Blue Pitta (Thailand) and 2019 Favorites!!!

[Dorian Anderson]

If there was one shot I wanted from Thailand, this is it! This amazing bird visited a deep forest hide outside Kaeng Krachan NP, about 2 hours west of
Bangkok. This individual was incredibly spooky and would only come to offered worms when the array was vacated by the many squirrels which
frequented it. Woodpeckers didn't like this guy, and several chased him from the array to truncate his first of two visits during my vigil. He appeared
again 2 hours later, and there was enough light for me to close down to f/5 for a bit more DOF across him that time. Still a hella slow shutter at 1/100!

Like Daniel I also created a gallery of my favorite shots from this past year. With visits to New Zealand, Colombia, and Thailand, I certainly saw a
lot of cool birds last year! There are 19 shots in the gallery, and the shooting info, circumstances, and relevant trivia are indicated under each.

https://www.dorianandersonphotography.com/Yearly-Favorites/2019-Favorites/

Almost needless to say, this shot is included among my favorites! Wish all my Thailand shots were this sharp......

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX2
1/100 at f/5, ISO 3200
Processed in LR CC. Strong NR on background. Cloned a few light spots of the mound/perch. All natural light despite catchlight suggesting otherwise.

184722

[Arthur Morris]

A stunner of an image and bird. Consider a pano crop to lose the o-o-f hill at the bottom.

with love, artie

[kevin Hice]

One neat bird and shot Dorian. I can see why your happy. I will definitely look at your other favorites. TFS

[dankearl]

Very nice, bird is sharp throughout. Nice work at 1/100.. not sure going to f5 matters, I try it
but DOF is so shallow, it is probably better to save iso.....
I would take some off the bottom. above the oof mound.
My fav photo of the year of yours is the Sword Hummer.

[gail bisson]

Great Top 20 and several of your species are the same ones I captured in NZ.
I like them all but I love the antpitta and kaki.
Lovely image here. Another species that is new to me.
Looks great for 1/100.
I too, would crop some off the bottom to eliminate that OOF mound.
Gail

[Dorian Anderson]

The suggested crop with some off the bottom. The more I look at this tighter crop, the more I like it. Bird really jumps off background here. Thanks for the suggestions!

184737

[Aditya Sridhar]

Love the repost which fixed the only nit I had in this image. Gorgeous bird with those bands and colors. Pittas are notoriously skulky and I've yet to photograph one.

WRT the 2019 list (totally jealous btw :t3), my favorite has to be the Semi-Palmated Sandpiper. I love the super clean image design and contrast.

[Colin Driscoll]

Man what a happy capture, and the re-post really does the bird justice showing much more detail.

[Bill Dix]

Terrific sharp capture of this beautiful bird. Repost makes a big difference. Thanks for sharing your wonderful favorites - winners all. You definitely had a good 2019; can't wait to see what you come up with in 2020.

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful Species, Love the colors. Repost is really nice.


TFS

[John Mack]

What a neat looking bird. Framing looks fine to me. Really dig those colors in the background.