Color Accent Studio Pro (Mac)

The Color Accent Studio Pro app for the Mac has been on sale in the Mac App Store at £7.99 but at the time of writing and for a short while it is a free download. This app just does one job - colour popping. On loading an image it is presented as a greyscale picture. Then it is a question of going over the area where you want the original colour to appear. Besides that you can select your own colours to add to the picture. The result is saved as a png file. I haven't found a list of which import file formats it can handle. My test photo was a jpg.

One quick example which must have taken me all of 20 seconds to produce:

Original:

Popped:


This app is at v1.0 and for me there needs to be at least three additions to make it worth anything like the original asking price:
1) ability to crop
2) adjustment for brightness & contrast
2) choice of saved formats

Macro on Monday - Guess What

A full  house with congratulations and virtual Midmarsh Gold Stars to Adrian, Glo, Wilma, TexWisGirl, Ragged Robin and ImaBurdie who all correctly identified the close shot of an orchid - one of my phalaenopsis plants which has started flowering again.

   

Let's see how many can puzzle out this one.
Guess What:


Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.
No prizes. Just for fun and maybe a virtual Midmarsh Gold or Silver Star.

Spring is on its Way

Although the temp was about 3C with hazy sunlight I decided we would wend our way through the back of the village churchyard. Hopefully the Snowdrops and Winter Aconite would be in bloom and easier to photograph. I usually go on really sunny days but that tends to wash out the colours.

We were both well wrapped up as the gentle breeze made it feel more like 1C. As soon as we reached the back of the churchyard there were plenty of clumps of Snowdrops to be seen:









When we neared the front path the Winter Aconite patch came in to view:



Unfortunately they were already past their best:



But still great to see signs of plant life emerging as we near Spring.

All photos taken with the Nikon Coolpix S9050 and processed in iPhoto.

Door Testing Seller - Update

Just had a phone call from local police. Apparently there are several of these people in the area at the moment, probably of foreign origin, going door to door saying they are deaf and trying to flog paintings of dubious quality. That was what was in the large black folder.

Was This a Possible Sneak Thief?

I have a large notice in the front door which says 'No Uninvited Callers' but certain types of caller always ignore it. I watch them on my security camera to see what they are up to. Today this one was videoed looking round before trying the doors to see whether they were locked after no one answered the door. That is one reason I always keep the front doors, inner and outer, locked and at least one bolt on the back door and the side gate. Unfortunately you can't trust any unknown visitor these days. There are many reports of sneak thieves roaming our villages.

Judge for yourself whether you would want this man to visit your property:



I also passed on a link to the video to the local police. If anything untoward happens in the area they will have a mug shot to refer to as a possible start point for investigation. In fact I soon had a reply from Lincolnshire Police requesting a visit to secure any potential evidence and intelligence.

Friday at the Flicks - Blackbirds

 


Half an apple, nice and neat,
Brings the Blackbirds in to eat.



Not completely sure what was going on here. Plain aggression or part of a mating ritual?



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Blackbirds

More and more of the local Blackbirds have become bolder. Now when I am putting out food for the birds first thing in the mornings I have four or five of them come down to wait for spilled seed or for me to throw them small pieces of suet sticks. They are still cautious and if I make a sudden move they will fly up to a nearby bush. There they watch where the suet is landing and will dive down to grab a piece.

Male Blackbird:


Female Blackbird:


Yesterday I was watching a pair of Blackbirds. I'm not certain but got the impression they may have been engaged in a mating ritual. There is a bit of video for Friday at the Flicks.