This Western Meadowlark was sitting in some branches in a wildlife refuge near Lacey, Washington. It was a beautiful day considering all the snow we had over the last week.
This is a very large crop; 25% of full frame cropped vertically.
Iso-500, 500 mm f5.6 PF with 1.4 extender equaling 700 mm, F8, 1600th, handheld, taken at 9:15 AM in very nice light, DxO photo lab, Adobe camera raw 11.2, Topaz Adjust, TK Sharpening Action at 10%
You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
Hi David and I want to let you know that I think this is one outstanding photo. I don’t believe you said whether you use a tripod, I just think the sharpness on this is outstanding considering the long focal length. I also like the crop, the colors are very vibrant. Excellent pose. Well I couldn’t come up with a single thing I didn’t like. Nice work.
Very nice, David. I like the pose and perch a lot.
This is also very good news. They’ve been on areas of the fort for years and there’s another colony down in my neck of the woods that has grown considerably since we’ve been restoring the prairies, but this is the first I’ve heard of them on the refuge.
Love the perch and the profile POV. Techs are spot on, large version tack sharp. Would have been awesome had you caught it with it’s head cocked back belting out that infamous Meadowlark call.
The crop held up really well to my eyes,
The large version seems a bit soft but so do mine when I post them, not sure why?
Getting one in the open calling on a nice perch is so difficult, way to go…
Beautiful bird in beautiful light. I like the perch and background a lot. Image quality has definitely taken a hit from the large crop, and I think I see some cloning artifacts underneath the bird’s tail and behind the perch? I think you could loosen the crop a bit, include a bit more of the perch below (perhaps to where the two pieces of the perch converge), and improve the image quality.
