Friday at the Flicks - Wood Pigeon, Starlings

Just a couple of the regulars this week. There are always two or three Wood Pigeons hanging round the garden cleaning up the seed dropped by the smaller birds. The only problem is they can make more mess than they clear up.



There were several weeks when I hardly saw any Starlings in the garden but I think some of the Winter visitors have now joined the locals so there is usually a noisy session each morning as they squabble over whose turn it is at the Birdy Bistro.



The ticking which can be heard occasionally is the auto focus on the camera being picked up by the built in microphone. I must have a look round for an external one.

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you, even the ordinary everyday ones.

2 Into 1 Does Go

OK. So I'm a sucker for photo processing apps on the iPad and can't resist it when one goes free for a short while. This time it was Blender. Very simple to use. Load two photos from the Camera Roll, or use the iPad's camera to take a photo or two. Adjust the ratio of how much they blend. Save the end result to the Camera Roll or another app. It is possible to mask a part of a photo so only that bit blends. I didn't find that easy to use. Maybe need to practice more.

Example:

1st photo


2nd photo


Results:

 

or



The process doesn't suit all subjects, not by a long way, but can produce some interesting arty results. Disappointing that the resulting resolution isn't very high.

All in all, if a couple of Damian Hirst dotty pictures are supposedly worth £30,000+ then the results from this app should be worth well in to six figures.


Penny:
By yesterday morning her posh, neat elastic leg bandage had degenerated to look like a Nora Batty stocking and was irritating her so I took it off. She was already booked in with the vet for later in the morning to have it removed anyway. Once examined the vet said things were healing well so, as long as I can control the cat chasing antics of my 50mph bull in a china shop, all should be well.

(For those not familiar with Nora Batty, she was a character in a BBC TV  comedy series, Last of the Summer Wine, whose stockings were always wrinkled and looked as though they were creeping down her legs.)

Daytime Moon

This was left over from a few weeks ago:





A bit of video. I always find it interesting with video of the Moon. When we look up and observe it the Moon appears virtually motionless. Of course the Earth and the Moon are constantly on the move through space. This video is in real time, not speeded up, showing just how much they are quickly moving in relationship to each other.

Sunrise

Three photos stitched using ICE:



Single photo processed in Photomatrix Pro v4:



It was pure accident it left the foreground in b/w which I quite like.

Pic Shape - iPad app

Another photography app which went free for one day is Pic Shape which allows various frame / mask type additions to photographs. The foreground and background can have a few modifications to alter colour cast, b/w or pencil drawing. Text can be added with a choice of style, rotation, colour and shadow.  The photo can be resized, moved and rotated if needed which makes it easy to position the main subject in the frame. The app works at a good real time speed. Saving can be done in two qualities. Also, not used here, sections of other photos can be cut and added to the main photo.

A couple of quick trial photos:





I use the app SimpleTransfer to copy photos between the iPad and PC by WiFi

Penny Borrows a 'Leopard's Leg'

Twice in three days we have been to the vets.Wednesday it was to see to her teeth and gums and a small injury to one paw. Thursday she charges after a cat in the back garden and comes back in with a large scrape and a deep cut to one leg. So Friday we made the return trip to get it seen to.



Here she is with her posh bandage which makes her look as though she has borrowed a leg from a leopard. As she was already on antibiotics for some gum disease the vet just cleaned up the wound and dressed it. It should be healing well within a few days now she can't keep licking it.

Wednesday I forgot she was due for her booster jab but I did remember on Friday so that got done at the same time.

Friday at the Flicks - That Magpie

The first time I have used the 70D hand held for video. The weight of it, a battery pack and a heavy zoom lens took some holding. Even more so as it had to be held away from me so I could see the live view. The mirror is locked up for video.



On reflection it would have been better if I had zoomed out a bit. That would have made for less, or slower camera movement in tracking the bird. I finally got Round Tuit and updated my copy of Corel Video Studio Pro to x6 which is what I used for this video.

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.