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If you have Stellars jays handy, keep working with them. They love to strike energetic poses. The big plus about this image is the perfect depth of field,; the bird and branch are in focus but background a nice blur. Nice eye catchlight.
Looks like the head and shoulders were in motion a bit, so a faster shutter might be in order for next shots. Actually the branch is a bit soft, also so maybe camera motion or focus off a tad.
The red goo in the beak is not a strong point.
When you have an area of bright background, you can sometimes bring it down in Photoshop with paint brush and Darker Color blending mode… other ways to skin that cat also.
Have fun with these guys.
Superb detail in the young Stellar’s Jay, Dave. The perch may be a trifle soft, but not objectionably so. With the relatively steep angle, you might have to go to f/11 to get it all.
The red goo that Dick mentions is nothing but the bright gape at the base of the beak that most young birds have, so i don’t consider it objectionable, in fact, I like seeing it as it helps define the age of some birds.
Wonderful sharpness on those beautiful blue feathers!! The gape on this fledgling will disappear soon as he matures, but if you want to minimize it you cold desaturate orange or pink and it wouldn’t affect anything in the rest of the image.
Gorgeous portrait of the Stellar’s Jay. Well done!