Western Meadowlark

[david cramer]

D300 with 500vr + 1.4tc hand held, f/7.1, 1/640, iso 400, ev -0.67

http://davidcramer.smugmug.com/photos/791641027_q5QoC-X2.jpg

[John Haig]

Ummm...is it just me or does someone have a bit of a freaky beak?
Nice shot, but wow...was daddy a skimmer? Or a hummer?

[Troy Lim]

David, love the compo. Did you use flash?

[arash_hazeghi]

What's up with the beak? Is this natural or something happened to the bird :eek: ? nice light and details :)

[Mital Patel]

beautiful shot david. looks huge for lark being seen in our region along with skimmer kind of beak :) beautiful shot.

[Judd Patterson]

Wow, David, that lower mandible is greatly deformed! I've never seen anything quite like it...looks like it won't stop growing. The low angle and blurred foreground grass/background blue sky give this one a very nice feel. I think I'd still rather have a little more room in the lower-left for the legs, but this is quite nice as presented.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey David,
Does look deformed.....but I wouldn't know....so I hope John chimes in. Love the soft grasses and tones. Very nice and unusual find.

[david cramer]

He does have a deformed lower mandible. Here's a better view from the other side (huge crop presented for comparison).

http://davidcramer.smugmug.com/photos/791904646_Lf2Tk-O.jpg

[david cramer]

And here are two normal meadowlarks for comparison.

http://davidcramer.smugmug.com/photos/791900577_zsL8F-O.jpg

[Katie Rupp]

Hi David, Meadowlarks are a favorite of mine and I like this alot; an unusual pose and setting and very interesting to see the beak oddity. TFS!

[John Haig]

Very interesting, David...I was half asleep when I originally looked at the image and it took a minute to register that it was a deformed lower mandible.
Love the composition and the way the pattern/tonality of the dorsal plumage nearly merges with the grass of the habitat, and how the bright yellow of the throat/blue sky contrasts beautifully with that.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Of course the bird is spectacular. But what I like the most is the blurred habitat...very painterly. Nice low angle. Dont mind the tightness at all.

The bird looks a little over-processed to me...sharpness/contrast-wise. Or may be its just my office laptop? No one else has mentioned it.

[allanrube]

LIke the color and composition. The tight crop doesn't bother me either. Tight crop = portrait. :)

[david cramer]

David, love the compo. Did you use flash?

Thanks Troy. No flash was used... it was a bright sunny morning.

[Aiden Blake]

Wow, the colours you've captured here are absolutely amazing. This is a very, very nice portrait. Everything just blends together really well.

[Nate Chappell]

I love the low angle and detail, that's some crazy beak he's got!

[Steve Canuel]

Since he looks healthy otherwise, I'd say it doesn't seem to be affecting him too much. Like the OOF FG grasses and BG colors.