bluejay

[Pat Nighswander]

iso 400, f 5.6, 400mm, 1\200

[Lana Hays]

Pat
Bluejays certainly present nice color and details for images. I like the pose with the head over the shoulder. I wish for a little different BG...perhaps stepping more to the right or left would have changed it a bit. You need a little more sharpening on the head.......as I think the point of focus was probably more on the wing. I think it could also use just a bit more room on the top. Keep after these guys....use peanuts.....and they'll be posing every which way for you.

[Robert Amoruso]

I like that diagonal blue/green BG but agree with Lana that moving to get the bird in one or the other would have been better. But I still would have included the blue/green diagonal. I think she is right on the critical focus being on the wing. If you are using all of the focal points to focus, try selecting one near the eye and using it to focus.

[Pat Nighswander]

thanks for your feedback.. Lana and Robert. I am using spot focusing here aiming at the eye.. I used to use peanuts but cannot do that anymore because anything that attracts bluejays also attracts starlings which have done a lot of damage to my property..This is out my back door with an open window and screen removed.. The green is grape vines... the blue is a shed... which I painted to give better dof.. I am hoping to put a log up to change this popular landing area..

[Robert Amoruso]

Thanks for the feedback Pat.

You did not indicate what camera you used but I notice that when I am using a single focusing point in AI Servo, focusing might bump out and back in which may been what happened here. If the bird is not moving, I will acquire focus, lock it ands make the image. If I am banging them off in AI Servo, I will do two or three so one is in focus.

Good luck with tweaking your backyard arrangement. I am still messing with mine to get the BG to my liking.

[Pat Nighswander]

I am using the canon 30d . Probably in this situation I was doing a shot at a time depending on pose but would have had it set in the contiuuous second fastest mode..The backyard setup is a bit difficult because of it being at apartment buildings with lots of people around and my setup was torn down once just before winter froze everything I think I don't know what al servio is.. I use the super fast contiuous setting for flight shots or some situations.

[Manos Papadomanolakis]

I really like the pose!