Lark the Herald

[Brian Sump]

191483

Almost common enough for the theme as a sparrow, but these are not found as many places as other subspecies.

Anyhow, was on the hunt for Lazuli and Blue Grosbeak when we came across some breeding Lark Sparrows. They responded very well to audio.

R5
840mm
Handheld
ISO 3200
1/800
f6.3

LR and PS, selective DN. Nothing cloned or added.

[Kurt Bowman]

Very nice frame Brian! Love the BG color, nice head turn, detail, exposure, etc. Very well done!

[Arthur Morris]

Perfect works. Love the BKGR and the spot-on head angle. If it were mine, I would lose the tiny white speck at the front of the black triangle that is just below the bird's eye.

with love, a

[dankearl]

The BG is mottled and noisy...bird is contrasty... not one of your finest...

[Brian Sump]

Very nice frame Brian! Love the BG color, nice head turn, detail, exposure, etc. Very well done!

Kurt, really appreciate it my friend!


Perfect works. Love the BKGR and the spot-on head angle. If it were mine, I would lose the tiny white speck at the front of the black triangle that is just below the bird's eye.

with love, a

Artie, appreciate the kind words. Comment noted on the spec.


The BG is mottled and noisy...bird is contrasty... not one of your finest...

I noticed the bkg issues a few weeks ago and opened a ticket with Topaz. They claim they are working on a solution as we verified it is not something created elsewhere in post.

[dankearl]

20210619-Lark-dk.jpg (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=191502&stc=1&d=1627057526)
Brian, I just used $24 Affinity photo denoise.....
there is still a small amount of mottling but it is improved... Did you oversaturate the BG?

[Daniel Cadieux]

Gotta love mulleins!! Personally I'd likely get rid of the crud on the lower mandible, but all else looks pretty sweet to me. I too se a bit of "mottling" on the lower part of the BG, wondering if its a resizing issue rather than software? Anyhow, cool bird and image.

[arash_hazeghi]

Nicely executed frame, might be a common bird but with a nice perch and BG it all come together, the BG in the original seems pixelated and tone-quantized rather than noisy, but Dan fixed it nicely. I have Topaz too, have never notices it causing BG issues...

TFS

[Wayne Niz]

Hey Brian

Nice sharp capture, great BG and perch, Dan RP did help, but still great pic
TFS

[Brian Sump]

Gotta love mulleins!! Personally I'd likely get rid of the crud on the lower mandible, but all else looks pretty sweet to me. I too se a bit of "mottling" on the lower part of the BG, wondering if its a resizing issue rather than software? Anyhow, cool bird and image.

Daniel, thanks man. I'm always torn removing those little food particles as it feels like they tell a bit of a story. In hindsight, better to remove.

After rehashing my steps, I realized I made TIF edits in LR after the original PS edits, then made more PS edits onto the jpg. I believe that pronounced what was already an issue, esp in this file.


Nicely executed frame, might be a common bird but with a nice perch and BG it all come together, the BG in the original seems pixelated and tone-quantized rather than noisy, but Dan fixed it nicely. I have Topaz too, have never notices it causing BG issues...

TFS

Appreciate that Arash. Yes, I agree it looks more like a posterization to me that noise. See above, I think that enhanced the issue and noted for future processing flow.


Hey Brian

Nice sharp capture, great BG and perch, Dan RP did help, but still great pic
TFS

Much appreciated as always Wayne!