HORNED LARK

[gary ellwein]

Large flocks of horned larks winter in southeast Idaho. They like wide open wind swept areas. If one can find a road used for grain hauling, your in busness. The large flocks of horned larks may also contain snow buntings and longspurs. This image was captured in the shade of a grain storage bin. The temp. was 7 above zero in the late afternoon. We are having winter this year. I hope the image conveys a rather cold bleak enviornment. Nikon D7000, Nikkor 600mm, f5.6, 1/500, iso 320, beanbag on truck window. The image was underexposed about 1.5 stops [ weak sunshine to shade in manual mode with no compensation - one should have learned by now ].

[Peter Scholer]

This looks cute. I like the softness and simplicity. The ice, lark and background work so well together. Placed well in the frame. Exposure looks great.

[gail bisson]

Looks like a little cotton ball! I like how he is sitting in the snow.
I would take a sliver off the left.
Great low POV. I have never seen this bird and wonder if the browns have a magenta hue to them or is that a magenta cast? I will trust you on that!
I would sharpen the eye area a tiny bit more.
A very nice shot,
Gail

[PhilCook]

What a cutie !.....a feel good image .

Lovely exposure and certainly shows how cold it is in the snow, despite being a pale backdrop it stands out clearly and a nice profile pose as well, I agree with Gail about maybe a little tweak of sharpening around the eye, or maybe just a slight5 contrast tweak

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Looks pretty cold to me and the puffy little guy is as puffy as he can get :) Nice detail on the lark and good exposure with the snow

[Randy Stout]

Gary:

Certainly looks cold to me. It is supposed to be 10 degrees on Monday here, so I will get to experience it again first hand!

I am OK with the crop, because there is so much more space in front than behind. If cropped tighter from the left, then crop a balancing bit from the right, for my tastes.

What a puff ball!

Cheers

Randy

[dankearl]

The exposure looks perfect to me and it does look cold!
Very nice angle, I grew up in northern Utah, I used to like that cold dry weather.
This captures it nicely.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Gary. I like this a lot. The way it looks all hunkered down is cute. These birds are favorites of mine, although I just saw and photographed my first one last winter. Nice detail all around.