At 2 a.m. overnight, turn forward one hour your clocks—those that aren’t auto-setting. I start the process early, so the Wilcox household has already moved ahead, unhappily. My circadian rhythm will be off-cycle for at […]
Tag: photography
The Cats of University Heights: Curly
Along Madison, not far from Mississippi, my wife and I unexpectedly encountered a tabby with stubby, twisty tail on Jan. 24, 2021. Name tag identified the chub of love as Curly, which makes sense to me. We had not seen the feisty feline before that day and not since.
I used iPhone XS to capture the Featured Image and companion. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/390 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 10:21 a.m. PST. The other is the same but 1/387 sec. The second shot gives a little better sense of the tail, but not as good as the photo I chose not to publish—a rear shot that unflatteringly reveals a bit too much of Curly’s bum.
The Cats of University Heights: Aisho
Seventeen year-old Aisho (real name) is surprisingly spry, considering his advanced years. Along Maryland near Madison, I passed the ginger and his owner as she chatted with another neighbor on March 4, 2021. I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image at 10:58 a.m. PST. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 28mm.
For people who have trouble pronouncing or remembering his name, Aisho also goes by Mr. Jones.
Now There are Two
Last September, my path crossed what I called the “Sidewalk Gym“, along Meade Ave. near Utah Street in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood. The padding wrapped around a tree evoked make-shift, outdoor Mixed Martial Arts arena—and space to workout whenever Governor Gavin “Gruesome” Newsom issued a new lockdown order meant to slow the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)—also known as COVID-19—pandemic.
The space remained a fixture since, with the appropriately-toned motorcycle and SUV typically parked beside the MMA studio. But, today, moseying past, I saw something new: A second motorcycle, which is change enough to assault you with a new Featured Image captured using Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 28mm; 3:39 p.m. PST.
The Cats of University Heights: Alcatraz
Along Madison near Park Blvd, I observed a fine black-and-white shorthair looking out from an apartment window on Jan. 17, 2021. I snapped a couple of shots and planned to add the animal to the series. He reappeared scrunched in front of the same blinds on several subsequent occasions but never with light as right for a portrait.
Then came the unexpected meeting: February 26, the cat romped about on the same property, nearby sidewalk, and parked cars. He sure looked like an escapee to me, which is why the nickname Alcatraz—for the infamous California prison from which no one (supposedly) successfully made a break and lived.
The Cats of University Heights: Breezy
Outside the house where Hamlet the pig and his family used to live, a young kitty pranced over to my wife and I on Jan. 26, 2021. We had seen (and heard) the shorthair in a window on several previous days’ walk-bys. She seemed beyond excitement to be outside, which suggests to me a temporary escape from indoor living.
The Featured Image and companion come from iPhone XS, which I will choose over my camera when a cat is moving about quickly or coming over to me and rubbing my legs. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/406 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 11:01 a.m. PST. The other is the same but 1/372 sec and a few seconds later. The grey Calico earns nickname Breezy for the lightly-windy day and how she breezed by us.
The Twilight Zone of Pandemic Politics
Some things go so oddly together that you must stop and regard them and wonder. Today, while walking along Shirley Ann Place in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood, a “Recall Newsom” sign surprised me; it’s the first one seen anywhere here. My wife fixated on the Easter eggs hanging from a tree in the same yard. She missed the one thing, and I the other. Mmmm, what does that say about selective vision and being drawn to what interests you while having a blindspot for what doesn’t?
As strangely as the cheerful eggs and hopeful sign are juxtaposed, something else made the scene feel even more Twilight Zone-like: The house beyond with the American flag flew something different before the Presidential election: Old Glory with spray-painted BLM. Well, I couldn’t leave without photos, which were captured using Leica Q2. The Featured Image (warning: 27MB file), which is composed as shot, shows the street. The cropped companion brings together the three elements. Vitals, aperture manually set for both: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, 28mm; 12:25 p.m. PST. The other is f/2.8 and 1/640 sec.
The Cats of University Heights: Olive, Too
Our sixtieth feline from Alabama Street, between boundaries Adams and Lincoln, is the second Olive to appear in the series. In the Featured Image, her brother Goose is to the lower right. She sits on the railing where I last photographed Lupe before she and her bondmate Laramie were abandoned by a previous tenant (both were later adopted into a new home).
The portrait comes from Leica Q2, on Feb. 3, 2021. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/4, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 4:54 p.m. PST.
The Cats of University Heights: Goose
The number of Alabama cats increases, again—fifty-nine featured in the series for the street between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. Goose (yep, real name) is the first of five recent newcomers, who all live on the same block. In fact, he and his sister Olive reside where once was the home of Laramie and Lupe before they were abandoned by their previous owner, who moved to Arizona, and eventually were adopted after spending nearly a year in foster care.
I used Leica Q2 to shoot the Featured Image on Nov. 5, 2020 and iPhone XS for the companion four days earlier. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, 28mm; 9:30 a.m. PST. The other: f/1.8, ISO 25, 1/122 sec, 26mm (film equivalent); 3:26 p.m. The two growing kittens are let out for romping around time but, by my observation, they spend more time (safely) indoors.
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 Cats of University Heights: Paws
The Featured Image of our sixty-second putty seen behind window or door won’t win awards—or even be considered for one. The make-do portrait is from a single sighting, along Madison near Monroe. I used Leica Q2 to capture the moment, Adobe Lightroom Classic to crop and edit, and DXO ViewPoint 3 to align the perspective of vertical and horizontal lines. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/1250 sec, 28mm; 12:50 p.m. PST, Nov. 22, 2020. As the shooting date reveals, we’re still working through the backlog of photographed but unpublished kitties.
The tuxedo earns nickname Paws for the distinctive black color between its toes. The contrast is becoming.
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.