Gray Jay.

[Daniel Cadieux]

From Algonquin Park a couple of weeks ago. Most of the opportunities with this species was in heavy stuff and in the shade or backlit. I lucked out when this guy came out into the sun on a thin perch...he was investigating some nuts I threw on the ground to intice it out - and it did do so for this one time:). He was rather close, as this is full frame at 285mm. I had just enough time to flip my camera to a vertical orientation and take 2 photos before it flew to another less attractive perch.

Canon 40D + 100-400L @285mm, aperture priority, evaluative metering, 1/640s., f/6.3, ISO 400, no EC, natural light, handheld, full frame. A red band that was slightly visible on one leg has been eliminated.

[Harold Davis]

nice job on the fly, daniel! blacks/greys look fantastic. the dark greens in the bg overpower the scene for me taking away from the beauty of the bird. i'd also clone out the blue/grey streak left of the bird. congrats on getting so close!!

[Stephen Stephen]

Well done Dan. If I recall correctly you created this image while I was still stuck up on the road. I love the green BG.

[Julie Kenward]

What a sweet bird, Daniel! I really like the position and the perch - only thing I see that is a slight bit distracting is the blue area to his left - I think I'd try to blend some of the green over it to match the rest of your beautiful BG.

[Scott Grant]

Hi Dan!

lovely image of a grey jay! two small issues that bother me are the OOF area on the left center as it is much different than the rest of the background and do wish the birds head was angled differently. it seems it is tipped from the side and angled downward, if that makes any sense.

all the best!

[Steve Canuel]

What a serious looking bird! He looks to be weighing his options about whether or not to go for those nuts you threw. I really like the greens of the BG.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Good for you!
I'm glad that you got lucky with this interesting bird. I am not a big fan of broken perches but since this is not a set up then that's understandable. I would just suggest a pass of NR on BG.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Love the sharpness of the bird . But for the BG is overpowering . Would have liked some more separation from the BG to make the bird stand out .

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dan, well done on turning your camera vertical. We so often take the normal horizontal shot, and convert to a vertical in pp work - half the job done here. I like the pose, and good detail on the tail. Good mottled BG, and would like to see the eye lightened if possible.

[arash_hazeghi]

Nice and sharp and cool BG, agree with getting rid of the bluish blob on the left. would also run NR in BG for smoother look.