Spring has Sprung

[Glenn Conlan]

Beautiful morning with the feel of a new spring. Caught this Western Meadow lark calling, waited for a long time to try and capture a flight shot but her take-off went in the wrong direction.
D4 600mm w 1.4tc

ISO 1000

1/4000 sec

F 6.3

Manuel exp.

Shot from beanbag out of car window thanks for you comments

[John Rowell]

I like the singing pose and perch. Lovely image overall with a nice, clean background. I'd be tempted to crop the bird a little more off center and run some noise reduction on the background.

[gail bisson]

Hi Glenn,
I like the calling pose. Nice colors and light.
I don't find the IQ of this image to be up to your usual standards.:S3: Details look slightly coarse and contrasty.
I also see a lot of noise in the BG and a bit of noise on the bottom of the belly. I think that if you reworked the RAW all my issues would be solved.
I would move the bird to the left of the frame as well.
Gail

[Glenn Conlan]

Hi Glenn,
I like the calling pose. Nice colors and light.
I don't find the IQ of this image to be up to your usual standards.:S3: Details look slightly coarse and contrasty.
I also see a lot of noise in the BG and a bit of noise on the bottom of the belly. I think that if you reworked the RAW all my issues would be solved.
I would move the bird to the left of the frame as well.
Gail
Thanks for your input here is a repost

[Marina Scarr]

Super critique by Gail and the RP looks quite a bit better. You had it all there in the first place. Sometimes it's just a matter of a few tweaks!

[Rob Melone]

Nice calling pose and complementary background!

[Jonathan Ashton]

I think you have a minor dilemma Glenn, you have more detail in the original the repost is cleaner but shows less detail, for me I think there is an optimal half way. I don't find the original objectionable, there is a little noise but not too bad I think just a little NR will do the trick.

[Glenn Conlan]

Thanks everyone for your input, it is helping me develop a more critical eye. Dave Salem pointed out to me a hematoma of sorts on the birds cheek that really bothers me the more I look at it!

[Frank Schauf]

What a beauty! Love the calling pose.

[David Salem]

Nice shot Glenn. Too bad we didnt get the flight shot we were trying for. Looks good but I agree with Jonathan that the original is better in terms of detail. The repost looks like you added some NR on the bird. The hematoma on the face is the reason I dumped all of these except the one you sent me showing the other side of its face. Nice spring colors. Looks like spring has sprung, except i think we had spring all winter. See ya soon.