Found objects can sometimes create the most interesting subjects for macrophotography.  I found a single blue jay feather sitting on one of my garden pathways and it immediately made me wonder what happened to it to lose its feather.  The summer molt isn’t until later in the summer and is only the head feathers, not a tail feather.  Perhaps it had a fight with the red squirrel that is always in my backyard, chittering away.

Either way, this poor blue jay’s loss is our gain as we get to take a closer look at the intricate details of what makes a blue jay blue.

Flowing left and right, up and down, this blue jays feather seems to go in every single direction.  This array of color, both blue and black, provides a blue jay with the ability to fly.  I can assure you, after much trial and error, that I did not gain that ability.

One thing macrophotography has taught me is that regardless of what you are photographing outside, there is always a bug.  Sometimes well defined, seemingly smiling for the camera, sometimes indistinct, as if they were shy.  Either way, the detail of this blue jays feather found on the ground of my garden makes for stunning detail.  And yes, there was a bug.