{"id":18583,"date":"2015-01-15T05:11:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T12:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=18583"},"modified":"2026-02-01T12:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:53:12","slug":"making-the-most-out-of-low-light-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/01\/15\/making-the-most-out-of-low-light-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Making The Most Out Of Low Light Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HighHigh key and small in the frame Loggerhead Shrike – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 1250, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

After 6 days without going into the field I went to Farmington Bay WMA yesterday even though the light was cruddy because my addiction finally got the best of me and I needed a fix.<\/p>\n

One of the first birds that was close enough to photograph was a Loggerhead Shrike perched on top of some phragmites with nothing but clouds in the background. I knew it was going to be high key and that the shrike would be small in the frame but at that point in time I thought it might be the only bird I would photograph so I cranked up my ISO and exposure compensation and took some shots. I’m not sure I like the image all that much but it might grow on me.<\/p>\n

\"Red-wingedRed-winged Blackbird male displaying – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/500, ISO 1250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The next bird I was able to photograph was a male Red-winged Blackbird displaying on some phrags very close to the road. I opted to keep my D810 in DX mode and the blackbird nearly filled the frame. It seemed odd seeing this male and one nearby already displaying like this in January but later in the day I spotted two Red-tailed Hawks in a nest and that truly seems way too early to me. We have had such a strange, warm winter so far, maybe the birds are confused.<\/p>\n

The low light really wasn’t as challenging with this blackbird as it had been with the shrike and I liked the back view of the raised colorful epaulets in this frame.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Belted Kingfisher – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 1250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The last bird I photographed was this male Belted Kingfisher and I was surprised that it stuck around as long as it did. I wished for better light and a more appealing perch as I took frame after frame of this normally elusive species.<\/p>\n

To date, these are the closest images I have of Belted Kingfishers and I am happy with how they turned out.<\/p>\n

I can’t imagine using my first DSLR, a Nikon D70, at the high ISO’s I feel confident using with my Nikon D810 because the images using the D70 would have been filled with excessive noise but with the D810 I don’t give it a second thought because it handles high ISO’s so well.<\/p>\n

I spent my time in the field yesterday making the most of the low light conditions. Hopefully the light will be better soon.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of\u00a0 my bird photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last bird I photographed was this male Belted Kingfisher and I was surprised that it stuck around as long as it did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[500,27,697,247,419,26],"tags":[4151,2432,4021,3813,3483,3981,1123,4934,4933,4171,4066,156,3008,4324,3906,3907],"class_list":["post-18583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belted-kingfishers","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-loggerhead-shrikes","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-belted-kingfisher","tag-bird-photography","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-davis-county","tag-high-key-2","tag-kingfisher","tag-kingfishers","tag-lanius-ludovicianus","tag-loggerhead-shrike","tag-low-light-2","tag-megaceryle-alcyon","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-shrike","tag-shrikes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/belted-kingfisher-male-mia-mcpherson-4113.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4PJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101743,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/23\/loggerhead-shrike-population-decline-concerns\/","url_meta":{"origin":18583,"position":0},"title":"Loggerhead Shrike Population Decline Concerns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"About two weeks ago I found an adult Loggerhead Shrike perched on a lichen covered rock in northern Utah a good distance from the road that I was on.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loggerhead Shrike perched on a lichen covered rock, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-lichen-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-lichen-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-lichen-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6340.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-lichen-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6340.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109638,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/16\/winter-loggerhead-shrike\/","url_meta":{"origin":18583,"position":1},"title":"Winter Loggerhead Shrike: A Species In Decline","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Due to extended gray, cloudy weather and not getting out into the field I dug into my archives and today I am sharing a photo of a winter Loggerhead Shrike.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loggerhead Shrike in winter, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1741,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/01\/02\/northern-loggerhead-shrikes\/","url_meta":{"origin":18583,"position":2},"title":"Northern & Loggerhead Shrikes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Today was a good day, I finally took some images of a Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor) that weren't taken from too far away.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Northern Shrike on a cold Utah day, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-utah-mia-mcpherson-0402.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-utah-mia-mcpherson-0402.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-utah-mia-mcpherson-0402.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/13\/it-is-time-to-look-for-northern-shrikes\/","url_meta":{"origin":18583,"position":3},"title":"Time to look for Northern Shrikes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I write about the raptors I expect to see during the winter in Utah but there are also song birds I keep an eye out for too like this immature Northern Shrike.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Northern Shrike at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0394.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0394.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2061,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/03\/10\/antelope-island-loggerhead-shrikes\/","url_meta":{"origin":18583,"position":4},"title":"Antelope Island Loggerhead Shrikes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I wrote that I was looking forward to the birds that arrive here in the spring and yesterday I was able to photograph some of the Loggerhead Shrikes that I mentioned.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loggerhead Shrike in early spring, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-mia-mcpherson-8978.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-mia-mcpherson-8978.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-mia-mcpherson-8978.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6567,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/12\/loggerhead-shrike-in-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":18583,"position":5},"title":"Loggerhead Shrike in Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This Loggerhead Shrike was one of the few birds I photographed yesterday on Antelope Island before the Prairie Falcon with a Northern Shoveler as prey that I posted yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loggerhead Shrike on a snowy November day, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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