Motif-Horned Lark

Posted by Nick Dunlop on Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:08 am

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While in western Nevada photographing prairie falcons I wondered why so many falcons were in this one area. I think it had to do with lots of prey items, namely the very common horned lark....Canon 20D 600mm with 1.4 ext....thanks for looking.

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by Alexandre Vaz on Thu Dec 09, 2004 4:39 am

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Lovely bird. When I viewed the thumbnail I thought it looked to centered, but now I realize that this composition makes all the sense. I like it.

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by KK Hui on Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:49 am

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Like the high-key look, Nick!
Giving it a catchlight will make it comes alive ... :roll:

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by Alan Murphy on Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:13 am

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Sweet shot Nick. The little stems make the shot for me.

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by Rob Palmer on Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:27 am

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Looks like you and I are focused on the same shots. I like this one alot.

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by Gustav W. Verderber on Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:44 am

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What a sweet image! The flora, high-key, add considerably to the image. I imagine that the comp would work as well cropped vertically. Lack of cachlight in the eye bugs me a bit, but that's me.
And I would clone out the leafless twig to the bottom right of the bird.

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by fredcor on Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:13 am

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Agree with a catchlight. The stems make for an excellent comp.

Frederick Lat Correa

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by Nick Dunlop on Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:22 am

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Thanks for the comments everyone. If someone can tell me how to add a catchlight to the eye I would be happy to try it.

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by BrianS on Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:55 am

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Good exposure against snow -- lovely post.

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by Gustav W. Verderber on Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:19 pm

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Nick,

You didn't hear this from me since I frown on creating effects that I did not see when I took the photo. Then again, some would argue that there's little difference between using a fill flash to add a catchlight or adding a white spot to the eye in Adobe Photoshop.

I'm sure there are a number of tools in Adobe that would apply, but, simply put, you would enlarge the image in Adobe so that, essentially, the bird's eye fills most of your monitor. Then, using the brush tool on hard light mode, you can simply paint in a white spot on the bird's eye. Repeat this until you are satisfied with the realistic appearance of the "catchlight".

Again, "I know nothing!"

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by dfrench200 on Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:59 pm

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Beautiful image! Live the snow on the face. I agree with the catch light...

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by Chris Kayler on Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:48 pm

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This is awesome Nick. The little stems make it for me too. Nice job!!

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by Harold Stiver on Thu Dec 09, 2004 5:56 pm

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One of my favorite winter subjects, always a challenge to get exposure right in the snow. You've done a great job with this.

Harold Stiver
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by Steve Roman on Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:20 pm

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Very nice, like the composition and the snow on the bird

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by Jim Urbach on Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:58 pm

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Nick,

Sweet. Well done

Jim

Enjoy viewing

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by Mike Wilson on Fri Dec 10, 2004 12:58 am

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Very nice.

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by Kim Steininger on Fri Dec 10, 2004 5:05 am

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Great angle & exposure & I love the snow mound he's standing on. Very nice Nick!!!

Kim Steininger

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by Tomasz on Fri Dec 10, 2004 12:48 pm

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A very nice image. Good work on exposure.

Tomasz Popek

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by Christopher Dodds on Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:03 pm

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Very nice shot, Nick. The little stems and snow on cheek makes this one.

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