Thanks for the critique!
I realize I should have shared some on how I took the photo. For one thing, the lens is new to me and so I’m just trying to get used to it. I’ve never worked with such a long heavy lens before. I also haven’t had much practice with shooting birds. 🙂 So you might say I was trying to achieve some practice with birding. Now how I took the picture…
Since blue jays tend to be cowardly and flighty birds, I opted for hiding out in our van with the back doors open. We have a bird feeder which helps to attract the birds closer to our home. As I thought, after a while the blue jay gained the courage to take a closer look – exactly where I wanted him without him even knowing I was there. In this way I was able to achieve a shot of a blue jay that’s relaxed rather than on the verge of fright and flight! However, there are many things I wished I had done differently in the shot in hindsight. I agree with Dan Cope on your thoughts as well as what timtam has to say about the ISO and shutter speed.
Thanks again… I hope to put into practice what I learned from you next time!
Here is the metadata that I failed to include with original post:
Canon 60D
1/1600
ISO 1000
f5.6
285mm on 70-200mm 2.8 is II with 2x teleconverter III