Blue Pitta

Gallery: AvianPosted January 21, 20091,038 views27 comments

This Blue Pitta very close to the blind at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary was the top highlight of our recent Thailand trip. Full frame, a bit of noise reduction applied to the bg. It's certainly one of the most beautiful birds that I've seen and photographed.

Mk3 500F4 1/25 F5.6, iso 1250, evaluative metering -0.3, 580ex -1.0, Gitzo tripod, blind.

Comments

27 comments

Comment posted by Sandra Hendrikse on January 21, 2009 at 4:40 AM

Lovely picture of this colourful bird. Tack sharp and a nice blurry background.

Registered on January 23, 2008, 48 Posts, 769 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Ramos on January 21, 2009 at 6:58 AM

For sure this is a gorgeous bird and having it full frame gives me goosebumps wouldn't ask for more this image would make anybody day,

Registered on December 24, 2008, 43 Posts, 281 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Spiecker on January 21, 2009 at 9:55 AM

Great colors, perch and presentation. Do all Pitta's lack a long tail? it must have been a great trip Nate.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 366 Posts, 4649 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on January 21, 2009 at 10:24 AM

Thanks Hans, all pittas that I know of have a quite short tail like this and spend almost all of their time walking on the forest floor.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Satie Sharma on January 21, 2009 at 10:25 AM

Very beautiful indeed. Lovely colors and pose here. Excellent techs and PP here.

Registered on November 11, 2003, 189 Posts, 5335 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Losin on January 21, 2009 at 11:10 AM

That's some bird :) Great shot, Nate.

Registered on September 16, 2005, 145 Posts, 3524 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on January 21, 2009 at 12:14 PM

Wow, that is a beauty, well done! If he'd turned around I think I would've liked it more, as is the foreground is a little unbalanced, but you can't have everything.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Retzloff on January 21, 2009 at 2:51 PM

Wow, this is an excellent shot. Wonderfully in focus. Job well done.

Registered on July 19, 2008, 22 Posts, 130 Comments

Comment posted by Judith Russell-Too on January 21, 2009 at 2:54 PM

Beautiful colors and image.

Registered on November 10, 2007, 129 Posts, 403 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Danzenbaker on January 21, 2009 at 3:16 PM

Wow; for tropical forest bird photos, it doesn't get any better than this.

Did you try for Gurney's? I believe they have a blind set up for that one too.

Registered on December 2, 2003, 40 Posts, 791 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on January 21, 2009 at 3:19 PM

Another wow bird . Congrats Nate

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on January 21, 2009 at 5:12 PM

I agree about how beautiful this bird is. As always you have captured it with all its wonderful details. I haven't yet seen a bird image you've taken that I didn't think was superb.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Scoles on January 21, 2009 at 6:21 PM

What a great looking bird! And you photographed it so nicely. I always enjoy your photos!! I wonder if people in other countries find our North American birds as interesting as I find birds from around the world.

Registered on August 21, 2008, 42 Posts, 214 Comments

Comment posted by Julia Flanagan on January 21, 2009 at 6:33 PM

Wow! It is indeed one of the most beautiful birds. It needs a tail. But that just makes it cuter (is that a word?). Never seen one of these before. Your capture is just great and at 1/25s I'm amazed at the clarity you managed.
Thanks for sharing!

Registered on November 13, 2003, 59 Posts, 986 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on January 21, 2009 at 7:29 PM

Hi Mike D, Thanks! I haven't tried for Gurney's yet, maybe on another trip. Thanks to everyone for your kind comments.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Charlie VanTassel on January 21, 2009 at 8:22 PM

So it looks like your trip was a success. I can see the big smile on your face after taking this one. Just fantastic, Nate.

Registered on October 18, 2006, 644 Posts, 4801 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on January 21, 2009 at 8:54 PM

What a beautiful bird Nate. Very nice use of flash fill. From your techs it looks like some really challenging light.At ISO 1250 and 1/25th I would say you did a spectacular job on this one.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on January 21, 2009 at 9:28 PM

Superb!!

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on January 22, 2009 at 12:46 AM

Fabulous image, Nate! Amazing colours this bird has!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 22, 2009 at 2:22 AM

The colors look almost translucent, stunning. Nice contrast in lightness between subject and surroundings. Thanks for posting Nate.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 22, 2009 at 7:09 AM

Nate,

This Pitta has such lovely colors, I can see why it was a higlight of your trip. The feather details & patterns are very interesting and I like the pose of the bird.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Alexandr Pospech on January 22, 2009 at 2:34 PM

yeah 1/25... good work to get it with this time
beautiful

Registered on January 22, 2009, 22 Posts, 57 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on January 23, 2009 at 11:00 AM

Very interesting bird beautifully photographed.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on January 23, 2009 at 8:14 PM

Stunning, can't wait to get into the rainfoest.

cheers Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by David Sparks on January 24, 2009 at 7:22 AM

Wonderful shot of a beautiful bird. Congratulations on being there and capturing this image.

Registered on May 26, 2007, 290 Posts, 4270 Comments

Comment posted by Douglas Graham on May 21, 2009 at 6:06 PM

Man great capture. Thailand seems to be a real hot spot these days. Lots of great photos and stories coming out of there lately. Nate do you know if this bird in the quail family?

Registered on May 14, 2009, 123 Posts, 522 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on October 15, 2010 at 11:29 AM

Better late than never, Nate - I've only just seen this! This is fantastic and I know just how shy this bird is. What I managed to get is nowhere as good as this capture of yours.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments