Stellars Jay at the Pond

[Chris Hansen]

A Stellars Jay getting a drink at my wter set up (pond). Early morning shot in the shade.

Canon !0D
RAW file
75-300 IS @ 155 mm
550 EX flash at -2
ISO 400
1/60 sec @ F8
tripodManfrotto 055XPROB w/ 3055 Ballhead ( finally after 20 years I bought new tripod legs)

It seems to me that it is too evident that this was shot with a flash.

[Katie Rupp]

Lovely reflection and colors, Chris. I would wish that the rock in the space between the crest and the shoulder weren't there for more separation and depth. I'm waiting to hear from those more expert than I about any flash effect. Thanks for posting.

[Harold Davis]

looks like the flash worked out great for the reflection. you can tone it down on the bird in PS. i dont think it will be a problem getting more detail there. a vertical would have worked here a little better i think. as is would have liked to seen a little more room up top and a fairly heavy crop off the right. cool capture!!

[Stephen Cunliffe]

I think the flash is only too obvious because you know how dark a Stellar's Jay really is. One of those ornithologist vs photographer conflicts! I know what you mean, whenever I am shooting nature, I go for accurate representation, but abstracts or man-made I have no problem editing away.

[Dave Slaughter]

Very pleasing image! I probably would have cropped a little heavier on the bird but really like this photo a lot. Thanks for posting.

[Gail Spitler]

I agree that the bird's colors are a bit artificial looking. We also could note that this is a juvenile, notice the pink at the gap on the bill. On Steller juvs around here, the black is not as intense as seen later on in the year. The blue feathers look to be too far toward the turquoise.
I am not expert enough on post-processing, I am wondering if the color could be adjusted differently to give a more 'natural' look to the image?

Gail

[Arthur Morris]

Wow, lots to say here... First off, with all the specular highlights you migh be better off without flash, or at the least, reduce the flash to -3 stops and then diffuse it on top of that.

Next, if you want to make truly great images at your little water set-up you will need to do lots more work selecting better props and then, spend a lot of time cleaning things up before you start to photograph.

I made a QM of the bird itself and darkened it. Then I used a QM to elminate the big problem behind the neck and crest that Katie nailed. I used another Qm to get rid of the light area under the bird's butt. The I did about ten minutes of Patch Tool clean-up... (Much easier to do the clean-up before you make the image.)

[Chris Hansen]

Thanks for all the advice. Katie you are dead on it looks a lot better in Arts version with the rock cleaned up behind the head. Art it looks a lot beter being cleaned up.The time you spent on showing me the possibilities of what to do with this image is much appreciated. Looks like I will have to simplify and clean up my pond a bit.
God's light and love to all,

Chris