Jay

[Rene Quenneville]

I took this blue jay winter picture in my backyard. I like the pose but I wonder if the background is too light. Please let me know.

1/400 s
f/8
ISO 500
Sigma 120-300 f/4 with 2X converter @600mm

[Terry Olmsted]

Hi Rene. A beautiful bird and pose! The background looks OK to me, but I think the bird is a bit soft.
Terry

[Anita Rakestraw]

Lovely shot, in my opinion. I don't mind the light background at all, but kinda wish the yellow-brown part was not isolated in just that one area....it's not a huge flaw though. As for sharpness, I kind of like the very slight degree of softness but seems that most people prefer tack sharpness! I think you've got good enough focus that a pass with USM on just the bird will do the job.

[John Cooper]

Yes I agree with you Rene, the BG is a bit bright. A darker BG would enhace the light plumge of the Jay. maybe a little more sharpening of the Jay to bring out more feather detail. But a lovely bird that we don't get here, down under!!

[john jackson]

Nice to see a relaxed Blue Jay (alert and excited seems to be the default for this species in photos). I like the front-on pose, too. I agree with Anita that it's the mix of pale and darker in the background that distracts a little. I would like to see this with all high-key background, but it's a lovely image all the same.

[Maxis Gamez]

Hi Rene,

Yes! the BG is too bright, but you can tone that a little down in PS. I would also add a little USM.

[Fabs Forns]

Hi Rene, I did a quick fix, used a graduated blur filter for the background, cleaning the face afterwards. Softened the brown spot in the background with the cloning stamp and sharpened. Effect exaggerated for illustrative purposes.

Hope you like it!