Tag: street photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 3, 20188:39 am

The Cats of University Heights: Clarity

While walking to the library yesterday, I spotted the series‘ twenty-eighth Alabama Street putty-tat, and thirty-second looking out from a window. Blacks are the trickiest subjects shot through mesh screen, and in this instance diminishing daylight. I captured the Featured Image at 5:39 p.m., about 50 minutes before sunset.

Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 85, 1/5848 sec, 4.459mm. I used Pixel 2 XL to capture the moment, near Howard Avenue, and edited in Google Photos. The portrait is close-cropped and auto-enhanced. From the distance, and focal length, the smartphone can’t match either of my Leica cameras for clarity. Oddly then, the nickname explained.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 28, 20187:07 pm

Safe and Slow

Yesterday, while petting Willow, I spotted a snail climbing a wall. Lucky for the critter that the Snowshoe cat wanted my attention and that the snail slogged too slowly to catch her interest. While patting […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 28, 20186:55 pm

Bird in a Tree

Four days ago, as my wife and I walked up Meade just beyond Texas Street approaching Arizona, what should we see? Scooters are everywhere in our neighborhood and nearby Normal Heights and North Park. I […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 17, 201810:20 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Sugar

On July Fourth 2018, as my wife and I walked down Florida between Madison and Monroe, I saw a kitty on apartment steps and its owners nearby preparing to barbecue. I snapped a quick portrait with Google Pixel 2 XL and asked the name. How sweet. Sugar. I haven’t seen the shorthair since. Vitals for the Featured Image: f/1.8, ISO 55, 1/4673 sec, 4.459mm; 6:57 p.m. PDT.

I started this series 23 months ago and likely will end it on the two-year anniversary (October 16). Look for an explanation why in about two weeks.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 8, 201810:28 am

The Cats of University Heights: Shine

On Aug. 26, 2018, while walking home from the grocery store, my wife and I passed by what is the series‘ thirty-first window watcher looking out on Tyler Street. While I shot several portraits using Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens, Annie urged me to move along. Someone working behind a backyard closed fence on the property poked out several times—and unhappily, she said. Rudely, I held fast until capturing the moment.

Vitals for the Featured Image: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/180 sec, 50mm; 9:50 a.m. PDT. I nickname the pretty putty Shine for no particular reason other than it feels appropriate.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 6, 20186:41 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Honey

Something like nine months ago, I caught fleeting glimpse of a calico going into an apartment courtyard, up to a second floor landing and being let inside a door. I missed the moment, which returned on Aug. 16, 2018. The shorthair hung outside the building—and not visibly for just the one day that week but several. I seized the first opportunity, as my wife and I carried home groceries, and let alone the kitty on the others.

Earning nickname Honey, the beastie is the twenty-seventh sighted along Alabama Street. As we greeted, and I snapped portraits, No. 11, Cal, looked down from an open window. I shot the Featured Image and the first companion using Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Vitals: f/4.8, ISO 200, 1/180 sec, 50mm; 9:12 a.m. PDT. The other is same except for 1/250 shutter speed and 9:10 a.m. timestamp.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 27, 20182:11 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Night

In the same multi-unit property where live Luci, Maeven, and Peso—all of which get some outdoor time—another feline frequently looks through a screen. I nickname the blackie Night for color and, to be ironic, seeing her (or him) during daylight. Night has the distinction of being the thirtieth window watcher featured since the series started in October 2016.

Rarely a day passes that I don’t see Night when walking by the property. Of the several portraits taken over several weeks, I chose as Featured Image one captured, using Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens, on Aug. 3, 2018 at 6:34 p.m. PDT. Vitals: f/3.4, ISO 200, 1/90 sec, 50mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 22, 201812:26 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Amazon

What is it with kitties and boxes, whether within or on top? I must ask after seeing a Tuxedo sleeping on a cardboard carrier early evening, yesterday, along Louisiana between El Cajon and Meade. If you recognize the logo, the nickname for the shorthair is obvious—or should I have chosen Prime instead, playing off location and retailer? For the first three portraits, which I haven’t processed, Amazon slept. But for the fourth, the cat turned up his (or her) head after the shutter clicked.

I spent an unusually long time editing the Featured Image, captured at 6:55 p.m. PDT using Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. The setting sun shone on the wall above and shadows cast on Amazon below. In post-production, I drew out the highlights and whites, while desaturating color— changes fitting for setting mood (given time of day) and location. I chose not to boost exposure but preserve natural light of dusk. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/125 sec, 50mm (EXIF wrongly states f/3.4). Crop is about 100 percent.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 19, 201811:21 am

The Cats of University Heights: Poise

Along New Jersey, where it intersects Meade and Monroe before Arch and parallel to Maryland, I met a fine tabby on June 30, 2017. I dscovered several portraits of the cat nicknamed Poise, like recently-profiled Prim, when archiving data from 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Touchbar. About two months ago, Google Pixelbook replaced the Apple as my primary PC.

I captured the Featured Image at 7:33 p.m. PDT, using Leica Q. Vitals: f/3.2, ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 28mm.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 17, 20188:24 pm

Finally! A Good Use for the Shopping Mall’s Vacant Anchor Store

Today’s Westfield Mission Valley visit offered up something even more surprising than seeing our first FlixBus. My wife suggested walking around the perimeter of the empty store where once was Macy’s—so we could be more in shade than sun. But turning from the parking lot side back towards the mall proper, we encountered police tape blocking off the area in shadows. Then we came upon the sign that is the Featured Image.

Think of all that empty square-footage an anchor department store leaves behind for SWAT to do God knows what—and he ain’t telling me—to prepare for incidents involving terrorists, Twitter rumormongers, or Trump-haters (of which there are too many in San Diego). Perhaps the police practiced hostage negotiation and rescue tactics. But all seemed quiet when Anne and I meandered by.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 17, 20187:09 pm

‘On the Bus, That’s Where We’re Ridin’

I feel the generational gap, after spotting my first FlixBus this afternoon. Half-decade ago, I would have written about the company’s start and followed its progress—like so many other wannabe tech and social-behavior disruptors seeking to win over Millennial minds and money.

Bright, bold green and orange buses, mobile app to schedule or pay, on-board Wi-Fi, and budget-friendly pricing scream cool, cost-consciousness for the connected generation—among which car ownership is more Scarlet Letter than merit badge of adulthood.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 16, 20185:51 pm

Hello, Mini

What a strange place to find a classic: Carport along a nearby alley. So which of my neighbors has been hiding this lovely? With no license plate. Apparently good condition. Cool color. Best of all: Steering wheel on the right side! It’s a British beauty.

Had there been a license plate—out of respect for the owner’s privacy—I wouldn’t have stopped to capture the moment. No identifying information encouraged me to take license (ah, hum, dumb pun) with Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens.