Western Meadowlark

Image Critiques Avian Critiques
1

Meadowlark-1.jpg
Meadowlark-1.jpg1333Ă—2000 1.61 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

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

Description

Another image from last summer. Meadowlarks in our area seem quite skittish around people. They tend to go hiding or even fly away on eye-contact. So I was happy to see this meadowlark not just stay, but even engage in its cheerful singing with me not far away. This was taken on the same day as my previous shrike image in the same area.

Specific Feedback

I am not sure about the oof foreground and would like to hear if others find it distracting.

Technical Details

840mm, 1/2000s@F7.1, ISO500. Brightness reduced slightly in post-processing. Cropped to about 75% and processed for the web.

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2

This is a fine image @S_Govindarajan ! I love the diagonal line the bird has made across the top part of the image. He’s singing right into that corner. I can’t comment on the colour of the bird, but everything looks good.

The OOF greenery in the foreground does not bother me at all, although I would consider removing the see-through blue triangle in the LHS bottom corner. I might also consider a slight slice of canvas down the LHS. I had a go, and the “content aware” tool did a mighty good job of the extension.

3

Great singing pose on the Meadowlark, Govind. The out of focus vegetation on the bottom does tend to bother me a bit, and a bit more room on the left would be nice. I downloaded your image and did a re-crop using content aware to add a touch on the left and took some off the right. I deliberately left the line of vegetation along the bottom to imply the tree below. Just an idea for an alternate for you to consider.

Govind-Meadowlark-1 copy
Govind-Meadowlark-1 copy1249Ă—1625 1.13 MB

1 Like
4

Nice singing pose and overall look at the meadowlark. I think Dennis’s crop does place a bit more emphasis on the bird.

5

Hi Govind, great singing pose you captured - love the open beak, catchlight, and the pose that shows him belting out a song. My thinking pretty much aligns with Dennis - a crop from the bottom and more room on the left. Very nice image.

6

Very nice catch! I’ve found them to be very shy and frustrating to get anywhere close. But I love their song, even if the source remains hidden.

I would go even farther than Dennis on adding canvas on the left – the bird deserves a comfortable amount of room to sing in.

7

Thanks for the suggestions. I do have space around in my original image, so will try them out. @Dennis_Plank: Your edits does enhance the image quite a bit and makes it less tense.