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Rupicola peruvianus
The Andean Cock-of-the-Rock is a medium size passerine bird with brilliant red plumage and a very distinct crest of feathers that extends over the short orange red bill in males. The females however are more drab rusty brown but have the crest of feathers extending from the crown as well.
Slopes of Mid-elevation terra firma in the Andes mountains
Andean Cock-of-the-rock is one of the hardest species to photograph at some leks. This was no exception. The bird starts displaying before the sun should be up, metering on cameras will give you a 1-3" shutter at ISO 3200 at this time. You have to wait till you manage enough light and hope the birds are still there and not gone. This bird was shot with a 700mm Lens resting on a blind. Exposure was: ISO 3200, Shutter 1/8, F/5.6
Spotted on Dec 6, 2013
Submitted on Dec 15, 2013
2 Comments
That and about a billion other people when I went pushing and bumping your camera making camera shake a major issue with lack of tripod. If I had a tripod and no one else around, I would've been able to get killer shots. It was a missed opportunity in a way, but an incredible experience regardless. I added a video that was taken a little bit before this image was shot. The video was 1/30 shutter, ISO 6400, F4
Nice one Cody, it came out better than what I could get. Like you said the lack of light was a problem and flashes are not allowed.