Sidelit Skylark

[Craig Brelsford]

A skylark snaps up a beetle on a sod farm near Pudong Airport and the East China Sea in Shanghai. Spring's in full swing here in the southeastern Palearctic, and the "cloud finches" (Chinese) are making their way up the coast, singing as they go. I hit the dirt when the skylark, homing in on the beetle, came near. In my rush I dialed my ISO lower instead of higher. Even ornithologists have trouble telling the difference between an Oriental skylark and a Eurasian.

Device: Nikon D3S
Lens: VR 600mm F/4G
Focal Length: 850mm
Aperture: F/7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/160
Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
Exposure Comp.: 0
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100
Subject Distance: 8.4 m
Photoshoppery: I darkened up a hot spot on the skylark's breast.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Craig , very well done in difficult light conditions. Bird with prey, good detail and nice eye contact. I might consider lightening the eye a little. Interesting pano crop.

[Randy Stout]

Craig:

Appreciate the natural history info as always. Sharp, good crouching pose, prey.

The light angle here from the far left has made for challenging conditions. Despite the issue with the breast brightness you mentioned, I think you need to consider selectively bringing up the exposure on the rest of the bird. Subtle, but the dark head and body doesn't show it off to its best.

There seems to be a subtle green cast to the image as well.

Cheers

Randy