My definition of expert is "someone from out-of-town." So in this case I guess that makes me one of those.
She does have that mottled look of darker and lighter back and cushion feathers. Normally that goes away when they get older, especially after their first adult moult. As far as being darker or lighter, I have won best Ameraucana bantam an an ABC National on a bird darker than this one. I do prefer the lighter shades, but that makes it more difficult to achieve the desired amount of black in the tail and flight feathers. The standard does call for the lighter shades to be preferred in females, but this one looks to be pretty good in other respects, so I would certainly not cull her based on her coloring alone.