Tag: San Diego

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 11, 20209:49 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Maceo

For reasons that must make sense to someone in city planning, a bike lane is in early stages of construction down Meade in my neighborhood going out to North Park. Traffic is rerouted from Alabama and Louisiana, as road crews work on some kind of traffic circle(s)—among several forthcoming “traffic calming measures”, according to project coordinators.

“The Georgia-Meade Bikeway will run along Georgia Street between Robinson Avenue and Howard Avenue, shift to Howard Avenue for one block, and continue on Florida Street to Meade Avenue”, explains the project page. “The bikeway will run along Meade Avenue between Park Boulevard and Fairmount Avenue”. Crews started digging up the intersection at Alabama around Christmas 2019 and are expected to continue working for six months locally. The entire thing is planned to be completed in 2022.

What does any of this have to do with our Caturday tabby?

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 4, 20209:50 am

The Cats of University Heights: Ranger

Perhaps two years ago (if not longer), I spotted this lush longhair sitting upon a roof. His owner said that he frequently goes there. Of course, I would forget his name, minutes after she told me. Even so, a really good portrait opportunity didn’t come until June 19, 2019, when, at 3:50 p.m. PDT, I captured the Featured Image using Fujifilm GFX 50R and Fujinon GF63mmF2.8 R WR lens. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/350 sec, 63mm.

I sometimes see the tabby roaming among houses along his street or crossing Monroe to visit Twilight. Six months of waiting, hoping to see his owner and ask again for a name, time is come to call him something and add his furriness to the series. Ranger is good moniker for now. BTW, he is second of two consecutive cats presented living on the same Campus Avenue block. The first: Kip. Happy Caturday!

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 3, 202011:59 am

The Cats of University Heights: Kip

Our New Year’s kitty, Gem, is the last subject photographed with my beloved Leica Q. We follow him (or her) with the first photograph from Leica Q2, which replaces the returned-for-refund Sigma fp that—had shooting experience been different—would have supplanted the Q.

Nicknamed Kip, which is British slang for nap, this ginger is the first of two from the same block of Campus Avenue and fifty-third featured from behind window or door. She looks cozy, eh? I shot the Featured Image at 8:41 a.m. PST, today. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/1000 sec, 28mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 1, 202010:41 am

The Cats of University Heights: Gem

The fourth New Years kitty to appear in the series shares the distinction with Storm (2019), Norman (2018), and Chub (2017). I chose the black and white, because of his (or her) fleeting resemblance to Mr. Kitty, who disappeared nearly five months ago. His owner still searches for him.

I nickname the furball Gem, for being an unexpected find and in hopes the Mr. Kitty is one day found. Gem joins only five other felines featured from Panorama Drive: Brick, Hawk, Herbie, The Love Bug, Roadie, and Poinsettia. The Featured Image is the second of three taken—and they are the last photos from Leica Q, which I retired yesterday and posted for sale on Craigslist. Today, I start shooting with successor Q2. Photo vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 3:28 p.m. PST, Dec. 30, 2019.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 25, 20199:21 am

God’s Gift

Rain is the forecast for this San Diego Christmas, but brief sunshine summoned my wife and I to take a morning walk. As we approached our apartment, rain returned about a block away, catching me […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 21, 20197:24 pm

Once a Mighty Palm

Strange story the stump tells. Gone is the magnificent palm tree that dominated the corner of Monroe and Cleveland, nearby the Wilcox’s old apartment, in our San Diego neighborhood. This morning, while driving by, on my way to North County, I saw a tree cutter toss down the last frond before lopping off the top. Late afternoon, walking back, the devastation confronted me.

I haven’t written much about this tree over the years, but fleeting mentions are significant enough: “Fallen Fronds” (December 2017) and “Bell” (November 2016) from my “Cats of University Heights” series, where the kitty sits by the palm trunk that is now a stump.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 17, 20195:31 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Poinsettia

While walking along Panorama Drive, today, my wife stopped to admire Poinsettia’s on porch steps before seeing a smushy-faced feline looking out a window. Dismissing Annie’s concerns about overly-anxious neighbors and their surveillance cameras, I pulled out Sigma fp with 45mm F2.8 DG DN | C lens attached and captured three portraits. The Featured Image is first of the lot. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 640, 1/125 sec, 45mm; 9:47 a.m. PST.

The pretty kitty, who is the series‘ fifty-first furball looking out from behind window or door, earns her nickname for the home’s holiday plants.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 16, 201910:44 pm

Bee Friendly

Along the sidewalk outside what was the Butterfly House—and a yard now greatly trimmed back of insect-and-bird-welcoming flowers and plants—a bee drinks nectar on July 19, 2019. I captured the Featured Image and companion using Leica Q, manually focused. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/1600 sec, 28mm; 12:19 p.m. PDT. Other is the same, except for 1/2000 sec.

Neither bug mug is as sharp as would please me, but they’ll have to do as memory markers for a refuge vanished. As Monarchs migrated South this autumn, I wonder where went those accustomed to the Butterfly House as one of their way stations.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 16, 20196:43 pm

Not Happening

I noticed the, ah, alteration to this sign while walking with my wife today. The Featured Image is the second of two pics captured using Sigma fp and 45mm F2.8 DG DN | C lens. […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 5, 20196:18 am

The Cats of University Heights: Squint

I processed this portrait soon after capturing it, on Sept. 4, 2019, using Leica Q. I cropped, desaturated, and otherwise tweaked the Featured Image—the hope being to create mood that could compensate for shooting situation. Angle to the subject, from the street, and exterior environment looked unbecoming in color and as shot. I then stepped back several months and returned with fresh eyes to decide whether or not to publish. So here we are.

My wife and I walked along Adams around Mississippi, when she spotted the tabby, window warming morning sunshine. Squinty eyes, hence the nickname, is what compelled me to include the cat in the series, despite my misgivings about his (or her) portrait. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 8:43 a.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 2, 20197:30 am

The Cats of University Heights: Savvy

I first observed this beauty sometime in late February or early March 2019—and a fair number of times since but more frequently during the past month, when being accustomed to my presence she started approaching for pats as I walked by. On November 6, I carried along Fujifilm GFX 50R and Fujinon GF63mmF2.8 R WR lens, which I sold nine days ago. Vitals for the Featured Image, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/160 sec, 63mm; 8:40 a.m. PST.

Because she sits before a building’s street number, I won’t identify the street—for her safety and privacy of whomever the owner might be—other than that she lives somewhere on the West side of Park Blvd. (That’s a sizable number of possible apartments or homes. Don’t bother being a sleuth.) The frisky feline earns nickname Savvy for apparently being—and let’s hope that she is—street smart.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 29, 20197:40 am

The Cats of University Heights: Dash

I can’t recall exactly where in the neighborhood lives this tabby. Maybe Madison, approaching The Point, but there is no record, which typically would be a phone photo to GPS-identify location. There isn’t one. The feisty, focused feline moved along too quickly pursuing something. Many months later, my memory fades. I do recall passing posting a profile, in hopes of a better portrait and identification (from collar and name tag). Waiting is over.

I captured the Featured Image (warning: 18MB file) on June 23, 2019 using Fujifilm GFX 50R and Fujinon GF63mmF2.8 R WR lens, which I sold last week. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/150 sec, 63mm; 12:19 p.m. PDT. The cat earns nickname Dash, for his (or her) speedy departure and chase—given the foliage and time of day, lizard likely.