Set this up in the back garden, draped the black cloth over a bird feeder and a ladder.......saw my neighbour's guest watching me through the window, he probably thinks I am nuts! I shot it through a window.
Not much work on this, crop, resize, sharpen, clarify, curves, clone out a spot or two.
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Post challenge:
Thanks everyone for all the comments! I am really pleased to make top 10.
Here is the set-up for the shot:
It was shot through my computer room window. I dragged my patio table off the deck and put it on the lawn. The black cloth was draped over a bird feeder and a ladder. Thinking back on it, I should have moved the ladder further away from the bird feeder to give a bigger background area. It was windy and I couldn't keep the cloth straight and wrinkle free. It was cloudy and I was expecting a delivery guy at any time, I had to rush to get the shot before he came and before the sun came out and made the light too harsh. The neighbours had company and I saw him watching me through the window.....I am sure he thought I was nutso.
I get blue jays in my garden almost every morning. I throw peanuts on the deck for them and before I get the door closed they are on the deck to get the nuts. If I don't throw out peanuts they land on the deck railing and squawk really loudly. I knew if I set this up and put peanuts all around it they would come. I went outside a few times to rearrange the peanuts so I could get the jays to stand in front of the baskets, not behind it like they were doing at first. I had 3 jays that morning.
Outtake:
Statistics
Place: 10 out of 99 Avg (all users): 6.4693 Avg (commenters): 7.2500 Avg (participants): 6.3200 Avg (non-participants): 6.5271 Views since voting: 3047 Views during voting: 382 Votes: 179 Comments: 28 Favorites: 0
Congratulations, Karen! This is a fantastic series of shots ... I love your description with the outtakes!! I didn't vote on the challenge at all (haven't been too active here), so I'm very glad that I at least got to see this entry. What patience and good design skills you have. Really nice work!
I can't believe only 3 other people besides me gave this a 10! This photo is incredible! I'm happy it got Top 10 recognition -- but I think it should have been in the top 5 minimum. Congratulations on an amazing photo.
the composition is weak and the image feels tilted to the left due to the vertical line in the background. But, the lighting is excellent as is the timing. Great being able to capture a curious bird passing through... Colors also excellent.
This image looks like a still life was been set up and then a bird came along, I love the colour on the red apples and the baskets look really well. I am not sure about the final image.
nice still life, though the angles in the background are distracting. The bird is a bit too blurred; IMO the motion blur wasn't necessary to convey the motion.
Terrific! The lighting is very nice and soft. The composition is pretty good, that corner in the background is pretty distracting. I also would have liked to see a little more motion with the bird.
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