Blue Jay

David, I too like the pose. His head turned a bit more this way wouldbring it up a notch. If it makes you feel any better, i've got zero blue jay pictures!

David,

This is a nice detailed shot of the BJ which like Chris I have zero shots of (except for a lot of Florida Scub Jays which lot a bit like Blues).

I agree with Chris' comment on the head turn, as that would have put it over the top. What I would like to see is more room left and bottom. The tail is to close to the frame's edge. PS - add canvas and clone could do this if you have no additional real estate to crop from.

Chris Kayler wrote:David, I too like the pose. His head turned a bit more this way wouldbring it up a notch. If it makes you feel any better, i've got zero blue jay pictures!

Thanks Chris, I would have loved to have him turn his head, I was making little sounds to see if he would, but I just freaked him out and he left

SWEET!

Agree with the head and that it is a little tight. I would also do some work on the OOF branch. Details are super.

I have been feeding our Jays here in hope of some winter portraits

RAmoruso wrote:David,

This is a nice detailed shot of the BJ which like Chris I have zero shots of (except for a lot of Florida Scub Jays which lot a bit like Blues).

I agree with Chris' comment on the head turn, as that would have put it over the top. What I would like to see is more room left and bottom. The tail is to close to the frame's edge. PS - add canvas and clone could do this if you have no additional real estate to crop from.

Thanks for the comments and tips Robert. I will have to learn that add canvas and clone action as you are correct, I did have no extra room to crop.

David

Buonomo wrote:Agree with the head and that it is a little tight. I would also do some work on the OOF branch. Details are super.

I have been feeding our Jays here in hope of some winter portraits

I really need to learn that add canvas PS tool! Thanks for the look and comments and good luck with getting the Jays in your area.

David. This shot has a lot of potential. Blue Jays are tough for some reason. I agree with the nits already mentioned. Another two minor considerations. One is that the branch in the background is slightly distracting at its current position. Not much you could do about that and it is very minor. The other is in your sharpening technique. A close look at the bird makes it appear to me that the near shoulder is slightly oversharpened, especially in relation to the rest of the bird. I'm not sure what your USM settings were, but I have had this in some of my own shots and have found that it can be avoided by using a slightly larger radius setting. A small radius can tend to accentuate a few spots of contrast without sharpening all the edges appropriately. Nice work!

Nice Jay David. I agree with the wishes for a head turn, but sometimes those birds just don't listen

All's been said. It's a nice shot.

Nice one, David.

Michael Dossett wrote:David. This shot has a lot of potential. Blue Jays are tough for some reason. I agree with the nits already mentioned. Another two minor considerations. One is that the branch in the background is slightly distracting at its current position. Not much you could do about that and it is very minor. The other is in your sharpening technique. A close look at the bird makes it appear to me that the near shoulder is slightly oversharpened, especially in relation to the rest of the bird. I'm not sure what your USM settings were, but I have had this in some of my own shots and have found that it can be avoided by using a slightly larger radius setting. A small radius can tend to accentuate a few spots of contrast without sharpening all the edges appropriately. Nice work!

Michael, you have a great eye. I thought about that branch in the bg but figured that it was too large to clone out. I will try lowering the radius a bit next time.

Thanks so much for the input and compliment, very much appreciated.

David

ChrisDodds wrote:Nice one, David.

Thanks Chris!

Gerald J Romanchuk wrote:Nice Jay David. I agree with the wishes for a head turn, but sometimes those birds just don't listen

I guess I will have to hold up a peanut next time, or maybe dress up like a female? Bluejay that is.....

Alan Murphy wrote:All's been said. It's a nice shot.

Thanks Alan,

I am very happy already with all that one can learn from others on this forum.

It's just great!

David

Nice shot. Nits covered.

David
I always get excited when I can get a Blue Jay shot. They are beautiful birds and you have a wonderful image here. A little head turn would be nice and the others have made good suggestions.