Lark Bunting Portrait

Gallery: AvianPosted April 29, 201569 views6 comments

Flocks of these were all over the roadsides in the Rodeo, NM area when I was there in early March. They were in all different stages of molt to their breeding plumage. This one was taken at the Chiricahua Desert Museum botanical garden where a number tended to congregate.

7Dii, 500mm f4 ISL + 1.4TC, Jobu Gimbal on RRS legs, f/8, 1/4000, iso 400, aperture priority, center weighted average metering with +1/3 exposure compensation (still had to add some exposure in processing). Processed in LR5 and CS6. Cropped from the horizontal of a 4x5 vertical aspect ratio. If I recall correctly, this is the day Daylight Savings Time started this year and that would make it 10:50 am when this was taken (I think).

Your comments are always appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on April 29, 2015 at 1:13 PM

Hi Dennis, just toggling between this and the last image I comment on and this one seems a little heavy in the Black/Contrast to me. The nice detail and overall feel seems a little dark which is, I think, not your norm? The eye & shadow areas seem a little choked IMHO?

Just my take, but I feel you often have a subtle touch to your PP which is nice. enlightened

TFS

Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 29, 2015 at 8:21 PM

Great pose & comp, nice view of the birds breast patterns Dennis.

Sharp details and the slight graduated BG shift towards the bottom works well..

Also like the RT foot/claw spread on display, well done! devil

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on April 29, 2015 at 9:28 PM

Good uncluttered look at this bird -- thinking the an increased f stop would help keep focus head to tail --

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Sandor on April 30, 2015 at 2:17 AM

Dennis: very elegant pose with the head turned sideways and I really like the way the b/g fades as it nears the bottom. Always good to see the "lbjs" little brown jobs get their due. Richard

Registered on January 12, 2014, 453 Posts, 1625 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Moreau on April 30, 2015 at 8:55 AM

Great portrait of this little bird! I agree with the comment about wanting to see the tail in focus as well, because the detail on the rest of the bird is exceptional.

When I first looked at this, my thought was to crop some from the top and left to balance the "margins" of the photo, but after looking longer, I like the crop as is. It creates a little tension in the composition, and gives the bird a little more space to look into.

Registered on April 21, 2015, 64 Posts, 584 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on April 30, 2015 at 9:59 AM

No nits. Well done! I like the gradient BG and I really like the perch. cool

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments