Grey Jay

Gallery: AvianPosted January 19, 2012148 views5 comments

Was wandering looking for martens when this grey jay perched kindly right in front of Mt Assiniboine (British Columbia/Alberta border). They are one of my favorite north american birds. They are super cute and puffy and at first very curious but leave once they loose interest. Its almost as if they flew in to greet you.

I usually stick to taking pics of larger wildlife and not very experienced with bird photography. Any thoughts/help on the image are greatly appreciated.

Nikon D5000,70-300 VR @ 70mm, f10, 1/640, iso 800.
Cropped, mostly from the top.
Anand

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 19, 2012 at 10:39 PM

Very interesting and this is one of those were you really need to look at the larger image to appreciate it. I like seeing bird habitat/landscape image and the jay has some good detail. I might consider a smaller crop to emphasize the bird more, maybe crop just above the tree branches from the top and crop from the right to the small branch just showing in the bottom of the frame. This would show the jay more and still show the harsh environment and mountain background that this jay lives in.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on January 20, 2012 at 3:35 AM

Thanks for the suggestion Jim, makes perfect sense, particularly for web posting. Still I dont have the heart to crop such the pretty peak

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Luca Mussato on January 20, 2012 at 3:00 PM

yes indeed this need to be looked in large format. even if it is interesting to show the environment that surrounds the main subject, in this case it makes the latter too small. the suggested cropped could work well to emphasize the Jay. Also, but it could be wrong, darken a bit the BG and lighten the bird could help to make it pops.

Cheers, Luca

Registered on November 14, 2006, 118 Posts, 855 Comments

Comment posted by dan elster on January 20, 2012 at 6:38 PM

I'm torn on this. I love your idea and the background is spectacular. I think the subject does get a bit lost in the busy branch.

Registered on September 23, 2005, 299 Posts, 2443 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on January 21, 2012 at 8:44 AM

I like what you have attempted in this photo. But, for me the jay is almost lost in the tangle of branches, and the small size. I would also suggest a tighter crop. IMHO you have more than enough BG to crop tighter and still have enough of the environment showing. I agree, these are neat birds. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments