MobileMonet HD

When it was available for free I downloaded and had a play with the iPad app MobileMonet HD

The original photo as taken by the Nikon S9050:



As processed by the app to produce a picture in the style of Claude Monet:

Fieldfare? on the Bird Table

Unfortunately only a couple of really grotty shots .....






..... but I am pretty sure it was a Fieldfare which visited the bird table this morning.

That will teach me to keep the UV filter clean. Also the 50D always seems to have problems when the battery is low and the indicator was flashing at me this morning.

What is the Magpie Watching?

A Magpie sat in a tree just past the end of my garden intently watching something going on in my garden:



It had spotted a Sparrowhawk which had managed to catch its lunch:



That was followed by something I really wish I had been quick enough to capture on camera. The Magpie came down and slowly walked across in front of the Sparrowhawk. They were only a few inches away from each other. The Magpie went away having satisfied its curiosity and the Sparrowhawk carried on with its meal though with many glances upwards to check there were no more Magpies about.

Monday Matinee

Didn't have anything ready for "Friday at the Flicks" so here they are for a Monday Matinee instead. First a short clip of Mrs Great Tit who, as far as I can tell, has been roosting in the camera nest box every night.



A little bit of video I took with the Nikon during yesterday's walkabout. Once again it was a route we had only taken once before, about six months ago.



Finally I couldn't have a video session without Starlings. I bought a tub of filled coconut halves when they were on sale from Petplanet UK. I have used the company for quite a few items for Penny. They often have reduced price offers for cat and dog food, toys and bedding as well as some items for wildlife and fish. They are worth keeping an eye on.

I hung one of the coconuts on a branch, positioned so that several types of birds could reach it. As well as the Blue Tits I have seen Blackbirds and, of course, Starlings enjoying it. One disadvantage for the birds which cannot hang on is the way it twirls round when they peck at it. At least that slows down the speed with which a Starling could demolish it:



Have a great week observing the wildlife around you.

A Walk Round the Back of the Church

Another day of glorious Sunshine yesterday so I decided we would take a different route for our mid-day walk. I don't use the route round the back of the village church much at this time of year. A lot of the footpath is below field level and soon gets waterlogged, muddy and very slippery. Fortunately it wasn't too bad. The idea was to take another batch of monochrome photos but this time many of the results were disappointing. Walking in shade with bright light showing through leafless trees was too much contrast for the Nikon. Also shutter speeds in the gloom were really too slow for sharp results. Fortunately I also took a few colour snaps.

Looking back to the start of the footpath:


Penny looking forward to see where we were going. It was only the second time she had walked this way so everything was new, strange and very interesting:


Looking back across the end of the churchyard ....


.... and forward to the next part of the footpath:


Once we had reached the next lane we had a look to see if there were any horses in the meadow - yes, three. It may be sunny but they still need their winter coats on:




I am sure the one on the right is Angel. She was the mother of the foal, Fred, we watched a couple of years ago.  Photos and video of Fred can be seen HERE.


Looking back down the lane:


Finally we reached the main street and the lych gates at the entrance to the church:


With all the stops for me to take photos and for Penny to investigate it took nearly three quarters of an hour to cover a twenty minute walk but we were both enjoying the Winter Sun while it lasted.

Views From a Sunset Walk

Yesterday it looked like there was going to be a colourful Sunset so I used the dawn/dusk setting on the Nikon S9050. This emphasises the oranges and reds which can often be washed out or lost on a general colour setting. They are cropped and tweaked just a little.











The final one is my particular favourite.

The Camera Never Lies

So the saying goes. When I think about it the camera can only record what it sees though many modern cameras have various tricks built in to modify the result. Also there are some useful programs (on the PC as that is what I use) to improve or maybe I should say enhance the final result. Take this morning's effort as an example. I had taken a few shots to try out the Nikon S9050's assisted panorama shooting. As usual there was brilliant Sunshine before our walk and brilliant Sunshine afterwards but typically dull and overcast skies while I was taking the shots. More about panorama shots another day.

This is the first shot as taken with the Nikon - a straight forward colour shot:



As can be seen - thoroughly dull and uninspiring. Yesterday I had discovered a free program - VirtualPhotographer - which can run stand alone and as a Photoshop plug-in. (Should work in any program which can handle Photoshop plug-ins). Many of the things this program can do are available in Photoshop Elements but this way can be quicker. Unlike many plug-ins which give a small view of what they are doing VirtualPhotographer can be expanded to near full screen. One thing I do like is its ability to show a split view with the right hand half showing the original and the left hand showing the modifications in real time. This is it showing Polarize Grad with a pale blue chosen to give some colour to the sky:



The result:



Now I wanted to see what might be hidden in the sky and the shadows. For this I used the ReDynaMix plug-in as it can find subtle changes in contrast and enhance them. Somehow it picks out details you hardly noticed were there.

The final photo being:



The camera may not lie but I can't guarantee the same for this photographer.