Stellers Jay

[Mark Schmitt]

Spent a cold night sleeping on the ground. Mount Pinos is at about 7800 ft elevation and though it was summer, the over night temp. got to 28 deg F. In the morning the stellers jay start to call befor the Sun is up. Shooting is a bit of a challenge. There is nearly no light so up the ISO. Attach the flash. Set the exp comp to -1.33 for a faster shutter opotion; set the flash for + 1.00 comp. Cross fingers.

Conditions: Summer/ high elevation/ cold
Location: Mt. Pinos, Kern Co., CA

EXIF
Camera: Canon 30D
Lense: Canon EF 500 IS L / f 4.0
Mode: Av priority
Metering Mode: pattern
Exposure: 1/1250 @ f 7.1
ISO: 800
White Bal. : custom 4950 (match early morning light )
Monopod

Work flow: Adobe Lightroom 1.4 / CS2

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Nice find, pose, details and head angle. I only find the perch a bit too dominant.

[Tony Whitehead]

Stunning colours. Have to agree with Axel re the perch - would be nice if the head were clear against the nice blurred BG rather than the trunk.

[Doug Brown]

You did well with the negative/ positive EC balance to gain a bit more shutter speed. I agree with the above suggestions.