afternoon light – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Winter Ring-billed Gulls – From Low Light To Afternoon Light

By Mia McPherson|January 13th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: afternoon light, drinking, eating, flight, flying, gull, gulls, high key, Larus delawarensis, low light, Ring-billed Gull, snow, snowing, whiteout, winter|

I can't say that I prefer one of these Ring-billed Gull images over the other, the low light image is as appealing to me as the one I took in afternoon light. I enjoy them both.

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Focusing On A Feeding American Coot

By Mia McPherson|December 29th, 2018|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, afternoon light, American Coot, coot, coots, eating, Fulica americana, pond, shaking, urban, vegetation, water, winter|

At home when I could see the photos I had taken on a much larger screen I nearly choked on my laughter when I saw this image of the coot vigorously shaking its food

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Great-tailed Grackle Close Up In Late Afternoon Light

By Mia McPherson|December 21st, 2018|Categories: Birds, Great-tailed Grackles, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, afternoon light, close up, female, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, pond, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, urban|

I'm glad I had a few seconds to photograph this Great-tailed Grackle up close in the warm afternoon light before it was flushed and flew away.

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Peek-a-boo ~ Landing Canada Goose Peeking Through Its Wings

By Mia McPherson|December 11th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Swans, Ducks and Geese, Utah|Tags: afternoon light, autumn, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, fall, flight, flying, geese, goose, landing, peek-a-boo, pond, urban, water, wings|

One photo that made me laugh as soon as I saw it on my camera's LCD screen, a peek-a-boo Canada Goose peering at me through its wing tips as it came in to land on the pond.

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Female Great-tailed Grackle Portrait In Afternoon Light

By Mia McPherson|November 20th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Great-tailed Grackles, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, afternoon light, autumn, close up, fall, female, grackle, grackles, Great-tailed Grackle, perched, pond, portrait, Quiscalus mexicanus, sign, sky|

This female Great-tailed Grackle was the first bird I photographed yesterday and she was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of her in the nice afternoon light at my local pond.

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Some Of The Joys Of Photographing Birds Close To Home

By Mia McPherson|November 19th, 2018|Categories: American Coots, Birds, California Gulls, Canada Geese, Pied-billed Grebes, Ring-necked Ducks, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: afternoon light, American Coot, Aythya collaris, behavior, Branta canadensis, California Gull, Canada Geese, Circle Display, circling, duck, ducks, female, flight, flying, Fulica americana, geese, goose, grebe, grebes, gulls, hen, Larus californicus, lifting off, open bill, photograph, photographing, Pied-billed Grebe, Ring-necked Duck, underwater vegetation, waterfowl|

I spent some time at one of the local ponds yesterday afternoon and came home with photos that made me smile and for a little while I forgot about the long hours I spent getting skunked on the road earlier in the day.

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Ring-billed Gull In Flight – Changing Backgrounds From One Frame To The Next

By Mia McPherson|November 18th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: afternoon light, changing background, flight, gull, gulls, Larus delawarensis, Ring-billed Gull|

On New Year's Day this year I had a Ring-billed Gull in flight in my viewfinder as it flew quickly over my local pond, I knew that from one frame to another the background would change and that the exposure might too

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Common Mergansers Lifting Off In Sweet Golden Light

By Mia McPherson|November 8th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Swans, Ducks and Geese, Utah|Tags: afternoon light, Common Merganser, diving ducks, duck, ducks, evening light, golden light, landing, lift off, lifting off, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, pond, running, sliding, urban, water, waterfowl|

I'm fortunate that I live near two ponds here in Salt Lake City where I can find Common Mergansers at this time of the year and I appreciate being able to photograph them so close to home.

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An Immature Snow Goose in Salt Lake County

By Mia McPherson|January 11th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Salt Lake County, Snow Geese, Utah|Tags: afternoon light, Anser caerulescens, calling, drink, flight, geese, goose, immature, juvenile, low light, preening, Snow Geese, urban, waterfowl, winter, young|

I can't be certain this is the same goose that I saw on December 26th but I found an immature Snow Goose feeding with some Canada Geese in the grass across the pond.

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Photographing Canada Geese in Flight in Fog and Golden Afternoon Light

By Mia McPherson|January 9th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: afternoon light, Branta canadensis, calling, Canada Geese, flight, flying, fog, foggy, geese, golden light, goose, photograph, photographing, pond, thick fog, waterfowl|

These two photos of Canada Geese were taken in very different lighting conditions and while both tested my skills as a bird photographer one of them required more thought from me and challenged my skills more too.

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Coots, Coots and More Coots

By Mia McPherson|January 2nd, 2018|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, afternoon light, aggressive, aggressive behavior, American Coot, chase, coot, coots, Fulica americana, pond, territory, urban, water, winter|

The last birds I photographed in 2017 were American Coots and some of the first birds I took photos of in 2018 were also coots.

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Mallards In Flight In Golden Afternoon Light

By Mia McPherson|December 29th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, afternoon light, Anas platyrhynchos, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, female, flight, flying, hens, male, Mallard, pond, urban, waterfowl, winter|

Photographing the Mallards in flight in golden afternoon light was a terrific way to end my bird photography session for the evening.

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Common Mergansers Landing & Lifting Off

By Mia McPherson|December 28th, 2017|Categories: Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, afternoon light, Common Merganser, diving ducks, duck, ducks, female, first winter, hen, immature, landing, lift off, lifting off, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, pond, running, sliding, urban, water, waterfowl, winter, young|

I'm over the moon that I was able to photograph these Common Mergansers landing and lifting off from the pond yesterday and I am pleased with the photos I took.

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Canada Geese Portraits

By Mia McPherson|December 15th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, afternoon light, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canada Goose, close up, geese, goose, open bill, pond, portrait, urban, water, waterfowl, winter|

Three days ago when the sun broke through the clouds in the afternoon I went to the pond and was able to take several Canada Geese portraits with the blue water of the pond in the background.

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