Clyde,

Sweet shot! What lens? Why did you choose not to lighten the eye a bit more? Just curious. It looks like you have captured some highlight in the eye as it is. Stunning shot, in my opinion.

Best,
Jon

Clyde

Great great shot, The blue and the lighting are perfect!!

Andy

@jon, Nikon 7-300 VR at the high end, 450mm on my D70s. Yeah, you are right the eye area really goes away doesn't it. I'll look to see what detail is there. The eye is black and is surrounded by black feathers, but maybe I crunched it a bit.

Clyde, I agree that this is a very strong shot with great detail. I disagree about the detail around the eye because I can see different shades (sometimes I wonder what different images everyone is looking at with different monitors - mine is a 17in CRT monitor - etc). I wouldn't change a thing.

Very impressive shot.
Great details and coloring on this one.
Looks like you capture this right as the sun was coming up?

Very nice pic with that spotlight on him. It helps getting attention on the bird instead of the environment which would be a bit too busy otherwise. Have you tried a tiny bit more expo?

Beautiful shot there beamer, lovely light and colors!
Any idea what bird it is?
I have to agree with boyd, i can see details around the eye in my monitor. Do you shoot in raw?...i guess that might help to raise the details a tad bit more.

A Western Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica) at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, CA.