, 28mm; 9:37 a.m. PST. My wife and I came upon Santa’s remains in the Campus-North perpendicular alley that is parallel to Meade in San Diego neighborhood University Heights.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 16, 20238:58 pm

The Shopper and the Vendor

Artisans set up outside Mystic Mocha on Dec. 10, 2023. The boutique breakfast and coffee shop is located in San Diego neighborhood University Heights, where streets Alabama, Mission, and Monroe meet. I happened by, turned about, returned home, and grabbed Leica Q2 Monochrom. I then walked back for some stealth shooting from the hip.

What a mess made. Among the half-dozen photos, the Featured Image is the only one where people are somewhat clear. Next time, I will try zone focusing instead, rather than let the camera choose (wrongly). Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 1:41 p.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 15, 20239:26 pm

The Sunbathers

This morning, I poked my head into the bedroom and spied an unusual sight: Our cats Cali and Neko nestled close (enough) together soaking sunlight. Outdoors temperature soared to 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) on this fine Friday before Christmas. I often say San Diego has three seasons: early Summer, mid Summer, and late Summer.

The single shot, quickly taken, comes from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/325 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 11:11 a.m. PST. The Featured Image is composed as shot, but lightly edited. On Samsung Galaxy S9 Ultra, I used Google Photo’s Magic Eraser tool to remove an annoying, and large, tag from the striped blanket.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 14, 20239:14 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Coalette

Meet the one-hundred-twentieth furball found behind door or window since this series started in October 2016—and ninety-ninth from Alabama Street between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. Coalette is her real name, and the spelling is correct. Fur color has something to do with the choice. I understand that her coat is absolutely magnificent.

I used Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s 10x zoom to capture the Featured Image, on Nov. 11, 2023. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 50, 1/1700 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 9:28 a.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 13, 20239:54 pm

Finally, Somebody Uses the Bike Lanes

Dec. 9, 2023, as I stopped to photograph someone’s life belongings heaped onto four shopping carts, suddenly, and rapidly, riders roared by along University Ave. in Hillcrest. San Diego’s panache for tearing up parking spaces and replacing them with kilometers-upon-kilometers of bike lanes is controversial among businesses and many residents but unapologetic policy public.

On any normal day, bikers are few, and their numbers are next to meaningless compared to the volume of buses, cars, SUVs, and trucks, among other vehicles. So I was rather surprised seeing such mass of riders, who vastly spilled out of the bike lane into traffic.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 12, 20239:58 pm

A Life Reduced

For Dec. 9, 2023—before encountering the problem delaying new posts—I had planned to share some sightings in Hillcrest that same day. I had ventured there to drop off at FedEx a box containing my wife’s Galaxy Tab S8. For holiday sales, Samsung offered insanely generous $600 trade-in against the S9 Ultra, which I ordered for me and Annie happily inherited my S8 Plus. Expect a future first-impression about the larger tablet.

The homeless are prominent fixtures along University Avenue in, ah, Hellcrest. Used to be that street dwellers had crusty, weathered appearances; many had problems with alcohol, drugs, or mental illness—perhaps all three. But during the past 12 months or so, particularly, more of San Diego’s homeless appear to be new to the streets, older in age, or both. Many of them cart along more belongings—shopping carts carrying real possessions, not the debris collected hunter-gather style by long-time wanderers.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 11, 202310:14 pm

Well, We’re Back!

On New Years 2021, I adopted the habit of posting something every day—and did so, undaunted by interruptions, pandemics, power outages, or sicknesses, among other encumbrances. That is until December 9, 2023, when met by my browser flashing a privacy, site-not-safe warning. My SSL certificate had expired and a fresh one not automatically applied to the domain. I could have logged in and posted but chose not to, particularly being confused why there was a problem.

Rewind: Some years ago, another company acquired my webhost, which didn’t affect this site so I wasn’t bothered. But a few months ago, the new owner finally started migrating customers to its servers and services—mine included. I worried about site outage, but needlessly. The transition was smooth sailing. However, unbeknownst to me something wasn’t quite right.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 8, 20238:53 pm

You Do Know That Spook Day Has Come and Gone?

Call me a nasty nitpicker. Go ahead, I won’t be offended. You won’t trigger me. I won’t cower and cry: “You make me feel afraid”, like words are acts of violence. By the way, are you as bothered as I by people who do respond in such a way? The described reaction is the epitome of narcissism—of me first behavior.

Oh, and what is my nitpick? The Halloween sign in the Featured Image, which I captured on Dec. 4, 2023 about an event that occurred more than a month earlier. The poster hangs on the playground fence of Garfield Elementary, which is located in San Diego neighborhood North Park. Maybe the sign should come down, rather than taunt kids with the promise of something that ain’t happening because it already has. Hey, just saying.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 6, 20238:42 pm

Hey, Cottontail

On the way to Smart & Final, today, my wife and I detoured to the renovated and reopened Lafayette. The Christmas decorations had always been so festive and inviting. What would the new owners do to celebrate the season? We wondered.

Answer: Absolutely nothing. No lights. No tree. No wreathes. Instead, we beheld the Hotel’s new interior design, which decor is meant to be retro-something but really is garish gay. I know men whose flamboyant clothing would make them fit in nicely with the furniture. Say, any of you guys need a job as a living mannequin?

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 5, 20237:57 pm

Waiting to Cross

From the same North Park corner as yesterday’s jaywalker, we regard a woman looking at her smartphone while waiting to cross 30th Street at University Ave. She wasn’t the target of the shot; I cropped him away for her.

This neighborhood is considered one of the more desirable ones closer to downtown San Diego. I passed a dozen (or more) homeless folks from Meade to University. Streets are dirty, and stinky, but nowhere near as ripe as Hillcrest. Yep, desirable.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 4, 202310:33 pm

The Jaywalker

If I walk where there are stoplights, someone surely will cross the street against traffic. Nowhere else have I seen such consistently stupid, arrogant behavior. Is it only San Diego? All California? I do wonder. This type of jaywalking isn’t occasional. Every time I venture out, someone strolls into oncoming traffic.

The gentleman in the Featured Image is an offender seen today. He and I walked along 30th Street in North Park—he ahead of me and later behind. Oddly, we would both arrive at Target, but by different routes. At either Lincoln or Polk (not sure which), I crossed to the other side of 30th with a walk sign. That meant green light for the cars going in the same direction as me. Continuing along 30th, he ignored the don’t walk sign and brazenly crossed into oncoming traffic, meaning cars proceeding on a green light.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 3, 20238:47 pm

Across the Night Room

More than once, I have looked into the window of a closed-for-the-day office on Park Blvd in University Heights and wanted to take a shot. Opportunity presented on the evening of Nov. 30, 2023, when I passed by with Leica Q2, which produced the Featured Image. The red water pot across the room is the point of focus. The scene is quite busy, accentuated by outside reflections on the window glass.

I don’t know which is the San Diego small business; looks something showroom-like to my eyes. For sure, the place is located on the block between Mission and Monroe.