Birds with Red Eyes

What can I say other than congratulations on such a wonderful capture. BOTH of the submitted Night Heron w/ fish photos are stunning. This one in particular stands out. The character and attitude of this bird (one of my fav's btw) is clear in the capture. The straight on capture of BOTH red eyes, the depth of field, the soft dark background to capture the lines and light plumage, even the opportune curve of the fish to match the curve of the heron's body ! So much to love here. A stunning portrait that captures character, habit, and embodies the contest brief all at once! Thank you, Thank you for sharing this image!

This capture is terrific. To begin with the centering and clarity of the red eye had it in my top ten favorites immediately, the dark / black background serves to highlight every aspect of this stunning creature, ESPECIALLY and most notably its namesake, the white "wooly-neck", The excellent LIGHTING captures the highlights of the plumage, which easily, if under-lit, would have blended in to the black background and the capture would be lost. You have also managed to, in a still portrait capture some real character in the birds face and stance. Terrific CONTRAST! I'd love to see this piece as the only piece of art on a large white wall. A stunning bird portrait. Thank you for sharing!

This image is stunning. There are MANY elements to love, not the least of which are clarity, texture, detail, exposure, terrific lines, softness of tone...but MOSTLY, I can clearly see the connection this beautiful bird is making with the camera and photographer...as curious and involved as you were ! Usually I don't consider photographs that don't include the entirety of ay least the birds head and beak, however, this contest was centered on the red eye, and this embodies the brief perfectly. A symbiotic mild moment of acceptance and connection. Thank you so much for sharing this image!

First of all what a stunning subject! An extremely handsome bird. And right on target with the brief. I kept coming back to this photo, ultimately including it in the top ten. The featuring of the deep red eye just off center, with perfect lighting, (while still capturing the entirety of this marvelous bird), the mimicking of the eye in the soft pink berries, the variance and contrast in color framing this guy, and the framing of the branch and lighter green leaves, and soft pink and purple hues that also appear in the plumage, to help highlight the subject, all make this an excellent photograph. Just enough exposure to allow the plumage to really show the namesake "Glossy". My only reservation at first being that with such a gorgeous, glossy plumage, that the image be a tad bit sharper, but ultimately, the light background helps the eye really focus on the subject and the clarity is very good, with extremely clean, definitive lines. Thank you for sharing this image!