Winter Blue Jay

Gallery: AvianPosted January 6, 2015282 views9 comments

I was out looking for Eagles to photograph when this Blue Jay flew in and posed for about 4 shots before flying off. I liked the soft light he landed in and the background works alright...I think. I would like to hear some thoughts on that. I was fairly happy with it.

Thanks for looking; any comments & suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Larger image provided for detail.
Canon 70D
Canon 400mm 5.6
1/2000
f/5.6
ISO 640
HH
Processed with Lightroom 5.7, CS5

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on January 6, 2015 at 7:42 PM

Hi Steve,

The blue jay's color looks good in the soft light. You also captured the jay in a nice pose and with a nice highlight in the eye.............Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on January 6, 2015 at 8:39 PM

Good pose and color. I like the uncluttered BG. Thanks for sharing.

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

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on January 6, 2015 at 10:17 PM

The color and definition look excellent to me, and the uncluttered background and surroundings really help. I like eagles too, but this fellow IS cute!!

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on January 7, 2015 at 11:31 AM

Good feather detail, but I wonder if the face/eye could be a tad sharper (it may just be me.) I like the curve of the main branch and the background works well. A beautiful bird we don't see in the west, so thanks for sharing.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on January 7, 2015 at 1:32 PM

Clean in a nice pose with some wonderful light. The feathers on top of his head are a little soft, stopping down a stop or two might have achieved a little more DOF. Still very nice as is.

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

Comment posted by Stephen Kaluski on January 7, 2015 at 3:36 PM

Hi Steve, gorgeous, I really like the overall colour palette, the perch is well balanced with the subject. Good detail and I like the head angle too. Depending on your 'ethics' I would loose the branch running up and through the tail feathers. A very simple & quick manipulation, but I think the overall result will be even more pleasing.

TFS
Steve

Registered on March 25, 2007, 189 Posts, 1064 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Rose on January 7, 2015 at 5:10 PM

Hi Steve, I like the image. The colors are very pleasing to the eye, and I like the pose. The color contrast between the bird and tree/BG is good too.

Registered on March 13, 2011, 58 Posts, 122 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on January 8, 2015 at 3:03 PM

Excellent! Love it as is. Bit different from our jays !!
John

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by David Haynes on January 10, 2015 at 1:08 AM

Works great for me Steve. The background is not too distracting, you've captured some very soft light which works well with the whites in this bird, and you've captured a near perfect head turn and the backside view of the feathers which I am partial to. Tack sharp to boot. Great capture. Hope you got some eagles too.

Registered on February 20, 2010, 110 Posts, 1511 Comments