Below is an image submitted by one of our flickr members, Maia Bird, of a Blue Jay seemingly posing for the camera.
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- Notes From the Field: “I had just purchased the Nikon 70-300mm VR for my Nikon D80 so that I could better shoot my backyard birds. I simply sat with my window open, and caught this blue jay beautifully posed with a complementary, clean background. I have advanced with my photography technique and gear since then, but this blue jay remains one of the best bird portraits I have ever taken.
This was shot in aperture-priority, which I still do (I now own a Nikon D300) for the majority of my bird photographs. With songbirds, I find there is rarely a situation where the widest possible aperture is not preferred. With the D80, I used to be careful about White Balance, and I did shoot this image in manual mode for “Fine Weather.” I find the D300 does so well in Auto mode White Balance that I never set it manually. I also now shoot in RAW, so correcting white balance is easily done in post processing if necessary.
I use Photoshop to process images, but only for slight recomposing, brightness and contrast. However, back in November 2008, this was a jpeg straight out of the camera.
Earlier this month I started a new Flickr group called the ‘Flickr Bird Brigade’ in response to the Gulf Oil Spill. Its mission is ‘We support birds, wildlife and especially entire ecosystems. We pledge to not only share our love of nature but also be activists and vocal advocates for the conservation and protection of Earth’s creatures who cannot speak for themselves. We pledge to band together and make our Flickr community heard!’ http://www.flickr.com/groups/1390236@N25/
It is my primary focus on Flickr now. I will be travelling to coastal Alabama in September to volunteer and document the effects on migrating birds.”
— Maia Bird
Editor’s Review:
“Blue Jays are one of my favorite birds. They are fairly common where I live in Virginia and always add a nice splash of color (and sometimes chaos) to life around the bird feeder. This particular shot has a very geometric feel to it with clean lines and angles in the jay’s profile. The sharp focus against the soft background is perfect and the lighting on the elegant blue plumage makes this shot a welcome treat for the eyes!”
— Steve Freligh
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