Tag: street photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 1, 202010:00 pm

Who Authorized This?

Occasionally, metaphors slap you aside the head—as is the case with the Featured Image and companion, captured with Leica Q2 and iPhone XS, respectively. Both images represent the incursion of territory, in most strange manner. Last week, a road crew etched “North Park” into the so-called traffic calming circle at Alabama and Meade. Workers returned for more letter-cutting today, two blocks farther at Louisiana. Problem: Both intersections are located in University Heights, which boundary extends another four cross-streets south to Lincoln. Uh-oh.

I witnessed an older gentleman mark the structure with chalk on Sept. 27, 2020. I returned the next day with camera in hand. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/8, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 28mm; 9:16 a.m. PDT. I selectively saturated orange, using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic, to draw out “Mead and Alabama in University Heights”. The other photo shows some of the sandblasted lettering the day of completion, on the 25th. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 16, 1/1634 sec, 26mm (film equivalent); 4:38 p.m.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 29, 20208:38 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Spur

The third-in-a-row Alabama Street furball—and fifty-sixth for the series seen between boundaries Adams and Lincoln—follows Speckle and Whiskers. At least two more Bama beasties that I have observed, but not yet photographed, are likely coming soon. The shorthair looks down into the alley at the back of the building, where also live Mao and maybe Dizzy, whom I haven’t seen since before the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)—also known as COVID-19—pandemic started.

The portrait of this black, who earns nickname Spur, won’t win any awards. Sometimes you go with what you got, not what you wish you had taken. I used iPhone XS to capture the Featured Image on Sept. 18, 2020 at 8:53 a.m. PDT. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/3690 sec, 52mm (film equivalent).

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 26, 20208:13 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Whiskers

How did we get to 352 profiles without using Whiskers as a nickname? It’s taken now, but I wish the kitty would have let me get close enough to see its tag. Whiskers is the fifty-fifth feline from Alabama between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. There are even more coming to the series, and I remain flummoxed about the number compared to every other street in the neighborhood. Concentration of multi-unit residences is the only explanation that makes any sense. BTW, do look back for an exciting update about another Alabama kitty: Pace (pronounced paw-chay).

My wife spotted Whiskers as we walked from Smart and Final on Sept. 18, 2020. I used iPhone XS to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/262 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 9:06 a.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 20, 202012:01 am

Flickr a Week 38a: ‘No Trespassing’

Our Sunday selection goes to Susan Jane Golding, who snapped this street shot on May 10, 2018, using Fujifilm X-Pro2 and Fujinon XF35mmF2 R WR lens. Vitals are unknown because the metadata is absent. Self-titled “No […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 15, 202010:16 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Speckle

Call me surprised for finding another Alabama cat—fifty-fourth seen between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. I don’t walk down the street significantly more often than others, so the number of beasties baffles me. The ginger and I met in the parking lot of the same building where lives Mercy.

The shorthair earns nickname Speckle, for the dash of white in the center of its M-mark—as you can see from the Featured Image and companion, which I captured using iPhone XS on Sept. 8, 2020. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 25, 1/597 sec, 26mm (film equivalent); 9:54 a.m. PDT. The other is f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/193 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 9:55 a.m.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 13, 202012:00 am

Flickr a Week 37b: ‘Window’

Self-titled “Window” isn’t the best street shot in the Photostream of Spyros Papaspyropoulos, but it’s the one that caught my eye and that appropriately defines his style: People, or things, that fit oddly together. His composition technique is brash and intimate—as if he were invisible and thus able to get close in to capture candid, raw, unfiltered moments.

He used Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujinon XF18mmF2 R lens for the portrait “snapped in Chania, Crete, Greece” on Aug. 8, 2018. Vitals: f/11, ISO 1600, 1/250 sec, 18mm. The image takes the Sunday spot for candor, character, color, composition, and creamy grain that adds film-like quality. From Athens, but living in Rethymno, Spyros joined Flickr in May 2008. He also is cofounder of Street Hunters—where you should go to see more of his work and that of his companion photographers.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 12, 20208:21 pm

Sidewalk Gym

San Diego’s climate is ideal for almost any year-round outdoor activity, something the large number of people riding, running, or walking make obvious. Outside workouts are more common now, even though gyms have reopened following […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 6, 202010:37 pm

Need a Lyft?

Ahead of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)—also known as COVID-19—pandemic leading to California’s statewide shutdown, electric scooters suddenly vanished from many San Diego County communities. Local governments didn’t want the things cluttering the streets. But, as life returns to some semblance of normalcy, scooters creep back onto the streets, something like cockroaches emerging from Nuclear Winter.

Still, sightings are rare enough in my neighborhood that today I was surprised to see this lone Lyft parked at Alabama and El Cajon, where sits BLVD North Park, which is located in University Heights. If you can’t build real estate in the location you want, pretense naming is your solution.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 6, 202012:00 am

Flickr a Week 36a: ‘The Mystery Woman’

Composition, light, shadows, symmetry, and intrigue give the Sunday spot to self-titled “The Mystery Woman” by Enric Fradera, which he captured on April 17, 2015, using Fujifilm X100. Vitals: f/2, ISO 200, 1/750 sec, 23mm. […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 5, 20203:50 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Frosty

As I write, the official temperature outside, based on GPS location, is 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius)—and aren’t we lucky: Only 94 F (34 C) inside the apartment. No sensible person in the temperate, San Diego coastal region uses an air conditioner; we live about 10-minute drive to the ocean but even this far away the sea breeze is fairly constant. Not today! Suddenly AC sure seems like a great relief.

On more pleasing Aug. 29, 2020, as my wife and I walked along New Jersey, a handsome Snowshoe Siamese strolled along a front yard. Of course, Leica Q2 was back at the flat. The Featured Image, captured using iPhone XS, would retain greater detail if taken with the camera. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/322 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 9:13 a.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 2, 202012:01 am

Flickr a Week 36: ‘Forever Silence’

September starts with the calming classic composition of self-titled “Forever Silence“, which Tobi Gaulke captured on June 6, 2020, using Leica M Monochrome and Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH lens. Vitals: f/8, ISO 320, 1/45 sec, […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 1, 20208:58 pm

What Else to Do When a Regular Face Mask Won’t Fit?

I wouldn’t have guessed that cows could catch Coronavirus, too. With that snout, lethal SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)—better known as COVID-19—spray surely should super-spread. What a menace that would be. Let us […]