Guianan cock-of-the-rock

[Ivan Sjogren]

I just got back from a trip in the Brazilian parts of Amazonia were the goal was this iconic bird. To reach their lek you must pass the slipperiest bridge I ever witnessed. A row of two uneven, wet planks over a strong river and without railings. I heard many stories of people that had lost their camera gear after falling in the water on their way back or to the birds. Luckily, I made it across and witnessed one of the most memorable birding experiences of my life!

The colors are very intense of this bird but that seems to have resulted in some blurred details in the sRGB version. I'm also unsure if I should compose this shot as vertical or horizontal. I might post the horizontal in the comments later. All comments welcome!

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV | Canon 500mm f/4 IS L USM II | ISO 800 | 1/40s | f/5.6

[John Mack]

Snazzy looking bird. The vertical composition is nice too bad about the perch through the head. Not much you could do about that. 1/40sec must be a typo for 1/400? If not very sharp.

[gail bisson]

Hi Ivan,
What a bird! I think I would be over the moon to see this bird in real life.
Because I have never seen this bird in real life I will not comment about the colors except to say that I love the colors as shown. I see lots of details in the feathers as presented.
I see a bit of a magenta cast in the perch and BG and would address that. I would also blur/smooth out the OOF horizontal branch at the bottom of the frame.
How I wish you had been able to move 1-2 feet to your left to get rid of the branch intersecting with the head.
I would say vertical is the way to go.
Can you to post a shot of this bridge!
Gail

[Jack Backs]

Just a stunning bird. Agreed the branch coming out of the head is a bummer. It probably wouldn't bother me as much if it was in line with the branch below.
Since the branch below looks like it could possible be dead, I would probably be inclined to attempt to remove it. A little more difficult with the mottled background.

[annmpacheco]

Wowee what a bird and indeed it must have been quite the experience for you the bridge, the lek, the shot! I would crop vertical and remove the branch... I'm not certain of the intense color and if there is loss of details (brightest oranges) but worth trying to recover those details if you have them. Love the eye and the color coordinated feet! Hope you post more!

[William Dickson]

Beautiful image and the story adds so much...I had a play around with it, and it would definitely take it up a few notches with the OOF branch removed ...well done

Will

[Ivan Sjogren]

Thank you all very much for the suggestions and comments! I agree that the head intersecting with the perch is a shame, but the habitat didn't allow me to shoot in any other angle. These birds live in a super dense and scrubby forest so any steps to the left or right would have resulted in branches in front of the bird or a ruined BG. 1/40s is not a typo. I could have increased the ISO, and I did at first, but after securing a few shots I decided to go down and work at 800 as these birds can sit very still between displays. I will try to find a shot of the bridge Gail! Also getting back with a new post with another pose in the week. Thanks again!

[Arthur Morris]

I have seen similar species in life and I think that you can do a much better job with the color by starting over and playing at least with the luminosity of various color channels such as RED, YELLOW, and ORANGE as it definitely looks over-cooked and pretty much detail-less to me.

with love, artie

[Ivan Sjogren]

Here is a repost with some of the suggestions. Hope that it is better. I'm not sure what similar species you have seen Arthur as this is pretty much a one of a kind, I think there are plenty of details though. But the colors are indeed hard to manage. These birds seek out spotlights of sun to illuminate their plumage to females, so they really get vibrant. Of course, I want the image to look realistic so please advise in what direction I should tweak the luminosity if there is problem.

[Arthur Morris]

Thank Ivan. Still looks like wet enamel without any detail ... Is this a closely related species? From Peru. And yes, the photography was difficult.

with love, artie

[Arthur Morris]

ps: I brought yours into Photoshop and none of the RGB values were showing as hot ...

with love, artie

ps: what are others seeing?

[Ivan Sjogren]

Thank Ivan. Still looks like wet enamel without any detail ... Is this a closely related species? From Peru. And yes, the photography was difficult.

with love, artie

It is indeed a relative but I don't find it a good comparission from which to discuss color as this bird lives in other lightning conditions, and display a very different tone, more reddish, than its' eastern cousin. I'm getting confused by that fact that you don't see any details at all. I will go back to photoshop and see what I can do, but on my screen the image has plenty of feather details. Let's see what others think. Thank you very much for the input eitherway and very nice image! Also a very cool species

[Daniel Cadieux]

I rather like the colours, and do see lots of good details as well. I love the matching orange eye too! Bummer about that branch sticking out of the head though. Sounds like it was quite a memorable trip to see this bird!!