Crested lark | Morning song

[Hayath Mohammed]

This crested lark sitting on a mound with the early morning rays lending nice even light :)



Canon 450D, Sigma 150-500 OS, handheld, ISO 400, f8, 1/1250, -2/3 EV

C&C sought please.

Cheers,
Hayath

[Mike Landwehr]

Hayath, beautiful light on a beautiful subject! I like the monochromatic look, and the transition from the darker foreground to the lighter OOF background. You captured a very nice head angle, and the open beak is a real bonus. I think I would consider cleaning up some of the white deposits on the perch, as they tend to draw the eye away from the subject. You could possibly crop a bit tighter, to prevent the mound from overwhelming the subject.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Hayath,

Mike made several good suggestions the perch is too large IMO, take some off the bottom. The eye seems dark maybe a catch-light would help. Also agree with some easy clone work cleaning white areas and blending the colors. I love the bird's crest, it is wonderful and the dark brown bars on the wings provide great nature color. Love the pose and what a great moment, how far away were you from the subject and was this a large crop. Happy Holidays to you and the family, do you have any more of this species.

[Ian Cassell]

Hayath,

Beautiful bird! Good focus and pose! It stands out well against the pleasing BG. I agree that adding a bit of catchlight to the eye would help and I would crop off the lower half of the perch if it were mine.

If you haven't seen it, here's a good catchlight tutorial: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ng-Catchlights

[John Chardine]

Super. Very well done. I would like to see a larger bird and lose the black border. The mud perch may be a bit much too but a crop from the bottom would fix that.

[nancy hazen]

Hayath, very nice image. I love the pose and the colors. I would like to see a tighter crop as well. You've captured a great bird in a very nice pose.
Nancy

[Hayath Mohammed]

Thank you all for those very detailed feedback notes, appreciate your time :)

Will revisit this image and post a better(?) version of it soon trying to incorporate what I can (given my limited PP skills)

And happy holidays to all of you too, a great time to be with family and enjoy!

Cheers,
Hayath

[Hayath Mohammed]

Hello,
Here's the revisited image :)

I think I would consider cleaning up some of the white deposits on the perch, as they tend to draw the eye away from the subject. You could possibly crop a bit tighter, to prevent the mound from overwhelming the subject.

Mike made several good suggestions the perch is too large IMO, take some off the bottom. The eye seems dark maybe a catch-light would help. Also agree with some easy clone work cleaning white areas and blending the colors. I love the bird's crest, it is wonderful and the dark brown bars on the wings provide great nature color. Love the pose and what a great moment, how far away were you from the subject and was this a large crop. Happy Holidays to you and the family, do you have any more of this species.

I agree that adding a bit of catchlight to the eye would help and I would crop off the lower half of the perch if it were mine.

If you haven't seen it, here's a good catchlight tutorial: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ng-Catchlights

Super. Very well done. I would like to see a larger bird and lose the black border. The mud perch may be a bit much too but a crop from the bottom would fix that.

Went for a horizontal crop since having little of the mound did not feel right on the balance of the image. Used the clone tool to work on the bright "remains" ;)
This crop though shows the bird larger and brings forth the less than ideal focus on the head :(

Ian,
Thank you for pointing me to that tutorial, was helpful. In this case the head turn was a little odd, plus the lack of directional sunlight - the catchlight wasn't there to capture.

Jeff,
Have a couple more shots of this crested lark, will post soon :)

Again, appreciate those inputs, please keep them coming.

Cheers,
Hayath