Looking Back

On Saturday afternoon I went out into the rain and put up a new perch for the squirrels and birds to use. Yesterday morning I put it to use photographing a few Steller's Jays that came to our backyard in search of a snack. They were a little bit nervous and wouldn't stay on the perch for very long. I think there may have been a hawk in the trees nearby making them jumpy. After editing the images last night the image below ended up being my favorite. I love that pose with the Jay looking back. It accentuates their plumage and makes their eye stand out. This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a ground pod on our back bedroom window sill. I was using my Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens at 253mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/200th of a sec. I like to use F8.0 because more of the bird tends to be in focus and it is still wide open enough to blur the background out. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris