snow storm

Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow in a snow storm

By Mia McPherson, on December 24th, 2012%

Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow in a snow storm – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 1600, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

The White-crowned Sparrow in this image is small in the frame, the bird isn’t super sharp and there isn’t a lot of contrast or color to the photo either yet the image speaks to me.

When I look at this image I see the snow-covered shrub and can compare the size of the bird to how high the snow is piled up. I can see an icy ring of snow around the base of the bird’s bill. I see harsh conditions but I also see the small sparrow’s ability to survive and adapt to the environment.

I see more than the image itself.

Mia

It is a challenge to photograph in low light and even more so with snow falling heavily which is why I selected a higher ISO than I normally do, ISO 1600 is pushing it with my Nikon D300 and I also had to use positive exposure compensation so the image wouldn’t be too dark.

More White-crowned Sparrow images

At the Edge of a Storm

By Mia McPherson, on November 21st, 2012%

Snow storm approaching Antelope Island – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light

Last Sunday I photographed and posted a Prairie Falcon with a Northern Shoveler as prey and the next day I posted a Loggerhead Shrike taken on the same day, today I wanted to share images that were taken before the falcon and shrike. I mentioned that there had been low light, falling snow and that the weather conditions before photographing the Loggerhead Shrike and Prairie Falcon weren’t great.

This image was taken eleven minutes before the Loggerhead Shrike photo and about an hour before the first image of the Prairie Falcon was taken. There was a squall line coming in dumping snow on the Great Salt Lake that was heading northeast, in that tiny path of blue on the right side near the slope of Buffalo Point some distant mountains can be seen. Pretty ominous looking scenery.

Common Ravens in a storm – Nikon D300, f8, 1/400, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light

Within the same minute that I took the image above I created this image of two Common Ravens with the storm cloud behind them.

Not the best weather conditions for photography but it can create very moody images.

Mia

American Bison in the Snow

By Mia McPherson, on November 11th, 2012%

We’ve gotten a lot of snow in the Salt Lake Valley since Friday, I swept at least a foot of snow off my vehicle yesterday and about 3 to 4 inches on Friday, as I write this the snow is still falling.

We went out to Antelope Island yesterday despite the gray skies, low light and the falling snow and while most of the birds and animals were hunkered down, the Bison were not.

Bison fighting in a snow storm – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/250, ISO 400, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 70mm, natural light

Early in the morning the snow fall was heavy and the light was a challenge. In the image above even though I had used +1.7 exposure compensation I still had to lighten the darks some in post processing to show fine details.

As I photographed two Bison that were grazing close together they began to fight, with the snow coming down hard it was difficult to get images where the eyes of both Bison showed. These two fought for about a minute then separated and grazed some more.

Bison on a snowy day – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/640, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 200mm, natural light

Later on when the snow was coming down lighter I was able to get images that showed the nice detail of the snow-covered Bison fur.

Bison in the snow – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1/640, ISO 400, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 95mm, natural light

This Bison walked past with the Great Salt Lake in the background. The snow on his face is there because he had been pushing his nose through the snow to get to the grass below it.