Horned Lark

Gallery: AvianPosted February 10, 2011153 views9 comments

Took a drive a couple of weeks ago to try to find some of these birds, only to find one flock of about 10 birds who all flew but this one. He allowed me one firing of 5 shots and then lit himself. Not much around here for them to be eating with all this snow! At least he showed me a partially raised horn!
50D, 500mm, Iso 400, 1/320th, F 4.5 LARGER version posted also.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on February 10, 2011 at 7:26 PM

Sharon, I like the snowy beak, the slightly fluffy pose in the cold and the bit of horn that is showing. Not quite tack sharp on the head to my eye but pretty close.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on February 10, 2011 at 10:22 PM

I really like the image. Great comp. color and dof.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Mauro Pasquero on February 11, 2011 at 6:11 AM

Neat shot, Sharon, May be a bit soft but very lovely !
Mauro

Registered on January 21, 2010, 650 Posts, 2500 Comments

Comment posted by Karen Summers on February 11, 2011 at 6:16 AM

lovely colour against the snow head does look soft though

Registered on December 3, 2009, 83 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on February 11, 2011 at 7:51 AM

A tough species to get close to. I like the setting a lot Sharon. Nice look from the bird too. I agree that the head is soft.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on February 11, 2011 at 5:26 PM

Plump little guy, isn't he? I've never seen one. Nice job in all that white.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Maurizio De Vita on February 11, 2011 at 5:40 PM

Nice proof of your exposure and compositing skills! Beautiful bird, too! I agree with the others about the relative softness of the head, though I understand the bird didn't give you enough time to experiment with the parameters. It seems like the point of focus falls on the shoulder, those long lenses have such a shallow depth of field! All considered is clearly a winner, it catches the eye and hold it inside the frame. Brava!

Registered on August 26, 2008, 11 Posts, 66 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on February 11, 2011 at 9:07 PM

Beautiful simplicity!

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on February 12, 2011 at 1:54 PM

Sharon,
I agree about the softness of the head but I love everything else about this image.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments