Steller's Jay

Gallery: AvianPosted January 1, 2017196 views4 comments

Another one from my permanent blind near a feeding station. This was taken yesterday and the light was very dim so shutter speeds were already pretty low. I wanted to get more of the branch in focus when birds perched on this one, so I also had the aperture at f/10 creating a lot of blurred shots.

7DII, Sigma 150-600 C @ 313 mm, Jobu gimbal mounted to blind window, f/10, 1/80, iso 1000, aperture priority, pattern metering, -1/3 EV, fill flash at -1 2/3. Processed in LR5 & CS6. Cropped to a 10 MP vertical 6x7 format before resizing. Taken at 9:58 AM on December 31st, 2016 with overcast skies and a few snowflakes drifting down (I had a portable heater going in the blind).

Comments and criticisms are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks,

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on January 2, 2017 at 12:42 PM

I do like the contrast here between the blue of the Stellar Jay and the frost on the spruce. Nice pose. This might've been a place for a fill flash but I find that the Stellar Jay get spooked easily.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on January 2, 2017 at 1:05 PM

Hello Dennis, good look at this colourful bird, maybe a little lightening of the almost black areas would show more detail.

Bill
www.Billbickle.com

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on January 2, 2017 at 10:26 PM

Beautiful colors and elements. I might try lightening the bird a little.

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy Aron on February 12, 2017 at 10:44 PM

Arresting image. Somehow I'm wanting to see a bit more detail in the feathers of the head, it seems dark. The bit of bright blue is where my eyes seem to land. Cool foliage and branch.

Registered on February 25, 2011, 189 Posts, 1160 Comments