Tag: San Diego

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 30, 20229:59 pm

Comic-Con’s Crazy COVID Conniption

To close out the month, and first half of the year, we connect the somewhat distant past with the not-so-far-off future. San Diego Comic Con returns July 21-24, 2022 with Preview Night on the 20th. The show floor, or break-out sessions, will look nothing like the Featured Image, taken seven years ago.

SDCC apparently didn’t get the memo that SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 is endemic and no longer pandemic. Locally, people move freely about without being required to wear masks, be tested, or verify vax status. Based on the official tally, the cumulative-calculated case fatality rate in San Diego County is 0.64 percent. Meaning: Your chance of surviving Coronavirus is better than 99 percent, while more than 85 percent of those infected likely show no symptoms.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 28, 202210:35 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Pan

On the same property where nearly six years ago appeared the series‘ fourth and fifth felines—Skull and Biscuit—another surprised me on June 8, 2022. The Featured Image, taken with iPhone 13 Pro, shows still posture that made me think statue. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/881 sec, 77mm; 4:50 p.m. PDT.

Only later did the animal move and, briefly, turn my way—long enough for a portrait using Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 4:53 p.m.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 26, 20229:17 pm

Grow Your Own

Along the fence of the house from which grapevines draped over the sidewalk (August 2021), today I saw something unexpected and presumably quite new—as the Featured Image and companions reveal. Little lending libraries with books are all over my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights (Examples: One, Two, Three, Four). But this is the first seen sharing seeds. Small supply there may be but hopefully growing. I know. I know.

Vitals: f/4, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 6:24 p.m. PDT. The trio comes from Leica Q2, and this one is composed as captured. I chose the angled view to diminish glare and reflection off the glass.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 25, 20229:17 pm

Table Creature

Three minutes before sunset, 7:57 p.m. PDT, I came across a discarded table that piqued my interest, because the thing reminded me of an animal. You disagree? Be a kid for 10 seconds, put on your seeking-creatures-in-the-clouds mind, and take another gander.

The clinical term for finding animals, faces, and the like in clouds or other objects is Pareidolia. I’m not sure that applies to this table, for which no specific beast comes to my mind. Rather, I see something inanimate that could come to movement, when looking at the spacing of the legs and what could be a head sticking from the flat board body.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 23, 20229:03 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Chocolate

Hey, that’s not Paws. Same window, different kitty. I shot portraits using Leica Q2 and iPhone 13 Pro, but the Featured Image comes from the cellular device; telephoto lens and 95-percent post-production crop wins the day. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/622 sec, 77mm; 1:56 p.m. PDT, May 28, 2022.

The ninety-fourth feline found behind glass and/or screen earns nickname Chocolate for fur colors. She (or he) is a Snowshoe like Willow, yes?

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 22, 202212:29 am

False Horizon

To mark the first day of Summer, last night I stood outside my apartment and pointed Leica Q2 towards the setting sun. Scattered clouds caught my attention, set against a view rapidly changing as existing homeowners and investors build new structures—smaller within backyards, larger replacing homes destroyed to make way for multiple-unit residences.

In post-production, I throttled up dehaze setting and punched blacks, highlights, and shadows to produce the Featured Image, which is composed as shot. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 100, 1/80 sec, 28mm; 7:53 p.m., or eight minutes before sunset.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 20, 202210:20 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Arrow

In the driveway where I met Peohe in December 2017, a tabby appeared on April 25, 2022. He (or she) presumably belongs to the family that purchased the property sometime during the first two years of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 restrictions.

I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image and companion. f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/1488 sec, 77mm; 9:56 a.m. PDT. The other is same but 1/645 sec. Location: Mississippi Street, some place between El Cajon Blvd and University Avenue (I know where but won’t say).

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 19, 202210:21 pm

Juneteenth is a Terrible Name

The second celebrated Federal Holiday of the oddly-named Juneteenth is nearly over as I write. Oh, remembering the less formally-designated but also wide-celebrated: Happy Father’s Day to all the dads. My fingers are crossed that you’re happy being one and that the kids share the same sentiment.

Back to the other, the name unruly rolls off the tongue, doesn’t at all tell anyone what the celebration is for, and—go ahead and argue—poorly respects what the holiday represents. Quickly: On June 19, 1865, the Union Army rode into Galveston, Texas and announced the end of black slavery. Emancipation deserves better.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 18, 20229:37 pm

The Pusher and the Biker

Four days ago, I came across Chris Gampat‘s The Phoblographer commentary “Manual Mode Is Overrated: A Popular, Unpopular Opinion“. Conceding that I am amateur at best, my tendency is to shoot semi-automatic by presetting aperture and fiddling with other settings only when necessity arises.

Chris tramps through several examples of missed opportunities. From the lede paragraph: “You raise the camera to shoot, very sure that you’ve got the decisive moment. But when you chimp the LCD screen, you notice the screen is pure white. Because you were in manual mode, your camera couldn’t adapt and you lost the moment. Had the camera been constantly adjusting the exposure itself, you would’ve probably captured the moment”. Okay, I might have some experience with that.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 17, 20229:48 pm

Missed Moment

This is not the photo you are meant to see. I failed to capture the right one for you. Please accept my apologies for being too stunned and too slow to get either camera or handset out before opportunity passed. Lesson learned; I need to practice my draw, so to speak, like a gunslinger of old—or modern-era concealed carrier.

While walking along Monroe Avenue this morning, close to 10 a.m. PDT, two police cruisers, their lights flashing, slowly approached from the East. They trailed the lame-legged coyote that some locals call Notorious. My wife and I first saw him along Louisiana on Sept. 8, 2021, date of the Featured Image. Sadly. Honestly, there should have been enough time for me to get off a quick shot of Notorious, if not the cop cars.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 16, 20229:23 pm

Dinosaur Descendants

We fly back to Aug. 3, 2004, joining seals and swimmers. I used Nikon D70 and 70mm-300mm lens to capture the Featured Image, which is composed as shot. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/1600 sec, 300mm; 3:17 p.m. PDT.

There is something oh-so prehistoric about pelicans, and by studying them you can perceive how they are descended from dinosaurs. Meaning: The extinct animals are more aviary and than reptile.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 15, 202210:23 pm

Teachable Murals

If there were alternate realities, in another my wife and I would have purchased what we call the Schoolhouse nearly five years ago. Location, nearby Alice Birney Elementary, was one of the appealing attributes—that and misguided speculation San Diego would never allow any type of overdevelopment nearby the kids.

A block-long, multi-residence high-rise is under construction across from the school and SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 restrictions kept away students for more than a year. Both are ambience-killers. We’re better off with the decision made in this reality.