Eurasian Jay - Head Shot

[Bill Nuttall]

Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

garden - SW France

20% Crop of FF image

D810 + 600mm f4 + 1,4TC
ISO 2000 - f6.7

LR/PS

[Tim Foltz]

Bill, interesting shot of a Jay I haven't seen before, what was your shutter speed? Looks like it could use a little selective sharpening around the eye
and maybe a little bit higher in the frame. I really like the blue ring around the pupil.

-Tim

[Bill Nuttall]

Bill, interesting shot of a Jay I haven't seen before, what was your shutter speed? Looks like it could use a little selective sharpening around the eye
and maybe a little bit higher in the frame. I really like the blue ring around the pupil.

-Tim

Hi Tim and many thanks for your comments

SS = 1/1600th sec

from what has been said to me so far

a). I seem to leave too much space at the top of my "close up" images
b). Sometimes I over-sharpen and sometimes I under-sharpen ....... the whole subject or just local areas

I can see you mean about lack of sharpness, (clear detail) around the eye - but presumably I did not capture it when I took the shots so how can I sharpen it?

I felt that this image was a tad over-sharpened if any thing as the feather detail is beginning to look a little hard, (I realise that there is noise in the bird as the ISO is 2000)

I am also not sure if I am applying too much NR to the bg ...... the more I try to improve my images the more selective NR I have started to apply ....... I tend to like my birds to look as natural as possible and near to as they looked when I took the shots ....... I am also finding that IMHO I am processing just too much which is pushing them into looking better than what I saw ........ I look at many of the marvellous images on here and my comments would generally be that they seem to be perfect in colours, saturation and sharpness

Generally I like to see "environment" around the bird and am never worried about leaves etc., being around the bird or a bird being mixed in with foliage .... in fact I tend to prefer this ...... but for shots I post of here I have moved to remove even the slightest "distraction"

I always shoot in "manual" mode with auto ISO, usually I add EV and use single cell exposure and focusing, trying to focus on the eye, I have an iMac 5K screen and a MBP which I use when I am not in France. I always process in LR5 and only usually move into PS for cloning

Many thanks again

[Tim Foltz]

Hi Tim and many thanks for your comments

SS = 1/1600th sec

from what has been said to me so far

a). I seem to leave too much space at the top of my "close up" images
b). Sometimes I over-sharpen and sometimes I under-sharpen ....... the whole subject or just local areas

I can see you mean about lack of sharpness, (clear detail) around the eye - but presumably I did not capture it when I took the shots so how can I sharpen it?

I felt that this image was a tad over-sharpened if any thing as the feather detail is beginning to look a little hard, (I realise that there is noise in the bird as the ISO is 2000)

I am also not sure if I am applying too much NR to the bg ...... the more I try to improve my images the more selective NR I have started to apply ....... I tend to like my birds to look as natural as possible and near to as they looked when I took the shots ....... I am also finding that IMHO I am processing just too much which is pushing them into looking better than what I saw ........ I look at many of the marvellous images on here and my comments would generally be that they seem to be perfect in colours, saturation and sharpness

Generally I like to see "environment" around the bird and am never worried about leaves etc., being around the bird or a bird being mixed in with foliage .... in fact I tend to prefer this ...... but for shots I post of here I have moved to remove even the slightest "distraction"

I always shoot in "manual" mode with auto ISO, usually I add EV and use single cell exposure and focusing, trying to focus on the eye, I have an iMac 5K screen and a MBP which I use when I am not in France. I always process in LR5 and only usually move into PS for cloning

Many thanks again

Bill, remember when shooting in raw nothing is being done pre-post processing to your image, that's why some sharpness, color adjusting/ white balance, etc., etc., is needed.
When shooting jpegs your camera will compress and sharpen, adjust white balance/ color, etc. I think most people do want there images to reflect what they see in nature but
careful post processing is needed to do so. I have over the years changed the way I post process several times as I've learned different techniques and things I've stumbled across.
Some people will over process, change BG's, over saturate and other extreme photoshopping, but it's up to ones own taste and desired results. It is a learning process for all of us, this site
is a good place to get feedback and information to learn and make your own decisions according to your own preferences. There will be several different opinions on a peticular shot at any given time.
I hope this helps somewhat, don't get frustrated.

-Tim

[Bill Nuttall]

Thanks Tim, I do really appreciate your comments and help

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Hi Bill,

I really like this shot. Great Capture. Nice beautiful back ground.

Can you check if your lens is be front focusing. It all depends on where you chose focus. Ideally you would have chosen single point, with AF on eye. If thats the case then the feather around the be should be sharp. In your case the feathers near the neck are more in focus to me. You might want to crosscheck on that.