App Review: AntiCrop

I still remember the first time I saw the video for AntiCrop. It looked like it was capable of doing amazing things. The video showed the app doing the same thing as content aware fill in photoshop by extending the image. AntiCrop is from the makers of TouchRetouch and since I was so impressed with that app, that I received via promotional code, I bought this one.

I really wanted to buy AntiCrop the first time I saw the video, but there were some negative reviews complaining about consistency. I’m here to tell you that the complaints were accurate. This app does do some great things once in a while, but its way too inconsistent and seems to struggle much more often than succeed. Perhaps if you use TouchRetouch to fix the mistakes AntiCrop makes, this app could be useable.

 

 

Start out by loading a photo or taking one with the in app camera, which is the same as the default camera.If you load a photo, you can choose between 3 sizes.

Once the photo is loaded you simply drag the border that you wish to extend. Its that simple. After a moment the app will try to fill in the new area with similar data.

Thats really all there is to AntiCrop. Have a look at my test results below.

The images that worked.

I have to say it did a good job at continuing the slope of Shasta with just a little unnatural pattern in the hill on the left and the repetition of the cows.

 

The failed images. I recommend clicking on the extended versions to inspect them yourself. You’ll likely find unnatural patterns and objects in places they aren’t suppose to be.

There are some floating leaves and branches.

This is a trainwreck.

 

Conclusion

I had a 33% success rate, thats not anywhere near passing in school or the world of iphone apps. I have a feeling it would have been even lower had I tried to use this on other images.

I like the idea for the app, but how often do you find yourself needing to extend your image? In its current state, it’s not worth the price to see it work once in a while.

 

Rating:     2/5

Price:        0.99    

Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1 or later

The Labyrinth

I went out to pick up a couple bottles of my favorite pinot grigio from Morovino yesterday. One for me and one as a birthday/thank you gift for someone. On the way there is a labyrinth and meditation garden that I decided to stop at since I was out. I was surprised to see a couple of women walking the labyrinth in their fancy shoes. I probably looked like a weirdo crouching down to get the angle I want, snapping a few pics and pointing my phone down when the old ladies walked in front of me (so they know I’m not taking their picture.) I think I’m too old to care how odd I look anymore haha. I even got caught in a few other weird positions on this shoot. I just want the shot!

Speaking of the shot, this was taken with Camera+ and edited with Snapseed. I chose black and white because the color of the lens flare was distracting. (If you ever struggle with getting the color right, go black and white.) Sometimes I wish there was a lens hood for the iphone, but I really like the effect of the light streaking in on this one.

From the sign next to the labyrinth:

Labyrinths have been used by many cultures for thousands of years. The oldest labyrinth in the United States is found in Galesteo, New Mexico and is 3500 years old. The most well known labyrinth is located at Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France. The Chartres Labyrinth is the model for this one.

Labyrinths are used as a way to calm the mind and relax the body. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to walk a labyrinth.

I’ve walked this labyrinth once or twice just for the hell of it and the experience isn’t what I expected going in. I won’t go into detail because its for you to discover on your own. If you’ve never walked one, I recommend it. Take the journey and see if you gain anything from it.

Pismo Sunset

Even as I look at this serene picture from last night’s sunset, I’m feeling STRESSED. I just got called for an interview for a teaching position in Oregon. Now I have a long list of things to get done before the weekend and the 10 hour drive ahead of me. So if I’m MIA for a few days its because I’m exhausted.

The good news is I went out shooting 3 times yesterday. The cool clouds from a passing storm motivated me to go out to a few different places. The show during the golden hour was surreal. It definitely made up for clouds blocking out the sun as it dipped below the horizon. I definitely have plenty of pictures to share over the next few days if I have the time.

This particular image was taken with ProHDR, edited with PhotoForge2, reduced the noise and added a subtle vignette in Filterstorm, and did some selective adjustments in Snapseed. I was tempted to use TouchRetouch to remove a couple things too, but my time is probably better spent taking care of things on my long to do list now.

1 Month In

Yesterday marked a couple of things for me. It was a month ago that I started this blog on a whim and also the day my dear Aunt Bea passed away. I went out that day with a feeling that I might catch some special light around sunset because I had another angel on my side. I waited and waited, but the sky was cloudy and it didn’t look promising. Then, the sky opened up in front of me and bathed the boardwalk in beautiful light. The image still moves me even after a month.

A month ago I had no idea what this blog would turn into. I’m passing the 1000 views milestone today. Somehow I fooled 40 people into following this blog and even more suckers are joining everyday (I’m grateful for all of you.) I also have to thank  Sarah for choosing  me for the liebster award and promoting me to her followers on multiple occasions (sorry I haven’t had time to thank you for that.)

I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you all for stopping by and motivating me to keep shooting and sharing. I’ve enjoyed each of your blogs, even if I don’t have time to leave a comment on them all or “like” them. Last, but not least, thank you to the app developers that have graciously given me their apps to review. I still have to dig in to AntiCrop, Filterstorm, PhotoToaster, and PhotoForge2 so I can tell you guys all about them.

If you’ve managed to make it this far, have a great day!

App Review: TouchRetouch

Lets start this review with the after image. Just a minute or two of painting over the power lines, pole, and some leaves at the top of the frame, and this is my beautiful result. If I hadn’t told you I removed things from this image could you even tell?

The more apps I play with, the more I realize I really just want photoshop in my pocket. Or at least an arsenal of apps that are the equivalent of photoshop. TouchRetouch is definitely one of those apps. Its basically the healing tool or content aware fill from photoshop. I’m very impressed with the ease of use and the results.

Golden Hour

The light was to die for during the golden hour last night. There was almost no need for a diffuser in most of the shots.

