Florida Scrub Jay

[Maureen Allen]

There is a group of FL scrub jays living near Cedar Key, FL that I had the privilege to visit recently. Once you find them (which is a bit of a trick) these birds are a joy to photograph. They are curious and friendly, often getting very close. Most of the scrub jays at this location are banded.

Nikon d300, 200-400mm f/4 @ 380mm, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/800

CS5 and ACR, cropped slightly, levels adjustment, selective sharpening

Comments/critique appreciated.

[Dave Leroy]

Very nice shot. I like the slight head turn and for me there is just enough room at bottom, just right.

Interesting to see jay is banded.

Dave

[Craig Wallace]

I agree this is a nice image, I like the detail in the feathers the highlight in the eye and the nice blue BG.
Craig.

[Paul Guris]

I really like the shot. The only suggestion that I'd have is to tone down the brightness and/or up the contrast a little. It looks pretty obvious that the bird is in strong light.

[Myer Bornstein]

nice capture. BTW a lot of Florida scrub Jays are banded, so that they can keep track of them better

[Maureen Allen]

Thanks for the comments.

Paul, yes the photo was taken in late morning sun. It took a while to get to where I found them :)

Myer, it really depends on where in FL they are. I've seen scrub jays in the Ocala Forest and some west coast locations that are not banded.

[Joel Eade]

Hi Maureen,

Nice to see an unusual species and showing the band is neat! The only thing I see out of the ordinary, to me it seems the bird itself has some noise compared to your other images. Since you mention it was only cropped slightly, I am wondering if your RAW image was somewhat underexposed or is it my old eyes deceiving me?

Anyway, nice shot of this somewhat rare bird!

Joel

[Maureen Allen]

Joel, you have old eyes??? :D

I didn't see the noise until you mentioned it, but I do see a little noise now. Perhaps I oversharpened a bit and that's what is causing it. I'll go back and take a look at the original. Thank you.

If you haven't seen FL scrub jays, you might want to try to find them on your next FL trip. The ones I've encountered are not at all shy (I think everyone feeds them peanuts.) It's quite silly and funny to have them landing on you and your equipment while you're trying to be serious about photographing them.

[Joel Eade]

Maureen

Yeah, sad to say but my eyes are nearly 55 .... the rest of me is still 18 (well except maybe my knees).

I do hope to make another birding trip to the Sarasota area before my daughter finishes her internship so maybe I can try to locate some Scrub Jays and give them a try ... sounds like great fun.

lol,

Joel

[Julie Kenward]

Joel, my eyes are 51 but I'm seeing more oversharpening than noise. Of course I'm near sighted, have astigmatism and am working on my first set of cataracts so don't trust what I say!

Maureen, very nice presentation and a really strong composition. Sun is a little harsh but not horrible. I like that the band on the leg is showing - it's almost like a woman showing off her garter! :D

I'd back down on the sharpening just a little and see what you think...