Tag: urban photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 23, 20249:25 pm

Distant Rainbow

I shot the Featured Image on this date seven years ago, using iPhone 7 Plus. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 20, 1/1250 sec, 28mm (film equivalent); 3:37 p.m. PST, Jan. 23, 2017. Composed as captured. Presumably, I sought the faint rainbow in the distance.

The view—looking East towards Cleveland Ave. along Monroe in University Heights—could easily be current. Heavy rains pelted San Diego County, yesterday. In response to widespread, destructive flooding, today, Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 22, 20249:59 pm

Rain Day!

Storm showers pelted San Diego on this mid-month Monday. My unofficial estimate here in University Heights is 7.6 cm (3 inches). Elsewhere, according to the National Weather Service through 3 p.m. PST: Point Loma, 11.04 cm (4.49 inches); Airport, 8.36 cm (3.29 inches); Fashion Valley, 7.32 cm (2.88 inches); Montgomery Field, 6.6 cm (2.58 inches).

In the Mountain View neighborhood, Interstate I-15 flooded out at 32nd Street. TV news footage showed city crews wadding through waste-deep water, trying to free up drains and release the unexpected river crossing the highway. Similarly, rising waters closed businesses along the main thoroughfare through Mission Beach.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 21, 20249:04 pm

Seriously Spiked

Nothing about the Featured Image really works. Depth of field is too shallow. Overall quality is too noisy. Composition is cluttered. Light and shadows contrast too much.

But busyness also shows off Southern California climate and diversity: The funny spiked thing, maple leaves, palm trees, sunny skies and wide street—on Dec. 17, 2023. The photo also reminds that even a premiere full-frame camera, Leica Q2, will produce a shot someone might presume comes from a smartphone’s small sensor.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 17, 202410:08 pm

Is the Bird in Hand Better?

Earlier today, Galaxy S24 Ultra launched. Unfortunately, rumors were right. Samsung replaced the 10x optical zoom with 5x; the previous reach remains available, synthetically: artificial intelligence plus 115mm (film equivalent) optical lens and software.

That 230mm (film equivalent) telephoto set apart the two previous Ultras—S22 and S23—from Apple and Google flagships. But the f/4.9 aperture really limited low-light shots at 10x. I hoped for something much better. I am not jumping jacks with excitement over S24 Ultra’s f/3.4 at 5x, particularly when iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro are f/2.8.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 16, 20249:32 pm

What the Devil?

Neither Bing nor Google search could identify the symbol in the Featured Image. ChatGPT-powered Microsoft Copilot came up with nothing, too. So much for the intelligence portion of AI.

Continuing the investigation, I stuck with Copilot, wondering if perhaps a crop that included phone number and symbol would identify something. Part of the response: “If you can provide the complete number or more context, I might be able to assist you further”. So I sent the entire photo with text “more context as required”.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 14, 20249:52 pm

‘Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution’

These posters suddenly are all about my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. Ah, do these people not know the killing machine that is communism? I did some quick Googling this evening seeking an answer.

Marking a century since the 1917 revolution, Wall Street Journal published, on Nov. 6, 2017: “100 Years of Communism—and 100 Million Dead“. Dek: “The Bolshevik plague that began in Russia was the greatest catastrophe in human history”. Same year, October 28, from Cato Institute: “100 Years of Communism: Death and Deprivation“.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 13, 20249:14 pm

The New Normal

Hillcrest is San Diego’s gay neighborhood—and I don’t mean happy. Judging by the many miserable-looking homeless folks sprawled across sidewalks, gay describes something other than disposition.

Rainbow flags are everywhere. During June, some fire hydrants are similarly repainted. An inclusive church presents each color on its own door. So I shouldn’t have been so surprised, today, to find a new manifestation: Rainbow crosswalk—and more. There are two. In succession. One is the straight color motif, and the other adds the trans flag. Depending on your opinion about this kind of thing, the colored crosswalks are either appropriately, or ironically, placed at Normal Street.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 8, 202410:25 pm

The Vine Wall

Several properties in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights are undergoing or have undergone major renovations lasting years. Some started before or during SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 lockdowns. Post-pandemic, construction delays, increased building costs, and lingering supply shortages could explain why these projects take so long.

Today, I stopped to gawk at a magnificently striking overgrown wall that had previously gone unnoticed. The main house and front lawn area have been a noisy construction zone for so long that I either walked by briskly or on the other side of the street. What an overlooked visual treat! Neither the Featured Image, nor the companion photo, adequately capture the scene.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 7, 20249:38 pm

When Time Runs Out

For weeks, I have seen a sign outside one of the long-time, local University Heights businesses: Relocation moving sale. Today, I walked by and could see men working inside around fixtures, so I stopped by to ask where is the new location. There is none. Yet. Maybe never.

Commercial rents rise like insane homeless people shouting and swearing as they pull along their belongings in shopping carts. The store’s proprietor told me that his rent nearly doubled, leaving him little option other than to close up after first opening—in nearby Hillcrest—in 1974. What worse way to celebrate 50 years, eh?

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 28, 20238:33 pm

Kings (of the Road)

I don’t know why these three motorbikes were parked together in a San Diego alley. They piqued my photographic interests for being covered in raindrops. Location determined composition: I was backed against a wall; they were placed in an enclave.

The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, on Dec. 22, 2023. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 160, 1/180 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 10:43 a.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 26, 20239:31 pm

Is This How You Feel?

Lots of people do, and I hope not you. Humility mixed with heap loads of gratitude is a better way to end the year. We are entitled to nothing. Most everything we have comes from somewhere else. Modern society is built on the sacrifices of those who came before us. We are indebted.

Do you grow your own food? Drill, extract, and process the gasoline for your vehicle? Generate the electricity that powers your home? Pick and mill the cotton for clothes you bought rather than made? Fresh water is piped to your home and toilet water piped away—all from infrastructure that you didn’t build, right?

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 25, 20238:46 pm

That’s Not True

For some time, I have been bothered by the sign outside the Hillcrest church with the rainbow-colored doors. Seeing as this is Christmas Day and Christian churches are supposed to celebrate Christ, I take this opportunity to correct the record.

“Love is love is all you need” is not true. Correction: it is a lie.