I got this pose in the vicinity of a backyard feeder. D500, Nikon 2-500 lens, 1250th, f/8.0, ISO 400, 340mm, flash, tripod, gimbal head, cropped to 2584 x 1997, AI Clear
A very cool pose, Dave. Very typical Jay sassiness. The flash is a bit obvious, thou it didn’t darken the background completely. Flash on daytime birds usually works best with quite a bit of negative compensation. The general rule I’ve seen most places (and it seems to work) is to start out at -2 EV flash compensation and adjust up or down to taste after a few experimental shots. You can always do your test shots on branches just to see what they look like. The “ideal” you’re aiming at is to give your image a little extra punch without the viewer even realizing you used flash.
Nice bird and an excellent pose Dave. I agree with Dennis that this looks a tad pushed on the flash side. I might add to his comment on a starting point with flash and that is to expose for the scene before you determine your flash exposure comp settings, and then use just enough flash to bring out the shadows and/or detail in the bird. Difficult to get down initially but once you get comfortable you’ll instinctively find yourself right in the sweet spot.
Nice pose and good sharp shot. This is a very common bird where I live and I have never seen one this color. Suggest you reevaluate your tone and saturation.
I like your composition and the pose captured. Fill flash can be tricky, but at a feeder location you can dial it in pretty quickly. Consider using a more attractive perch at your feeder setup?
