Bronze Cowbird Displaying

[Roy Priest]

I feel I was lucky to get one eye on this bird. The male hovers directly over the female and looks down at her almost the whole time. Not very good light so high iso for this camera.
Nikon D810, 1/800 @ F7.1, ISO 1600, 500mm, tripod

[Lorant Voros]

What a great pose...it would be perfect to have both eyes visible and indeed more light would be ideal. Still an interesting image. TFS.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice looking pose looks good with one eye but two would have been better.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I love it Roy! Not an image I recall seeing before. I am OK with one eye and no worries about high ISO. Still you could've pushed for more SS and a higher ISO. I am sure the camera would handle it well!
Good work man!

[Diane Miller]

The missing eye adds to the mystery for me. Amazing wing position! Good work!

[gail bisson]

Really nice Roy.
As I look at this I cannot help but think what a killer image this would be if both eyes were visible.
Love the pose especially the little crossed feet and the puffed out head feathers. Love the green BG against the black.
The DOF from head to the tail looks great.
It would have been nice to have a bit more SS. Don't be afraid to crank up the ISO!
Gail

[Mike Hitchen]

I like this shot - I am not too bothered about only being able to see one of his eyes as in this particular case 'breakign the rules' adds something indefinable to the image (maybe it is the a combination with the pose).

I have seen on various websites several comments (and some examples) where the D810 is virtually ISO-less and you can underexpose the D810 by up to 4 stops and recover in post processing without affecting the colour balance. That alone would help you get higher SS without increasing ISO. OUt of interest, have you given that try? I accept that dynamic range may take a hit but if it works it could prove invaluable in some situations.

[Marina Scarr]

Killer pose and behavior you captured here, Roy. The details in your blacks look awesome and I love seeing the crossed tootsies. Love the black against the green. I am good with only seeing one eye b/c the eye is such a focal point in the image.

When in Texas in 2011 I was thrilled to witness and photograph this behavior. If you care to take a peek, here is the link to my BPN thread from many moons ago. http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...Caped-Crusader. I am not trying to hijack your thread, and please advise if you'd like me to remove the link. Your image brought back some pretty cool memories.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the crossed feet, cape like wings, details, exposure, BG and composition. A very interesting image Roy!

[Robert Kimbrell]

Great behavior you captured here Roy. I like the crossed feet and Dof. I also feel you could have pushed The Iso a little higher, but you did well to get such a nice shot.