Blue Jay

[jack williamson]

After a rainstorm, bg was lit up by the sun, bird was in shade at a setup. Cropped to 60%

of original.

Nikon D700, 300mm f2.8, 1.4tc, tripod, sb900 flash.

1/500, f5.6, iso640, manual mode.

Adjusted wb, exp, recovery, brightness, clarity in acr. Small levels, curves, usm in cs3.

Jack

[Chris Baker]

Nice one Jack. Head angle is good, the bird is sharp and considering the conditions you mentioned I think you've done well. I might have removed the smaller catchlight and maybe darkened the background a tad.

[Kerry Perkins]

Jack, good observations and suggestions by Chris. I feel the background is a bit too bright and would also evict the flash catchlight. Excellent detail and tonal range in the image! Tough lighting conditions but well handled.

[Diego Torrentes]

Hi Jack. I like the bird's direct look, pose, sharpness, and the detail into the beak (what's that?). I also find the image too bright, I'm not sure if is only the background or the whole picture (the white feathers of the bottom seem a little washed out). Maybe you could down a bit of brightness. All in one is good work.

[jack williamson]

Thank you all, the bg was very bright and I toned it down a good bit already. I can make it darker.

Diego that is a sunflower seed in the beak. Thanks

Jack