Steller's Jay - Cyanocitta stelleri

[Ian Cassell]

Canon 7D
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L
1/320sec f/7.1 ISO 3200 HH

A bit noisy with high ISO, but I liked his pose ...

Crop, levels, sharpening in CS5 with removal of a few stray pieces of weeds
NR on BG with Noiseware Pro

[Stan Cunningham]

I know you didn't get this one in Phoenix.
It's too bad the 7D can't go as high in ISO as the 5d Mark II because I really like the pose and detail. Dirt on the pinyon seed and all.
Stan

[John Chardine]

Hi Ian- This is a tough subject- dark and in shadow, and I guess the light levels were pretty low too. You may have been able to get away with this with a 5DII or a D3s but I guess the 7D just isn't up to the challenge. I tried Topaz Denoise on the image but to no avail. Apart from the noise I like the image with the bird so "in your face". Love this little cone laying there quietly in the BG!

[Kerry Perkins]

Ian, you gave yourself a very difficult task here. This would have been a great opportunity to use the on-camera flash on your 7D. I don't know how far away you were from this bird, but the built-in flash has a fairly decent output and could have helped with this exposure. I agree that the pose is nice, but the bird is between a rock and a tree, and I would suggest that you crop most of the tree on the left out of the scene. I don't think it adds to the composition.

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Folks. Kerry, I didn't even think of using the on-board flash. I am so used to using OCF, that I forget that the camera has one built-in. I didn't have my 430EX with me this time. I'll need to remember the on-board flash next time I'm in this situation.