Green Jay

Gallery: AvianPosted July 11, 2013218 views17 comments

Here's a shot from our Texas workshop this March. It was taken at Santa Clara Ranch. I set up this perch with food underneath the huisache tree on the right. The birds would drop down to land on the perch. I caught this guy as he flew in. I had prefocused on the perch and used a fair bit of depth of field and shutter speed.

Canon 5D3 500F4 1/3200 F8, iso 800, tripod

Comments

17 comments

Comment posted by Jefferson Silva on July 11, 2013 at 7:59 PM

Hi Nate, looks like your setup worked pretty well.
Nice work with the prefocus.

Registered on December 18, 2012, 162 Posts, 975 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on July 11, 2013 at 9:19 PM

Great pose and light, Nate. Looks like the perfect setup. The jay itself is a little soft compared to the perch - looks like it was a little off the focal plane.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 11, 2013 at 9:25 PM

Thanks Govind and Jefferson. I think the face, left wing and body are pretty sharp here. The feet are soft and I think that's a bit of a detraction.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 11, 2013 at 10:24 PM

Nice flight shot, Nate. I don't think I've seen one of this species.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 12, 2013 at 12:32 AM

Really nice capture Nate. I like the wingspread, extended foot and color. These Green Jays are super cool. I tried putting something together with friends to head down this year and it fell apart. I missed not going this year. Love that place.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on July 12, 2013 at 4:11 AM

Sweet action shot of this handsome jay Nate

I like the feather spread the near wing. Nice perch too.

Nice Work!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on July 12, 2013 at 6:31 AM

Great shot, Nate. The background suits the subject perfectly. Looking forward to seeing these great birds in the future.. What was your aperture setting?

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments

Comment posted by LeRoy Gunderson on July 12, 2013 at 8:28 AM

Nice shot! I have used that setup procedure in the past as it was the only way I could get a good landing shot.

Registered on December 14, 2004, 27 Posts, 112 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 12, 2013 at 8:36 AM

Thanks for your comments everyone, Roger I was at F8 here.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on July 12, 2013 at 11:14 AM

Interesting pose captured with this landing shot. The tail and far wing help balance the image. Nice colors and I love the details on that spread wing. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Claude Dagenais on July 13, 2013 at 7:12 AM

Nice landing shot of this bird Nate, seems like you had plenty of light and took advantage to freeze the motion. A good plan. Do you think f/11 and a bit slower would have done as good a job for this purpose?

Registered on April 10, 2013, 56 Posts, 571 Comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on July 13, 2013 at 8:04 AM

A mighty fine capture of an especially gorgeous bird. Lots of character!

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 13, 2013 at 8:52 AM

Thanks everyone. Claude I think F11 would have been better for depth of field but that would have left me at 1/1600 which I think is probably too slow a shutter speed. People underestimate how fast smaller birds fly. I would always want at least 1/2000 with a species like this. Of course I could bump up my iso to accomplish that if I increased the F-stop.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on July 13, 2013 at 12:51 PM

Neat landing pose Nate, nice job on this one.
I've used this technique quite often, lots of misses..
But all ya need is one hit

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Derrick Lipinski on July 14, 2013 at 1:42 AM

Great capture of a beautiful bird, Nate.