YouTube's Instagram-like Video Editor Features

It's getting ever more difficult for casual video-makers to justify purchasing video software when there's so much freeware floating about. But even more than that, YouTube has made available a video editor that has options, similar in effect to those made available by apps like Instagram. It requires very little technical knowledge (though moderately more technical settings are available) and only desire to find a pleasing aesthetic, and almost instantly ("almost" in that it takes a couple of minutes [depending on the length and files size of the video] for the changes to take place and be viewable), you have a video with a little, or alot, more pop and pizzazz than you had before and likely would have had at all.

The above video was shot with my Canon T2i and EF 24-105 f/4 L, and is more-or-less straight out of the camera. The video below was altered using YouTube's enhancement features, including: "Stabilize", "Auto-Fix", and lomo-like color and vignetting changes. Enhancements can be chosen that are as subtle or outlandish as you like. Although there are significant limitations as to what's available, for the casual user, it will be more than enough.

Tranquil Scene at Newfound Creek, below Baines Dam, in Gardendale, Alabama

Blue Spiderwort at Black Creek

Blue Spiderwort at Black Creek, Fultondale Children's Park, Fultondale, Alabama
Canon Rebel T2i, Tokina AT-X 35mm, 1/160s @ f/5.6, ISO 400

The Blue Spiderwort (Commelina coelestis) is a hardy perennial that will grow in temperate to tropical climates. It prefers sunlight or partial shade. The Blue Spiderwort can easily be domesticated to pots and flower gardens. 

This flower earned its name because some see it as resembling a spider. It is also nicknamed "Widow's Tears" because the petals dry up and close by noon.

Morning Glory and Leaves at Black Creek

White Morning Glory and Leaves, Fultondale Children's Park, Alabama
Canon Rebel T2i, Tokina AT-X 35mm, 1/60s @ f/8, ISO 400

Morning Glory at Black Creek, Fultondale, Alabama

White morning glories grow readily along the banks of Black Creek. They are particularly evident among the rocks at Fultondale Children's Park in Fultondale, Alabama.

More than one thousand species of flower make up what are known as morning glories. As indicated by its  name, the morning glory is at full bloom early in the day.

Clouded Yellow Butterfly on a Purple Morning Glory

Clouded Yellow Butterfly on a Purple Morning Glory, Black Creek, Fultondale
Canon Rebel T2i, EF 50mm f/1.8, 1/320s @ f/5.6, ISO 100

Although the Clouded Yellow Butterfly can be seen any year, the Clouded Yellows are prone to mass migrations, which occasions can be known "Clouded Yellow Years."

  Fun Fact about the Morning Glory: In parts of Southeast Asia, the morning glory is known as "Water Spinach," so if you're ever in a pinch for some leafy greens, relief may be close at hand.

Morning Glory on the Vine at Black Creek, Fultondale

Morning Glory on the Vine, Black Creek, Fultondale Children's Park, Alabama
Canon Rebel T2i, Tokina AT-X 35mm, 1/25s @ f/16, ISO 400

Jet Pep Has Lost a Step, Morris, Alabama

Jet Pep Service Station at Morris, Alabama

When this Jet Pep was last operational I don't know, but I do know for a certainty that it is slowly being reclaimed by Nature.

   Each subsequent spring and summer bring the foliage a little further out. Creeping ever closer, it cracks and chews up the asphalt, wrapping its leafy tendrils around this old service station that sits in unused and unassuming disrepair.

Water Lilies in the Lily Pond, Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Purple Water Lilies in the Lily Pond, Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Purple Water Lilies in the Lily Pond at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, Alabama.

These purple Water Lilies were photographed on a rainy visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. While the precipitation was little more than a light rain as I got out of the car, it was rather steady as I set up for the first photographs of these lilies near the gardens' entrance.

Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant :: Cauldron

Cauldron at Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant in Birmingham, Alabama
Canon Rebel T2i, Tokina AT-X 12-24mm @ 12mm, 3.2s @ f/8, ISO 200

This gargantuan vat is housed in the upper level of one of the frowzy buildings at the Republic Steel, East Thomas Plant.

Like the tubs and basins in a prior post, I've no idea as to what use this cauldron was put. But when I was alone in this dark building with its strange sights and sounds, I permitted my imagination to run amuck a bit, and the stains and remains could lead one to any sort of conjecture. Molten metal. Whole cows. Terminator robots that then reconfigured themselves into their proper shape. Regardless of its prior use, it now does nothing but gather rust and befuddle visiting photographers.

Hurricane Creek at the William "Buddy" Rodgers Natural Area and Hurricane Creek Park

The William "Buddy" Rodgers Natural Area and Hurricane Creek Park are found in Vinemont, Alabama. Hiking and mountain biking are available on maintained trails, and plenty of opportunities of bouldering and climbing are also present. While hikers are encouraged to stay on trails, sometimes trailblazers are needed so that lovely photographs (like the one below) can be taken, when they otherwise would not be.

Hurricane Creek at the William "Buddy" Rodgers Natural Area and Hurricane Creek Park in Vinemont

Lily Pad on Flint Creek, Wheeler Wildlife Refuge

Lily Pad on Flint Creek at Wheeler Lake in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

Lily Pad on Flint Creek at Wheeler Lake in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, near Decatur, Alabama.

This rather large lily pad was photographed while I was on a short spider-web-filled hike on the Flint Creek Trail in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.



Several photographs from a November visits to the Atkeson Trail in the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge can be found both on the blog, here, and in my Alabama the Beautiful gallery.

Crashing onto Rocks at Baines Dam

Baines Dam, Newfound Creek, Gardendale, Alabama

Baines Dam at Newfound Creek in Gardendale, Alabama.

Whereas earlier in the week, I exhibited an all-encompassing view of the waterfall that forms at Baines Dam on Newfound Creek in Gardendale, Alabama (here), here I have changed tactics.

The prior photograph used a long 15-second exposure to make the water look all silky smooth and created a different feel than this. 

Here you're looking right into the heart of the waterfall, and time is stopped at 1/500s or so to capture that foamy crashing and splashing onto the rocks at the dam's bottom, a continual beating that they endure incessantly and without complaint. Ever being worn down and smoothed out.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron, Fishing for Crawdads

Yellow Crowned Night Heron fishing for Crawdad at Black Creek Park

This juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron spent much of his morning flitting from one part to another of Black Creek at Black Creek Park in Fultondale, Alabama.

   After a while I had begun to think this heron's meanderings were almost entirely purposeless, but I was wrong. He was in search of a good fishing hole. Upon spying one, he got very still, and suddenly struck, quick as lightning, and successfully surfaced with a plump crawdad.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron, Taking Flight

Juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron Taking Flight
Black Creek Park, Fultondale, Alabama

This juvenile Yellow Crowned Night Heron spent much of his morning stalking the shallow waters of Black Creek at Black Creek Park in Fultondale, Alabama. And I spent a good part of my morning stalking him and his kin.

He spent much time wondering from place to place on the creek, with seemingly no purpose at all, and apparently indifferent to my clambering around shrubs and low tree limbs in order to photograph him.

With my Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD lens zoomed to its fullest (which can be a bear on only a monopod since the lens lacks Image Stabilization), I stayed as far away as possible so as not to disturb the young fellow. And as an aside, this focal range will probably be my next upgrade in lenses. The limitations of this model (while counterbalanced by its affordability) rear their ugly head too often for my taste.

More photographs of this and other herons, some of which will subsequently be found on the blog, can be seen at my Fauna Gallery.

A Field of Black-Eyed Susans, Red Mountain Park

Imagine that we still live in a world with league-upon-league of wide-open prairies still in their native state. While your initial mental image may include tall prairies grasses, don't discount the possibility that those seemingly endless plains could be inhabited by Black-Eyed Susans. Tranquil. Breezy. Grasshoppers. Jackrabbits. Antelope.It's easy to get lost in this daydream. And if you enjoyed that short trip in time to an existence 150-years past, you have Red Mountain Park to thank. It's there that you can find this small field of Black-Eyed Susans.

Black-Eyed Susans at Red Mountain Park, Birmingham, Alabama :: Canon Rebel T2i, EF 24-105 f/4 L

Purple Passion Flower at Red Mountain Park

The Purple Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) is a vine that can grow to as long as twenty feet, and can become an invasive species. In addition to its bizarre-looking petals and sepals, the reproductive organs that arise from the flower give it a rather exotic appearance. The Purple Passion Flower blooms from June to September, and produces edible fruit from July through October.

In addition to its exotic beauty, the Passion Flower has had many uses. The roots can be used to make a tea or treat boils, earaches, and liver problems. The leaves can be cooked with other greens. The fruit can be eaten raw or made into a syrup. But perhaps most interestingly, the plant can be used as a sedative to treat hysteria and other nervous conditions.

