Eurasian Jay

[Rich Steel]

Hi

I have been running a long project of trying to get some jay flight photos which is only now starting to produce some results. There are three main problems in that they are very erratic in flight especially when just coming in to land when they often seem to almost do a somersault with a sudden change in direction, the best of their wings is on the topside (the undersides being a plain white) and they are a bit of an exposure pain with some incredibly white and black feathers. Anyway I will continue to perserve with them as they are a particular favourite bird of mine.



Taken with 1DmkIV and 500mm lens at ISO 1000 F7,1 -0.7EV at 1/2000s

Cheers

Rich

[Grace Scalzo]

I don't know what you could have done better, Rich. Sharp bird, great pose, complimentary background, etc.

All in all, an exciting image to view.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

This is very cool, congratulations! The wing position, sharpness, eye contact and exposure control look all very good. How much did you crop?

[Danny Laredo]

This is a very pleasing flight image.
Sweet wing position.

[Gerrie van Vuuren]

Image is sharp with great detail colours & pose. Lovely image to look at.:)

[Jim Fenton]

I think everything about this image is excellent.

Sharpness, exposure, wing position, got the eye great.

I might have tried blurring the background just a bit, but it's a pissa image :)

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice wing position, details and pose, nice BG too. Well done

[Stu Bowie]

Rich, Im sure you are happy with this. I like the flight angle, and good detail and colours from the dorsal view. Overall sharp, and the Jay is separated from the BG nicely.

[Markus Jais]

Rich, this is fantastic! One of the best shots of this species I've seen.
I know how hard it is to get close to them (so far I still don't have a decent shot). Getting a flight shot is even more difficult and your result is absolutely impressive!

Markus

[Rich Steel]

Thanks for the replies. This has been result of a very long project (about 2 months) which has involved feeding the birds regulrly at a site about 10 minutes from home to overcome their shyness and then working out how to photograph their erratic flight. I now have three birds coming in regularly. I made several attempts with the mk3 to get flight photos which failed. The mkIV produced success on the first attempt which I think speaks for itself.

Axel this photo is about 68% of full frame. I did get some photos from the session that will full frame but not with such a good pose.

Cheers

Rich

[Rafael Rodriguez Mojica]

Wonderful image, I think you did a very nice job getting this shot. The colors of the Jay really show-off and sharpness is excelent. I don't know the behavior of this birds, but based on what you mentioned maybe there may be more opportunities of getting the shot with a shorter focal lens, or perhaps a zoom, like the 70-200mm with a 1.4 tc, which is a quick enough combo and allows to anticipate better where the bird is going to land.