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Maureen Allen
02-19-2011, 09:31 PM
I was photographing some scrub jays in Cedar Key yesterday and this little guy came bounding right up to me. Scrub jays are such friendly and fun little birds :S3:

I only saw one bird out of perhaps 15 or more that wasn't banded.

Nikon d300
70-200mm f/2.8 + 1.4TC @ 280mm
ISO 400, f/8, 1/250

ACR & CS5 - levels adjustment, USM

Comments appreciated!
Sid Garige
02-19-2011, 10:33 PM
Maureen,

Composition, techs and pose look good. May be just a little more space at the bottom might help IMO. Little bright background for my taste but still works if you can tone it down a little bit. Very nice job.

-Sid
Eric Patdu
02-19-2011, 11:08 PM
I like the composition and pose. It is just to bright for me. Maybe you can adjust on the exposure. But then, it's just me. :S3:
Maureen Allen
02-19-2011, 11:12 PM
Thanks, Sid and Eric.

I think it is too bright. I was sitting in Florida sand on a very sunny morning. I'll try to tone down the bright background.
Maureen Allen
02-19-2011, 11:53 PM
Repost with a little darker background. Unfortunately, I have no more room on the bottom, though I agree it would be nice :S3:
Julie Kenward
02-20-2011, 09:06 AM
Maureen if you look on your histogram you'll see that almost all your data is to the far right side - this tends to leave the image feeling washed out and/or overly bright. The bird looks nicely exposed but the BG is way too bright. Even in the repost I find myself looking more at the BG than at the bird - and that's a shame because this is a beautiful pose and you got some great eye contact!

I opened the image in Camera RAW, brought down the exposure so there were no spikes on the left and then used the selective exposure tool to darken the bright BG and lighten the face and body of the bird. I then took the image into PS and grabbed the blue from the BG, set the soft brush to 25% and painted over the really bright areas to tone them down a bit. Finished up with a curves adjustment to balance the image a little bit more. These are just some suggestions...take or leave what you like!
Maureen Allen
02-20-2011, 10:23 AM
Well, that sure looks better Jules :S3:

Thanks!