I've been chained to my desk and pretty much missed the brief period that qualifies as fall with all the wonderful photo-ops. Fortunately these guys come to me and flutter against the windows when they make the rounds of my neighborhood. The hard part is getting one to pose for a photo. This one wasn't too bad although it is a bit distressing to see that the sun is so dim that I ended up using iso 1600 in the open!
50D iso 1600 100-400 @ 220, f 5.6, 1/1000
Last edited by Declan Troy; 09-30-2009 at 11:15 AM.
I like the soft light, pose and HA, Troy. Sharp texture of the foliage is a nice contrast to the soft plumage of the bird bit tends to draw the eye a bit. I have tried a version with a slight blur masked to the foliage to reduce it's contrast, a slight contrast and blue saturation boost to the Jay and a sight corner burn. May not be that obvious looking side by side but if you open the 2 versions as layers and switch from one to the next it highlights the differences. See what you think.
I was a bit surprised to think this could use a saturation boost but Tony's magic did help and the blurring does add focus to the bird.
I checked the focus and it was on the greater coverts so perhaps some of the head was a bit too close but odd that the needles in the same plane are too sharp! But I've attempted a bit of sharpening of the head and boost of saturation so we'll see if it shows. Being a biologist I kind of like seeing all the branches so typical of jay habitat (not so sure about the branch sticking up the birds cloaca though!) even though it is a bit busy for the more pure photographers out there. But good to see master raptor photographer Ramon likes the needles (way to go on that big 4000).
Great detail and pose. I like the background. But I find the needles at the feet a little distracting because they are so sharp. Very natural looking image.:)
Steller's Jay
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