Western Scrub Jay

[Diane Miller]

Waiting a turn at the feeder, early morning fog. Canon 1DX2, 400 DO II lens. ISO 3200, f/11, 1/200 sec. Basic LR adjustments -- nothing needed except shadows lifted a little. Into PS to remove the feeder and darken the perch slightly. NR with Dfine but not enough noise that it would have shown here if I didn't. About 80% of full frame with just some crop from the sides.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Diane I think you have my perch! I have a very similar set up in my back garden and am hoping to get jays also.
I like the image, however I think I would lower the brightest tones a tiny bit and add a selective colour layer on the jay and adjust the neutrals and blacks to add a little more pop. I appreciate you mentioned the conditions but I think the aforesaid would give it a little lift.

[Adhika Lie]

Lovely!! I like the composition and blue and green just work together really well! I like it as presented even though I am curious how it will look like with Jon's suggestion.

More of an ETL question on Jon's point. Why selective color? Would it work with curve? It sounds to me like you are suggesting for a tad more contrast, right, Jon?

[Marina Scarr]

Lovely bird, pose and details. Would like to see a wee bit more contrast in the bird.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely!! I like the composition and blue and green just work together really well! I like it as presented even though I am curious how it will look like with Jon's suggestion.

More of an ETL question on Jon's point. Why selective color? Would it work with curve? It sounds to me like you are suggesting for a tad more contrast, right, Jon?

That's about it - often referred to as a bit more pop

[Geoffrey Montagu]

What a detailed image of this great looking Jay, Diane. I like the tone levels, given the foggy conditions you were experiencing. Nice perch with lovely BG.

Geoffrey

[Diane Miller]

Thanks everyone! I felt it was a little flat when I worked it up. Will play and repost when I have a minute. Several techniques will be worth trying and comparing.

Got a few this morning with slightly more contrast in the light, that will make another good comparison.

[Diane Miller]

Here's what I feel is an improvement. Pulled down a gradient from UR and darkened with curves, then did a quick mask on the bird and a gentle increase in contrast with curves -- both with adjustment layers. Compared versions with the contrast on the entire image, and with using selective color to darken blacks, toggling between the various adjustment layers with Layer Comps -- a great comparison tool.

[Glennie Passier]

Diane, love the repost. I thought the OP was good, but repost is great. Nothing not to like. The blues and greens look very nice together.

[Don Lacy]

I really like the repost Diane I might be tempted to go a bot further on the pop but nothing wrong with it as posted. I would also suggest lightning the eye just a bit,

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image, Diane. Beautiful bird (very similar to the Florida Scrub Jay), nice perch, perfect background. Thank you for sharing.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Diane you nailed it:cheers:

[Graham Wilkes]

The repost is better but the original is a very good image also.
You have caught the bird in a lovely position, the light is perfect and as said the background compliments the blues of the jay.
Love the fine feather detail.

Graham

[Diane Miller]

Thanks everyone!