The Small Niltava is a very pretty bird. So pretty, infact, that blurred imperfections in the foreground don’t really matter. There is something about the quality and the range of the blues on his wings that is striking. The brilliant blue forehead and neck patch is as tricky to capture as it is stunning – mess with the exposure a bit here and you risk blowing out the details on those feathers. His jet-black eyes tends to reflect the catch-light in a manner that makes it look like a glistening bead of black onyx.

Catching the Small Niltava mid-song, for me, adds a lot of emotion into the frame and makes the image.