Western Meadowlark

[Dorian Anderson]

Woulda been nice to have him/her turned the other way, but there it is.
Never been close enough to nail one of these flighty birds, so I'm
keeping it regardless. Turned down a few hot spots on the face relative
to the rest of the image. Otherwise just standard sliders in Lightroom.

Canon 500mm f/4 v1 + 1.4x III on EOS 7D2
1/2000 at f/5.6, ISO 640
Riverside County, California 3/19/18

[David Salem]

Hey Dorian, it was nice shooting with you for a few hours Sunday, even though the birds were almost non existent. I think these are the only shots we got, but he did pose well for us and sung like crazy. Funny that you mentioned a few minutes before this that you had never gotten a good Meadow Lark and this was the only frame we got the whole morning.
Looks good with nice details although I would probly tone down the exposure a little bit.
Hope all is well with the family too.

[John Mack]

Great calling pose. Nice perch and background as well.

[Isaac Grant]

So funny when I saw this I thought that it had Salem written all over it! Sweet pose with a great perch and background. I agree that I would lower the exposure a little and add a touch more sharpening. I am curious why you wanted it facing the other direction?

[gail bisson]

As soon as I saw that perch I knew where this was shot! I think we need Dave to put up more slender perches for the little birds!
Agree that this appears a bit overexposed.
Comp looks good. I would sharpen the head a little bit more.
great HA and singing pose,
Gail

[Dorian Anderson]

OK, thanks for the feedback. I actually had the exposure lower last night, then boosted it a bit this morning. Sounds like my initial feeling was right.

I sharpened the head a bit more, but I'm not sure how much more I can get with these small 7D2 pixels and all.....

And David, this was actually from the next afternoon. He was on the perches to the right of the road (as you go out) and so was closer to eye
level than the one bird we got together.

Isaac, the sun wasn't directly behind me but rather a bit off to the left. I ideally would have liked him facing the other way to have no shadow
on that beautiful yellow breast. Still happy with it, particularly as it is a nice view of the back as it is.

Cheers!

[Daniel Cadieux]

It's a beauty! Giving it his all. Great view of the large feet these guys have. I love the subtle transition in the BG.

[Tim Foltz]

Dorian, second post is much better than the OP, glad you didn't make the trip and come out empty handed.

-Tim