Western Meadowlark

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

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Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

Another from last Saturday’s Field Trip to Ridgefield NWR. This is only the second time I’ve seen meadowlarks at this location (this was one of a group of 4) and the other one was also mid-winter (I believe January, but I’d have to look). That said, I’m rarely there in the spring when they’re at their singing best. I need to check that out. These are quite rare in Western Washington as they’re prairie species and we never had a lot of prairie (estimated at 150,000 acres in SW Washington) and of that there’s less than 15,000, most of which is lousy prairie often covered with Scotch (or Scot’s) Broom.

Specific Feedback

The background was pretty messy with a lot of bright and dark areas in the grasses and blackberries. Some I removed and some I painted over with a low opacity brush picking the tones from the general background. Does the background look reasonable?

Technical Details

Sony A1, FE 200-600 + 1.4 TC @ 840 mm, hand held from car window, f/9, 1/4000, iso 1250. Processed in LR & PS CC. Cropped to 4505x3186. Taken January 25th at 12:12 pm under bright sun.

Critique Template

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  • Vision and Purpose:
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2

One of my favorite birds! And one I also rarely get to see. A very nice capture with a good pose and good detail and lighting. Quite an interesting perch, too. (Birds must have tough feet.) I can relate to that kind of BG and I think you handled it well. I think you could go a step further and soften or remove the four semi-vertical stems in the top half. The new Remove tool in PS should handle them well. Nice catch!!

3

Thanks, @Diane_Miller. I thought about removing those, but I wanted to retain some sense of the environment. I could see dimming the one on the left, which is most prominent some more.

4

HI Dennis
The Western Meadowlark is gorgeous. I actually would like to see more of the background. I think the grass look nice.
Peter

5

Great look at the meadowlark, Dennis. The background works well to complement the bird and give the bird some pop. I could see removing the stem on the left as it does tend to draw my eye.