"His Majesty"...Best Viewed Large

Comments appreciated...his tuft was up then a gust of wind gave it

a "lift". Made me laugh, looked like a fancy top hat.

7/7!! Beautiful and tender! I like it very much. Ivana

I've run out of superlatives, so it's ugly, flamboyant, and absolutely disgusting, in a most MAGNIFICENT way.lol

Thanks all, Doug, I love it. Between him, the Cardinals and the Titmice you can get some good laughs when the wind catches them from behind. The Cardinals look like court jesters and the Titmice like little hershey kisses.

Mary Fran, I hesitate but need to agree with the two raters that gave you a 4/4. There are so many shots of Blue Jays on PN and other websites that pale in comparison to this one. So if we raise the bar just high enough, eliminate about 95% of all Blue Jay (let's make that small bird) images and redefine a new average, then yes, this would be about average then. Until then, however, this needs to rank way way up there and since the scale here ends at 7/7; that's what it would have to be. But then again, this is just another bird on a twig with a blurry empty background, perfect focus and DOF, perfect natural lighting and great detail, and composition right out of a text book; so it must be a 4/4 . Regards, Dieter. Please notify me if my sense of humor is too much for you. Just so there is no misunderstanding, I have rated this 7/7 anon.

Very nice in all aspects, Mary. The tuft really makes this one stand out. I'm sure I've never seen one quite so high.

Thanks Deiter and Scott. Scott, it's even funnier when the bird isn't fluffed below, then their head is really out of proportion with their body.

 

Deiter thanks, the light is fairly direct sunlight on him and once again makes all the difference. I did a bit of burning on the edges, hoping to add a little contrast. Oh well on the 4/4's, I see a lot of photo's I personally don't care for in other categories but don't bother to rate as I believe the folks who work in those categories can be the judge. Wish everone else would do the same. I've also seen some poor shots technically speaking in this category make it to the TRP's and am embarassed to see them there and understand why folks outside this category get a bit angry. It's good to have friends as long as they remain objective....I appreciate the honest feedback from folks, it's the only way I have improved and don't ever want someone to feel compelled to give me a particular rating. You happened to see my first version of this with more burning when I first uploaded to my portfolio and were kind enough to tell me the bird was ok but the rest "doesn't work"...that is what I value.

It is not a very nice image Mary, it is beautiful! Sincerely yours, Catalin

Fantastica pose del ave desplegando toda su cresca , saludos

He does look majestic, Mary! Amazing capture :)

Kinda reminds me of the ol' fight promoter named Don King with his outrageous vertical hair style. "...and in this corner, Muhammad Ali..." Very nice image. Not a single improvement I can see that needs to be made. So ignore my forced rating and just bask in the recognition of your peers that you have a benchmark photo.

William, you're right--Don King! Too funny!

Lovely composition and plumage of the bird, the blue tones are incredible with a very special glow. The background and DOF is exellent, well captured :)