Canon 10D
100-400 IS @ 260 mm
Raw File
f8.0 @ 1/90th sec.
Foggy with a light misty rain
Ground pod clamped to windowsill w/ Bogen 3055 ballhead
I find the branches a bit distracting going out of the frame and the ones by the tail too.
I also need to shoot at a little higher ISO and open up a top for a little faster SS
Beautiful bird.. I like the perch angling and curving through the frame. I'm wondering if some fill flash wouldn't have helped out here? The bird seems to get a bit lost in the BG. I'm probably missing the whole point.... I dunno.
Great repost Doug. It really pops now. Lovely capture Chris with great perch and pose. I find the one branch on the left a bit distracting but unavoidable. Many thanks for sharing.
Doug's re-post is huge improvement but I would like to see the blues in the wing de-SATed a bit. The two perch branches that intersect the tail are distracting but could be removed with some good QMing work. Same for the one stabbing the bird in the chest. A crop from the left and the top would tighten up the COMP a bit.
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Chris, I like the compostion very much, would probably clean up the branches per Artie's suggestions. Doug's repost is a good improvement in the light level. Would have liked to have seen what this would have looked like with fill flash! I've never seen one of these birds, sure would like to!
Thank you for all the input on this image. It is ironic that I cut down on the saturation because the wings looked way too blue! So from your suggestions I should have only toned the wing bar down just a bit. I agree the branches should be removed. Rather than use Photo Shop I think I'll just break them off and add a little black paint to the perch! Anita you would be very excited about the Stellars Jays here. They are the most common bird to come to my feeders. Which is great if you want to photograph jays. They keep all the other birds away(except the Bandtail Pigeons) and you have to set up special feeders for the smaller birds that the Jays can't get into.