Project J

[Rich Steel]

Hi

Project J has been one of my long running mini projects to try and capture European Jays in flight and I recently decided to start up on it once more. So far it has been going fairly well although I had forgotten how tricky they are, due to their erratic flight path. I have also added to the project this year with trying to capture some of the birds using remote wide angle at which I can claim to be at the bottom of a long learning curve.

This is one of the birds waiting, on a tree next to the car, for the magpies to fly off (there is a corvid pecking order) from the feeding area. Strangely its the first time I have managed to photograph a bird with its crest raised. I thought a good caption for this might be 'Mr J contemplates his new Bonsai Project'.

Taken with 1DmkIV and 500mm lens at ISO400 F7.1 -1EV 1/1000s

Cheers

Rich

[Randy Stout]

Rich:
This one is very nice, love your proposed title. Nice to see the crest up, breast all fluffed up, and the attention he is paying to the twig.

The eye is very nice too.

I might consider toning down the brightest green spot just to the left of the twig. It will help play up the twig itself.

Cheers

Good luck on your project, look forward to the results.

Randy

[Austin Thomas]

I like the proposed caption Rich and I think you have caught the character of the Jay very well.

I agree with Randy that a minor toning down of the brightest green patch would improve this image slightly.

Looking forward to seeing more images from this project.

Cheers

Austin

[Richard Stern]

Hi Rich,

I agree with the above, but for me it's not a very big issue. I like the expression on the bird, the angle, and the sharp eye. Makes for an interesting and unusual image. The lighting on the breast feathers looks a bit harsh. Overall well-done!

Richard

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice one Rich, I too am doing some work with Jays, they pose quite a challenge but they make for great subjects. I really like the lighting in this image and the pose is one not often seen.

[Stu Bowie]

Rich, I like the colours on the Jay, and nicely framed between the vertical twig and the edge of the frame. Comp wise, I would maybe come in from the left a tad.

[Rich Steel]

Thanks for the comments. I did look at that green spot on the left but decided to leave it as nature intended.

Cheers

Rich