Tag: San Diego

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 11, 202410:08 pm

You Can Be Too Popular

If buzz is the measure of success, Fujifilm X100VI is camera of the year. Reviewers swoon, sales soar, and an order backlog means some people will wait until summer to get one—if not longer. The fixed-lens compact’s predecessor has been hard to come by for ages, in part because of adoption and hype by social media influencers.

The same crowd is gaga for the sixth shooter in the series. For the record, I wouldn’t buy one—and content creator crazies rank as my top reason. I love this series of cameras and owned several of them, starting with the original, X100, back in the ancient year of 2011. I also acquired later variants X100T and X100F. But something about the thing being a fad—and Fuji catering to the clamoring mob—kills the allure.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 10, 20247:09 pm

One Sunday Morning

I will refrain from complaining about today’s change to Daylight Saving Time and instead focus on the Featured Image, which is the first of four hipshots taken this morning using Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 100, 1/200 sec, 28mm; 11:30 a.m. PDT. Composed as captured; presented to keep the sign in frame.

I passed quite the commotion outside the brewery/eatery located at Park Blvd and Madison. A long line of people waited for service—these were regularly dressed folks. A line of bicycles parked nearby, with riders outfitted for the road. For context: I talked on the phone to one of my sisters when walking by; every conversation eventually defaults to Dad’s decline.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 7, 202410:16 pm

Look What Happened to Odi and Friends

Perhaps we should save Samsung’s AI-driven colorization capability for older black and white photos, for which more can be forgiven. In the Gallery app on Galaxy S24 Ultra, I converted a more modern shot to color and the result, while not bad, isn’t good.

Look at the Featured Image and observe the green nose of the woman next to Odi, for example.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 6, 202410:14 pm

For Burgers, Cross the Street

Two days a week, a food truck selling—you guessed it—vegan street food sets up on the North Park side of Texas. Across El Cajon Blvd on the University Heights side of the street is McDonald’s for anyone craving carb-and-protein-rich alternatives, like Big Mac.

I have yet to get a good shot of the truck, mainly because of vehicular obstructions. The sign has been challenging, too, but I got a singular opportunity on Dec. 8, 2023. The Featured Image comes from Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/1.7, ISO 100, 1/5000 sec, 28mm; 11:57 a.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 5, 202410:15 pm

Super Tuesday 2024

Across San Diego County, more than 145 drop boxes are placed to receive ballots, which California mailed to all registered voters. Today, the state held primary elections, including President of the United States. Fifteen other states commenced primaries on this Super Tuesday.

My wife and I unexpectedly used a drop box, rather than continue our customary practice of voting in person. Annie felt poorly, and I am juggling family matters. We don’t expect Dad to live through the week. But he is still conscious and cognizant, receives visitors (whoa, the county sheriff, among many others), or makes and receive phone calls. But Dad’s strength and vitality ebb away, and his decline increases. My sister was right urging us both to fly to Maine—she from Florida—over the weekend of Feb. 16, 2024.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 4, 20248:53 pm

To Everything, Tern, Tern, Tern

During the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns, my wife and I let expire our membership to San Diego Zoo. Reason: Hefty price increases.

For example, we paid $112 annually for a residential 2-adult pass six years ago, with no blackout dates. I grumbled when the price jumped to $149. In 2024, one-forty-nine is the cost for one adult membership, with blackout dates. Meaning: Twice as much, with restrictions, compared to five years ago. Ah, yeah.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 2, 20249:41 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Lavish

For the first Caturday of March, we meet a stout shorthair seen on Cleveland Ave.—the first of three on the same day, which is more than the total number for the previous two years. What’s up with that, suddenly?

I used Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra to capture the Featured Image, which is composed as shot and straight from the smartphone; no edits. Vitals: f/3.4, ISO 32, 1/200 sec, (synthetic) 230mm (digital and optical zoom); 9:52 a.m. PST, Feb. 24, 2024. Nickname: Lavish, for appearing so fine, posed, posh, and regal.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 1, 202410:41 pm

What These Flowers Mean

The Featured Image is a memory marker. I shall explain. The grass on this property is rarely overgrown like this. But the woman responsible for tending things has lost the privilege of doing so. For reasons of protected privacy, I choose not to show the building.

One of my neighbors is in the process of losing her home. Supposedly she will be duly compensated, but what she wants is to stay in the neighborhood she knows and loves, living out her life in a house her grandmother once owned.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 29, 20248:15 pm

Parrot Posers

What a Leap Day treat: Two of the squawkers that flap around the neighborhood perched atop the building next door. I pulled out Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and captured the Featured Image and companion. Both are pseudo-10x zoom; the camera combines 5x-optical lens and digital wizardry to mimic what the S23 Ultra could achieve totally optically.

Vitals: f/3.4, ISO 32, 1/320 sec, (synthetic) 230mm (digital and optical zoom); 5:10 p.m. PST, today. The other is same but 1/310 sec. Both photos are composed as shot. I must admit that the 10x renders are as good as or better than what would come from Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 28, 202410:52 pm

Shadow Selfie

I don’t know why, but this thing gives me the willies. Nov. 5, 2023, while walking along El Cajon in the University Heights, I passed a mounted photo lying on the sidewalk beside ill-named BLVD North Park. Presumably, that’s a shadow selfie shot somewhere else.

The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 800, 1/30 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 7:39 p.m. PST. The sun set at 4:54 p.m., and evening’s darkness had fully arrived. This photo benefits from ambient building light and the smartphone’s night shooting capabilities.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 26, 20249:20 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Blaze

On just one walk over the weekend, I added three more putty-tats to the backlog of the unpublished. If I rightly recall, the queue reaches back to at least June of last year. This fine feline was more recently photographed: Jan. 9, 2024.

The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 50, 1/1800 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 1:28 p.m. PST; somewhere along Howard Ave. For commanding presence and basking in the sun, this stout tabby earns nickname Blaze. He (or she) is the the one-hundred-twenty-sixth kitty found behind door or window.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 25, 202410:20 pm

A Chilling Color Conversion

Yesterday, I used Samsung Photo Assist on Galaxy S24 Ultra to colorize a blurry black-and-white portrait from the 1950s. Today, we transform a sharp shot taken using an exceptional camera: Leica Q2 Monochrom. To see the original, click through to “Ghosts Light Up the Dark“, Sept. 30, 2023.

I kind of like what the auto-AI enhancement tool has done to the Featured Image. Do you? Remember: All done on the smartphone, with little effort on my part. Neither clarity nor detail was compromised during the conversion, something I wondered about.