UPDATE: Fred Spicer, the Executive Director of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, recently stopped by the blog, and offered some encouragement and further information, for which I am grateful. Here's what he had to say: "Enjoyed your photos, very beautiful. However, most ecologists reserve the word 'invasive' to describe organisms that act to decrease overall biodiversity in ecosystems other than those they evolved in. So native organisms, like that Passiflora, cannot be invasive. No doubt, that plant can be obnoxious, aggressive and unwanted in certain situations, but it will never be kudzu or Chinese privet or cogon grass, or dozens of other, truly heinous plants that are ecological and economic distasters. 'Opportunistic' is the preferred term for native organisms that can proliferate alarmingly, and, yes, sometimes in ecologically-altering ways. Nevertheless, that is extremely rare, and typically comes following human-caused disturbance which upsets otherwise natural controls on populations. Sorry if this seems pedantic! You do nice work."

Purple Passion Flower at Red Mountain Park, Birmingham, Alabama :: Canon Rebel T2i, EF 24-105 f/4 L

Thanks goes to the United States Department of Agriculture for the information they have made available on their website, regarding the Purple Passion Flower.

Wrapping up Dinner Plans with the American House Spider

Although the American House Spider looks insidious with its bulbous body and spindly legs, it's really rather harmless and perhaps even a welcome guest, with its reputation for ridding its immediate vicinity of pesky insects. The American House Spider is known for keeping an untidy web, which will often intentionally be found to have leaves or other bits of debris that will provide protection from the elements.

That being said, this is the last photo I was able to take of this marble-bodied lady before sending her packing. She kept a web in a corner of our patio for a month or more, but within a couple of days of taking this photograph, I spied an egg sac or two in that web. I can deal with one spider outside my door, but certainly not a couple hundred of them.

The Common House Spider Feasting on a Dinner Guest

Parasteatoda tepidariorum Having a Visitor for Dinner

Parasteatoda tepidariorum, the American Common House Spider

Parasteatoda tepidariorum is the scientific name for the Common House Spider, internationally known as the American House Spider. This spider is thought to live for about a year and grows no larger than a half-inch in size. 

  The Common House Spider is not aggressive toward people. It will abandon its nest if its space is disrupted, returning only after some time has passed and the threat is no longer apparent.

  The Common House Spider can hatch between 100-400 babies from its egg sacs, which is the reason this one no longer resides on our patio.

The Green Lynx Spider, Protector of Vegetables

Green Lynx Spider protecting my Peppers

The green lynx spider, whose scientific name is Peucetia viridans, is the largest variety of lynx spider to be found in North America. This species is primarily found in the southern United States but can also be found in parts of California.

Its eyes are prominently placed on top of its head, and it has long spotted legs that vary in color from green to yellow, and contain long black spines. A friend to farmers, the green lynx spider is a predator of pestilent insects. It is not generally aggressive toward humans, and its bite is harmless but painful. The green lynx spider also preys on honey bees.

Green Lynx Spider standing sentinel on my Tomato Plant

Neighboring Morris Avenue Facades, Birmingham

While the eastern end of Morris Avenue is a rather historic part of the city (photos from which are the subjects of other blog posts, here), significant portions of the western half are rather derelict (and truth be told, more to my photographic liking). Years of long use appear to have taken their toll on these buildings. Yet the grates and boards that bar entry from their weakened wooden doors appear to have been sufficient to keep out too many of the elements, both natural and human, in the form of graffitos and indigent folks, of whom there is no short supply with this building's close proximity the both the bus terminal and the old railroad tracks that split Birmingham's northern and southern halves. 

Harvestman Stopping for a Drink

Harvestmen, commonly called Daddy Longlegs, are arachnids, like spiders, but they differ from spiders in several key areas: they have no venom glands; the have only one body segment, rather than two; and they have two eyes that sit atop the fore front of their bodies, rather than eight. Harvestmen live only one year, dying in the winter when they are beset by cold.

Around my house, harvestmen are a pretty common site. And because of the insects that are drawn to my small vegetable garden, they are a welcome site. I beg them to prey on the six-legged critters to their belly's content (which probably isn't much since harvestmen only grow to be 1/4" long, excluding their legs of course). After watering my peppers the other day, I noticed this fellow stopping for a drink, and who can blame him, with as hot as it's been.

Harvestman Stopping for a Drink :: Fultondale, Alabama