Blue Jay

[Thomas Finnie]

This cooperative Blue Jay was nice enough to pose for his portrait.

Nikon D300, 400mm, ISO 400, f/6.3, 1/100 sec

Thanks for looking, :)
Tom

http://i46.tinypic.com/2u5rg3c.jpg

[Tony Whitehead]

This looks like a nicely focussed , well posed portrait, Thomas. It is being let down by image quality as it looks like a huge crop with loss of feather detail and a lot of noise exacerbated by sharpening. I think it could be brightened somewhat too. How does this look to you?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the head angle and soft light. The repost is an improvement, I might add a bit canvas top and left.

[denise ippolito]

Thomas, I like the pose. It does seem a bit tight in the frame but that is a personal preference. I like Tony's repost and agree w/ his points. :)

[Thomas Finnie]

This looks like a nicely focussed , well posed portrait, Thomas. It is being let down by image quality as it looks like a huge crop with loss of feather detail and a lot of noise exacerbated by sharpening. I think it could be brightened somewhat too. How does this look to you?

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your nice comments and yes, it is a 100% crop. Your brightened repost looks a bit better as it shows a bit more white.

Thanks,
Tom

[Thomas Finnie]

I like the head angle and soft light. The repost is an improvement, I might add a bit canvas top and left.

Hi Axel,

Thanks for the positive note for the head angle and lighting and your suggestions regarding the canvas.

Best,
Tom

[Thomas Finnie]

Thomas, I like the pose. It does seem a bit tight in the frame but that is a personal preference. I like Tony's repost and agree w/ his points. :)

Hi Denise,

I appreciate your comments and glad that you like the pose.

Best, :)
Tom

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey Thomas, I realize that it is sometimes exciting to get close-ups and head portraits of birds...but this one just suffers too much from the extreme crop (even after Tony's repost). I'd suggest pulling back on the crop and include more of the body...these guys have striking wing markings to show off, and the reduced crop would also improve the IQ of the image as it is perfectly focussed anyhow. You could alternatively try to entice this guy even closer with peanuts;).

[Thomas Finnie]

Hey Thomas, I realize that it is sometimes exciting to get close-ups and head portraits of birds...but this one just suffers too much from the extreme crop (even after Tony's repost). I'd suggest pulling back on the crop and include more of the body...these guys have striking wing markings to show off, and the reduced crop would also improve the IQ of the image as it is perfectly focussed anyhow. You could alternatively try to entice this guy even closer with peanuts;).

Hi Daniel,

I appreciate your suggestions and will try to pull back a tad or head to the store for some peanuts. :)

Thanks,
Tom