Bear with me for a sec while I praise a photographer who helped jump start my career, taught me so much, and gave me some incredible opportunities. I was happy to be his pack mule yesterday for his photography workshop and again in the evening for a photoshoot. I snuck a few shots with my iphone while he was doing his thing. I really wanna show you the original image, but its a big no no to poach another man’s shot. So what I’ll do is use TouchRetouch to remove the family from the scene. You’ll just have to trust me it was super cute the way they were holding hands and holding their two little ones off in the distance. It was perfectly composed with them near the horizon where the rule of thirds grid would intersect.

Go have a look at the work of Kenneth Morgan, the man who’s really helped me become a professional.

Our Swinging Bridge

I’ll share this picture while I have a few moments between all the action today. This morning I helped another photographer out at his workshop and I’ll be helping him out on a photoshoot later around sunset.

I also have a review of TouchRetouch that I wanted to post this evening, but I don’t know if I’ll have the energy.

This is the famous swinging bridge in Arroyo Grande, CA. Its kind of fun and bouncy to walk on I guess. You know your town is small if a little bridge is something you show off to visitors. Personally, I like to show people all the wild chickens that live just to the right of the bridge.

Here are a few “fun” facts about this unique bridge:

• Constructed in early 1875 by the Short family, whose land was divided by the Arroyo Grande Creek.
• Only one of its kind in California.
• Length: 171 feet; height above creek: 40 feet.

Source

App Review: Magic Hour

Magic Hour seems familiar to me. The concept is almost identical to Process (Camera+FX,) the only difference is everything in Magic Hour is polished and well executed. The idea is to apply a filter to your image and be done with it quickly. For me, this only works if there are good filters to choose from. In Magic Hour, theres no shortage of filters. There are 39 that come with the app, but there is also a free filter market where users can share their own creations. I downloaded another 48 that looked interesting to me (there were many more.)

The cool thing about these filters is you can make adjustments after applying them. So if you need to be a perfectionist and have the final say on all your images, you still can. As good as everything sounds so far, I do have one gripe. If you import an image, you have to give it a square crop. If you use the camera, it automatically applies a square crop. ALL of the images created with this app have the same square crop. I hate that the first thing you have to do in an app thats suppose to be for creatives is restrict creativity and make everyone have the same crop.

The Dunes

Today my youngest brother took me out on the Oceano Dunes in his Chevy Blazer. Hes the kind of person that has a different car every few months. For now, he has a toy that he can go out on the dunes with. I’ve been out on atv’s before, but never in a truck. Neither one is really my thing. I’ve read too many articles about people passing away out there and I see too many helicopters airlift people outta there. Its not worth the risk in my opinion. But this time I wanted to go along just to take some pics.

This photo was taken with Camera+ and edited with Snapseed. There was a bit of a problem though because I wanted to bring out much more detail in the sand, but it was making the sky really grainy. ImageBlender saved the day again and helped me create a better image by masking in a cleaner version of the sky.

 

App Review: Percolator

I’ve played with a lot of apps now and they all seem to be serving similar functions with varying degrees of success. Rarely these days do I find something so unique and fun that it literally makes me smile. I couldn’t help but smile in amazement after I loaded my first image and saw the initial result. It was awesome. Anyways, let me show you Percolator.

Percolating

I’ve been playing with an awesome app called Percolator and I wanted to share an image before I post the review tomorrow. The before hasn’t been touched up by any apps. I shot it knowing I was going to use percolator. The original is pretty boring, but look at what percolator does.

BEFORE:

Sunsets & Strawberry Fields

You’ll never guess how much work it took to create this. Its by far the longest I’ve spent editing an image on my phone. The issue was the difference in brightness between the sky and the ground. I tried ProHDR, but it really didn’t do a very good job. I was getting an oversaturated and grainy image…not something a perfectionist wants to share haha.

Heritage House

One of the buildings in the village of Arroyo Grande is the Heritage House. They’ve got a great gazebo in their garden that I always thought would make for a nice picture. The lighting today was very blah with some wispy clouds in the sky that made for some dull light. Using ProHDR and Snapseed really brought this image to life. I even used TouchRetouch to remove some gum from the sidewalk and a few leaves…mostly just for fun.

I’m pretty happy with this considering what I started with, but it needs a subtle vignette to really polish it off and I’ve yet to find an app that can do a good vignette. Its time to change that, so I’ve contacted Snapseed to see if they’ll give me what I want. Fingers crossed!

How To Get Free Apps

I want to let you guys know how I scoop up a lot of apps for free. There is an awesome app called App Deals (Free) by Appsfire. I have other apps that let me know about free apps, but this is the best and seems to cover everything. You can customize the app to show you apps only in the categories that you’re interested in. Obviously, Photo & Video is what I’m most interested in right now, so its at the top. There are tons of other categories for you to choose from too.

If you slide your finger along a category, more apps are revealed. Or, if you check often and you just want to see whats new since the last time you looked, you can tap the top right of that category where it might say “1 New,” and only that app will be displayed.

Not only does this app track freebies, but it also lets you know about price drops. You can even tell App Deals to notify you when a specific app drops in price or becomes free. If you spend a minute or two each day with this app, you’ll end up saving yourself some money.

 

 

Early Riser

Recently I mentioned the daffodils were starting to open. I think its been almost a week now and somehow I didn’t go take pics yet. Mother nature must be confused because I just read these aren’t suppose to bloom until late March. We didn’t really have a winter this year and everything seems to be coming up early. I’ve seen poppies on the roadside and just today I saw a tulip poking up already. Perhaps the garden is trying to hurry things up and give me one last show before I move to Oregon.

 

This was shot with Camera+ because the default camera wasn’t doing a very good job and it was too windy to try ProHDR. Snapseed used to edit.