Blue Jay-5533
Dec, 2017Views
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Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
My current passion is for bird and wildlife photography and I have several feeders set up in my back yard, along with various interchangeable perches ranging from small saplings to large branches like the one in this image. And I usually have one or two pop-up blinds positioned to take advantage of different lighting and backgrounds which allow me to get close without alarming the birds. Although I travel to photograph a variety of species, I can always count on regularly seeing about fifteen to eighteen species in my yard, offering something to shoot whenever the light is suitable.Time
Around 7:30 on a July morning.Lighting
The early morning light was soft with a lot of shade from trees. I usually prefer flat lighting with the sun behind me, but you have to use what you have, especially when dealing with wildlife.Most importantly, you have to be there and be ready when a good pose or the right action happens.Equipment
This was taken with a Nikon D7100 with a Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens at 420mm. Due to the very good vibration reduction of this lens I was able to use a shutter speed of 1/800 hand-held at f/5.6. Due to the low level of light in my shaded yard so early in the morning, the ISO (I use auto-ISO) was 6400, well higher than I like to shoot, so the raw image was pretty noisy and required some work in Lightroom.Inspiration
Blue Jays have a lot of pretty color, most of it best seen from the backside, so my aim was to capture a pose that showed the back, but with some movement or rhythm to it. When this bird posed with his head turned to the side, I knew I had it.Editing
I use Lightroom almost exclusively and I use it on every image I shoot. First, I cropped the image from horizontal to vertical. I had to reduce the extra noise, increase the exposure about a stop (it was still underexposed at 6400 ISO), increase the contrast a bit, dampen some highlights and increase the clarity and vibrance a tad. I also darkened the greens somewhat to make the bird stand out from the background and sharpened the image overall. And, of course, vignetted the image slightly to help keep the viewer's eye on the subject.In my camera bag
When I'm travelling I take a large backpack with a backup camera, four or five lenses, a flash unit, a radio trigger, cleaning supplies and things like small reflectors for macro work. My most often used tripod is a Sirui T-2205X carbon fiber model with an Oben BE-117 head - a very lightweight rig that has held up well. However, when I'm photographing birds I'm a minimalist. Most of that work is done hand-holding the old Nikon D7100 with the 200-500mm. I find it allows me to be flexible and responsive to rapidly changing situations and it's easy to carry long distances.Feedback
The best advice I can give is to learn your equipment so well that it becomes second nature. And right up there in importance: know your subjects well. Spend time observing their behavior and habits. This will increase your chances of recognizing when that perfect moment is about to happen.
