The central part of Florida has citrus groves, pastures and wetlands. The Eastern Meadowlark loves the pasture lands. This image was captured along Joe Overstreet Road in Osceola County, Florida. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.
Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED shot at 400mm (600mm FFE)
1/1250 F/5.6 Matrix Metering 0 EV ISO 450 AWB, captured from inside the vehicle using it as a blind
Post processed in Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 10
Noise reduction and de-saturation to the background, removed a reflection from the eye, dodging to the eye area
Cropped for composition
Last edited by Joseph Przybyla; 05-16-2015 at 01:12 PM.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Hi Joseph, nice clean portrait, although it looks a little 'contrasty', if you have applied any Clarity then I would back off, even zero, however I'm away shooting so the laptop is never ideal Like the open beak and side profile, the colours really ping against the clean background and it provides a cool separation. Shouldn't need any NR at that ISO, however I like the idea of what you did to the backdrop, nice thinking, to me it works.
Very nice pose Joe. I like the colours on the bird and perch, but I also think they are a wee bit too contrasty. The bird fits well with the BG. Great capture
Thanks everyone for viewing, commenting, and suggesting improvements. Not sure what happened but today when I looked at the image I thought it was terrible, contrasty and scratchy as mentioined. I started over again, I trust this is better. Another set of eyes is very helpful.
Joe Przybyla
"Sometimes I do get to places just as God is ready to have somebody click the shutter"... Ansel Adams
Hi Joseph, I think you have perhaps lost the finer detail in the RP, but it is also an improvement?.
Your call and if you have the time, drop me a line with a step by step ``9don't miss anything out) in your Workflow to the image, there might be something in there that we could correct or hone, as i know the RAWs look good. No rush as I'm away shooting, however I then go to warmer climates.
Eastern Meadowlark
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Like the open beak and side profile, the colours really ping against the clean background and it provides a cool separation. Shouldn't need any NR at that ISO, however I like the idea of what you did to the backdrop, nice thinking, to me it works. 
