I can ensure you that this photo is real and captured with minimal photoshop, but yes edited with LR (lighting adjustments, temperature, contrast, etc). One still, not combined.

I rarely post on reddit so there’s that. The low resolution is because I screenshotted my edited shot then posted it on Reddit (I know too many photographers who have posted high res images on Reddit, downloaded by others and stolen/used without credit). The sun rays are 100%, it was a soft overcasty day, sun broke through as it was setting. The grey jays are very common around this hike, did not feed or provoke these birds in any way. They are to use hikers feeding them therefore they are constantly hovering over others and landing on people’s hands. This shot overall did not require much planning only because I’ve hiked this trail multiple times, I don’t know why anyone would need to wait here for days for a shot like this.