landscape photography

Changes to On The Wing Photography

By Mia McPherson, on January 11th, 2013%

Antelope Island mountains covered in snow

Because of image theft I have made some changes to my blog, one of the first that will be noticed by people who have subscribed to my blog is that I will only be using a summary for my published posts from now on. The reason for that is that content scrapers can access my images through my RSS feed. It pains me that I feel that I have to do this because there may be some of you who read my posts in your RSS feed rather than on my site.

Another things I have done is removed the link I had up at the top to my Bird and Nature W a l l p a p e r s and I removed those images from my site entirely. What started off as a gift from me to my viewers may have caused the image thieves to find my site and begin lifting my images from it.

I also changed or removed the word w a l l p a p e r everywhere so that the content scrapers don’t pick that up on a Google search. If you have a blog really consider not having the word w a l l p a p e r anywhere on it and don’t use it as a tag or a category.

I found a plugin that can block access to my blog by country and I have blocked a few countries from being able to see my blog because some of the content scrapers live there. It won’t stop all of the pukes that steal images but it will slow down some of them.

I am particularly fed up with w a l l p a p e r sites that steal our images to get money from advertisements that the rotten jerks place on their sites and how difficult it can be to get the images removed.

Seeing how rampant copyright infringement is on the web is disheartening at times. This is one of them.

Mia

Some scenic views from within Great Basin National Park, Nevada

By Mia McPherson, on October 24th, 2012%

View of Wheeler Peek from Mather Overlook

I didn’t have much luck photographing birds and wildlife last week in Great Basin National Park which is located in White Pine County, Nevada but I did take plenty of images of the scenery and the fall colors. This image was taken at the Mather Overlook (9,000 feet elevation) and shows Wheeler Peak (13,063 feet elevation) which is part of the South Snake Range. The mountain ranges in the Great Basin Region are called “sky islands” and they are separated by “seas” of deserts.

View of Mt. Moriah Wilderness Area in the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest

While driving down from Mather Overlook there are great views of the Mt. Moriah Wilderness Area in the northern part of the Snake Range.

Fall colors near Snake Creek

Poplars and Aspens provided splashes of yellows in the autumn landscape, these Poplars were along Snake Creek. The area also had Pinyon Pines, Junipers, Sagebrush and Rabbitbrush. By the way, the pine nuts from the Pinyon Pines in the area are delicious.

Another view from Snake Creek

The geological features of Great Basin National Park fascinated me, the mountains, streams, playas, rock formations and deserts kept drawing me into the wilderness and I imagined what life was like here for the early settlers and the Shoshone, Fremont People and Paleo-Indians that lived there before them.

View from near the Shoshone Trail

At higher elevations the Aspens had already lost their leaves.

Road to the Shoshone camping area – Great Basin National Park

I loved the quietness of the Snake Creek area roads that lead up to the Shoshone Camping Area, this area is away from the busier main section of the park and there are far fewer people in the area.

Bare Aspen view at the Shoshone camping area

I spotted some Mule Deer grazing while peering into this Aspen grove. I half expected to see a Bobcat cross the dirt road on the way up and as I stood taking this image I wish I could have heard the trumpeting calls of the Elks. Or the scream of a Mountain Lion.

The beauty of the area touched me deeply as I wandered around listening to the sound of Snake Creek coursing down the slope touching the stark white bark of the Aspens along with the pungent smell of Sagebrush.

I’m very glad to have visited and seen the treasures of Great Basin National Park.

Mia

Smokey sunrises in southwestern Montana

By Mia McPherson, on August 27th, 2012%

Wildfires have been burning in much of the western United States, before my trip to Montana the skies here in the Salt Lake Valley had been filled with it causing milky looking skies with a slight yellowish tinge. All the way from Salt Lake City, through Idaho and into southwestern Montana. I kept hoping that the smoke would drift away and that the fires would go out.

Smokey sunrise over the Lower Lake – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/180, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 120mm, natural light

The smoke-filled sky created interesting conditions at sunrise, the sun glowed differently as it rose above the mountains to the east of the misty Lower Lake.

Sunrise with smoke-filled skies – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/8000, ISO 320, -2.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 56mm, natural light

This image was taken the same morning as the first image, a little later and closer to the water.

Smoke-filled sunrise over the Lower Lake – Nikon D200, f16, 1/2500, ISO 320, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 200mm

On another morning I zoomed in all the way with my 18-200mm VR lens to capture the mist rising off of the lake as the sun rose into the layer of smoke as American Coots scurried around on the water’s surface.

While I was in southwestern Montana during the daylight hours the smoke seemed to either dissipate because of the wind or it hung over the mountains, a reminder of the large wildfires burning in neighboring Idaho.

The smoke got in the way for creating crisp images of the beautiful landscapes of southwestern Montana yet it also helped me to create the images above.

Mia

A Cool Mountain View

By Mia McPherson, on July 1st, 2012%

The temps are up all over the U.S. and almost everyone is feeling the heat, I know I am.

View of snow covered Wasatch Mountains from Frary Peak

I thought I would post another image that cools me down just by looking at it. This was taken the from the parking area for the Frary Peak Trailhead on Antelope Island State Park looking east towards the snow covered Wasatch Mountain Range in March of 2011.

Ahhhh

Mia