"Rogues though they be..." says Audubon. He goes on: "Who could imagine that a form so graceful, arrayed by nature in a garb so resplendent, should harbour so much mischief."
Mischief is an understatement; they constantly dominate the other birds around our backyard feeders, where this one was captured in May of 2013.
D7000, 500f4, ISO 800, 1/640s @ f/8 manual. SB-700 fill @ -1.7EV.
09-30-2020, 09:46 AM
Joseph Przybyla
Looks good to me, Bill. My first impression was maybe a little CCW rotation but I really don't know why. Nice image, thank you for sharing.
09-30-2020, 10:58 AM
Steve Kaluski
Hi Bill, I like this a lot, great colours with a nice, clean backdrop. Perch works and the lichen is the icing. Personally I feel there is too much negative space above, either cop, or move the whole framing up if you have the content to do so.
TFS
Steve
09-30-2020, 02:44 PM
John Mack
Solid frame of this blue jay. I can hear them screaming. Nice view of the tail. The vertical framing works very well.
09-30-2020, 09:25 PM
Geoffrey Montagu
Excellent look at this mischievous character. Great look at the feather design, and color shades. Like the perch and a bit of action as a piece of the perch is dislodged.
Geoffrey
http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu
09-30-2020, 10:33 PM
Brian Sump
Bill, the bird looks lovely across the focal plane. Beautiful colors and detail. The look back on a dorsal view is always awesome IMO.
I struggle with the crop a little. It makes sense to open the photo up to the right to get more of the direction of the bird's sight, but you're likely handcuffed by the edge of the perch I'm guessing? Also, it looks pushed left as much as possible with the tail location. But you made the most of it.
Is there a cloning remnant below or is that really a lichen piece falling right at the moment of capture?
10-01-2020, 06:28 PM
Daniel Cadieux
I think adding about 10-15% more below and right would balance out the comp IMO. Great colours, nice perch. These guys raided my feeders recently so I had to put a stop to that momentarily. Sparrows are now showing up so I guess that will go back up!!
10-02-2020, 09:49 AM
Bill Dix
Thank you all for your comments. I agree that a bit more room on the right and below would help the comp. The FF shot did have a bit more room, but as the perch curved toward the foreground it became distractingly out of focus, so to my eye the image looked better cropped as presented here. Personal preference.
I believe the bit of suspended lichen was just that, a bit hanging by a thread of spiderweb, rather than captured in freefall.