Nicaraguan Jay

[Jim Crosswell]

This was taken in Costa Rica at the hotel pool. The BG is dry grass. All C&Cs are welcome and appreciated.

Canon 1D MK IV
500L f4
1.4 Extender
ISO 1000
f6.3
1/320s
Tripod

[Michael Rominger Jr]

Nice portrait Jim! Like the color of the BG contrasting with the bird. Nice head turn and excellent sharpness. Like the detail and catchlight in the eye.

[Marina Scarr]

WOW, Jim, this is quite an impressive portrait. The fact that you were able to capture the crown upon end puts it over the top, esp with that awesome BG.

[David Salem]

Beautiful portrait of this great looking bird. Techs look perfect and the raised crest against that smooth BG makes the shot special. Well done Jim

[dankearl]

Nice portrait, I might even go tighter if the IQ allows and crop off the near shoulder.

[vishaljadhav]

If i would have seen this elaborate bird this close , i am not sure the shutter would have ever clicked, its so beautiful
Jim this is one great image,
The lovely crest and the BG makes the image fantastic to my eye.

[Doug Brown]

Great bird, and a nice head shot. I would have pushed the ISO to 400-800 and stopped down to get more of the bird in focus.

[Jim Crosswell]

Great bird, and a nice head shot. I would have pushed the ISO to 400-800 and stopped down to get more of the bird in focus.

Sorry Doug that was a typo it was ISO 1000. Thanks for the comment and suggestion.

[Troy Lim]

Good portrait, nice crown. The while feather on the bottom just keep taking my eye away from the upper part of the frame. I wonder how it would look without the whites on the bottom left corner?

[Jim Crosswell]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions they are really appreciated. I will try a tighter crop and see how it looks.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jim, great portrait and love the colour on this fellow. The curled hair do puts this over the top.

[Satish Ranadive]

What a lovely crest feathers he has? Extremely beautiful portrait.
Love the colors,sharpness,great details in whites,eye,superb BG against bird pops up so nicely.

Regards,
Satish.

[Greg Basco]

Very nice, Jim. You know these guys are so common that I've never made it a point to photograph them. I should because your image is great and reminds what a cool bird the white-throated magpie jay is! I love the BG; totally appropriate for this dry forest species. Troy's suggestion to try out a crop eliminating the white feathers below is something worth considering to improve an already very nice shot IMO.

Cheers,
Greg

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love that curled feather...placed perfectly in the frame. I don't mind the white at bottom, I find it balances nicely with the rest of the image.

[Peter Dexter]

It's a terrific portrait. Great capture. What a neat bird. So may Jays...so little time.