{"id":20525,"date":"2015-02-22T06:08:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-22T13:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20525"},"modified":"2025-09-01T13:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T18:26:15","slug":"great-egrets-in-varying-light-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/22\/great-egrets-in-varying-light-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Egrets In Varying Light Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LandingLanding Great Egret in golden morning light – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Photography depends on light and for bird photography the best light is often at dawn, just after the sun rises, late afternoon and just before the sun goes down. The best light can be fleeting though so it is always best to photograph as much as you can during the “golden hours”.<\/p>\n

The Great Egret above was photographed during not long after the sun had risen and the kiss of gold of the rising sun can still be seen on the egret’s white plumage. Just a touch, but still evident.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Egret in pastel predawn light – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 240mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I lived in Florida I was quite often at my shooting location before dawn for a few reasons, one was that I enjoyed the solitude I found before the crowd swarmed the beach, secondly I loved to watch the sun rise and finally for the opportunity to photograph birds in predawn light.<\/p>\n

Predawn light is soft and when there is water in the frame the colors are often pastel in hue. This Great Egret was photographed before the sun had actually risen over the horizon and to my delight the water reflected the predawn, pale blue sky. Not long after this was taken the light changed as the sun rose and everything took on that “golden” glow.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Egret and a stormy sky – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The light before a storm comes in can be dramatic, lighting up the foreground while dark clouds form and roll in. The light the morning I photographed this Great Egret was that kind of light. The egret glowed in front of the brooding clouds in the background. This light was fleeting too because not long after I photographed the egret clouds formed to the east and the light changed for a short while.<\/p>\n

You might even say photographers chase the light, I know I do.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

All these photos of Great Egrets were taken at Fort De Soto<\/span><\/a> between 2008 and 2009.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Great Egret photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best light can be fleeting though so it is always best to photograph as much as you can during the “golden hours”. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153751,"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":[27,25,704,362],"tags":[4004,4272,4021,5132,743,351,4052,363,3997,4123,4099,3980,4234,11392,4018,9390,609,5113,4001,313],"class_list":["post-20525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-great-egrets","tag-adult","tag-ardea-alba","tag-bird-photography","tag-coastal","tag-egret","tag-egrets","tag-flight","tag-great-egret","tag-lagoon","tag-landing","tag-morning-light","tag-pinellas-county","tag-pre-dawn-light","tag-predawn-light","tag-sky","tag-stormy","tag-stormy-skies","tag-stump","tag-wading-bird","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-landing-mia-mcpherson-9898.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5l3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":106501,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/09\/24\/snowy-egret-in-a-natural-spotlight\/","url_meta":{"origin":20525,"position":0},"title":"Snowy Egret In A Natural Spotlight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When this Snowy Egret emerged from the shadows and into the sunlight yesterday morning, I briefly forgot to breathe. The egret appeared to be glowing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Egret stepping into the light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/snowy-egret-in-spotlight-mia-mcpherson-6585.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/snowy-egret-in-spotlight-mia-mcpherson-6585.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/snowy-egret-in-spotlight-mia-mcpherson-6585.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/snowy-egret-in-spotlight-mia-mcpherson-6585.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":116268,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/26\/snowy-egret-in-marsh-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":20525,"position":1},"title":"Snowy Egret In Marsh Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the first birds I photographed this autumn was this fluffed-up Snowy Egret glowing in a natural spotlight in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Egret in morning light at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/snowy-egret-marsh-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-1077-Copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/snowy-egret-marsh-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-1077-Copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/snowy-egret-marsh-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-1077-Copy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/snowy-egret-marsh-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-1077-Copy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5161,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/10\/great-egret-on-a-stormy-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":20525,"position":2},"title":"Great Egret On A Stormy Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I posted a Snowy Egret hunting in early morning light and mentioned that early morning or late afternoon light can add drama to an image, in today's post I will explain a bit more about the dramatic light in the Snowy Egret image and these images of a Great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Egret in flight with a storm in the background, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/great-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6474.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/great-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6474.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/great-egret-in-a-tree-mia-mcpherson-7811.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5141,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/05\/birds-of-bear-river-mbr-snowy-egrets\/","url_meta":{"origin":20525,"position":4},"title":"Birds of Bear River MBR – Snowy Egrets","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently I spent two days in a row photographing birds at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge (aka Bear River National Wildlife Refuge) and found plenty of birds to aim my lens at.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Egret about to land in a marsh at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6154.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-flight-mia-mcpherson-6154.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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