Gray Jay

[dankearl]

A lot done to this (probably too much) but once you get started.....
Removed a lot of small branches including one through the tail.
50% crop. I just liked the plaintive look.

1/500, iso2000, f5.6, 500mm (300 f2.8 w/ 1.7tc), D800, HH

DSC_2381bp5.jpg

[Shawn Zierman]

The jay looks great. I don't mind indirect eye contact, and I think it works well here.
Makes me wonder what it's looking at...
There are several areas that are showing processing artifacts...a little smear coming
off the forewing, smears coming off the underside of the perch towards the bottom of
the frame, and definitely blotchy around the tail....

[gail bisson]

Hi Dan,
I like the lines created by the perch and the topside view of the bird. I do wish for a bit more of a head turn.
Bird is nice and sharp and no noise at ISO 2000.
You have remnants of a branch at the birds right primary and halfway up the right side of tail.
I also see a bit of a magenta cast.
Nice BG but would decrease brightness of the area in RUC,
Gail

[Joe Senzatimore]

An image worth the effort. Just a bit more clean up neede , as mentioned. Loving the BG.

[dankearl]

Thanks for the comments.
I rarely spend a lot of time in PP and am not great at it!
Since I just do this for fun, here is the full frame original, out of camera, what I had to work with.
I did like the ambience and the D800 is just great with high ISO.
I see no noise at all at iso 2000, an amazing camera, a lot of fun to use and it has
opened up a new photography world for me.

DSC_2381or.jpg

[Shawn Zierman]

Wow, what a difference the full frame makes!
I like all that's going on in the full frame way better than the OP. Different strokes for different folks,
but the habitat shown in the full frame says "gray jay" to me, much more than the OP. Tricky to crop
it just right regarding subject placement and what to do with the trunk on the left, but I think you are
better off leaving the subject more centered and going with a crop more true to the full frame, than
what was attempted in the OP.

[dankearl]

Thanks Shawn, I said I worked too hard at this and you are probably right!
This is the reason I rarely do much more than just crop, run some NR and sharpen a bit.
I am not great at PP and don't really like to erase at all.
I just started with this one and got carried away.

[Robert Holguin]

Very nice shot.
Great perch, I dont mind the pose, and nice details despite the high ISO.
Well done.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I too prefer the FF version, of which I'd give it a crop at left to eliminate the trunk and then at top to retain the ratio. Good job with the contrast and colours on the OP. I do wish for a better HA though...

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, good work with the clean up job, and you have brought out the feather detail nicely. Im fine with the OP, and love the colours in the BG.