{"id":2335,"date":"2011-05-16T07:16:22","date_gmt":"2011-05-16T14:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2335"},"modified":"2025-10-02T18:00:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T23:00:50","slug":"northern-harrier-in-low-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/05\/16\/northern-harrier-in-low-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Harrier in Low Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthernNorthern Harrier hunting on a low light winter day – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited <\/span><\/p>\n

I was digging through my archives to place my 2011 photos into a new external hard drive when I came across these two images of a Northern Harrier<\/span><\/a> hovering that I had taken in January of this year and decided to post them because of the low light conditions I photographed the harrier in.<\/p>\n

Utah weather can be unpredictable anytime of the year but during the winter it can look bright and sunny where I live and then when I get to\u00a0my location to photograph it can be quite a different story.<\/p>\n

The Salt Lake Valley has mountains to the east and the west and mountains do make their own weather.<\/p>\n

Plus given the fact that Northern Harriers prefer areas with marshes or shorelines and the fog found there can create even more challenges.<\/p>\n

These two images were taken when there was snow falling, the light was low and there was some fog. I had to increase my exposure compensation so that the images would not be under exposed which decreased my shutter speed giving the images some motion blur.<\/p>\n

Newer cameras than mine do handle higher ISO settings than 400 quite well which would give the users of those cameras higher shutter speeds than I was able to get with my trusty, but old, Nikon D200.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Harrier floating over a snowy field –\u00a0<\/strong> Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited <\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t mind the motion blur in these images and because northern harriers hunt by looking down at the ground for their prey I was very happy to get eye contact in both frames.<\/p>\n

The habitat with dried vegetation, snow on the ground, and bits of falling snow make the photos appealing to me as do the poses that the harrier gave me.<\/p>\n

I could have used some fill flash but at least 99% or more of my images are taken in natural light. I prefer photographing birds without flash partly because I don’t care for the “flashed” look and because I also do not want to startle or scare the birds.<\/p>\n

I’ve seen people get close to birds and when the flash goes off…so does the bird in many cases.<\/p>\n

Appealing and compelling images can be produced even when the conditions are not the best. I enjoy the challenges that low light creates, it test my skills as a photographer and I like that.<\/p>\n

Low light images are also a challenge to post process and<\/span> keep the photo looking like what it is, an image taken in low light.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I don’t mind the motion blur in these images and because northern harriers hunt by looking down at the ground for their prey I was very happy to get eye contact in both frames. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158954,"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":[27,1022,697,348,26],"tags":[215,4021,2663,765,768,4052,4175,2783,3164,4169,4174,771,156,767,610,4006,153,4050,4176,373],"class_list":["post-2335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-bird-id","tag-bird-photography","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-falling-snow","tag-flight","tag-fog","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawks","tag-hovering-2","tag-inversion","tag-low-light-2","tag-marsh-hawk","tag-marshes","tag-northern-harrier","tag-raptors","tag-snow","tag-wasatch-mountains","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-winter-hovering-utah-mia-mcpherson-0653.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-BF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1454,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/24\/northern-harrier-gray-ghost\/","url_meta":{"origin":2335,"position":0},"title":"Northern Harrier – Gray Ghost","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I will have more opportunities with northern harriers in better light this winter and while I wouldn't consider this image perfect, I am happy with the results I obtained while photographing this \"Gray Ghost\".","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\u201cGray Ghost\u201d, male Northern Harrier in hovering flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29031,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/10\/07\/a-hovering-harrier-head-down-and-eyes-on-the-ground\/","url_meta":{"origin":2335,"position":1},"title":"Hovering Harrier – Head Down and Eyes on the Ground","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this hovering Northern Harrier several years ago at Farmington Bay Water Fowl Management Area as it scanned the ground below for prey.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hovering Harrier, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-hovering-mia-mcpherson-4534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-hovering-mia-mcpherson-4534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-hovering-mia-mcpherson-4534.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2290,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/05\/07\/nesting-northern-harrier\/","url_meta":{"origin":2335,"position":2},"title":"Nesting Northern Harrier","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Tt was the first time that I have ever seen a Northern Harrier building a nest. It more than made my day!","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":"Female Northern Harrier slowing down above the nest, Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-nesting-material-landing-mia-mcpherson-2112.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-nesting-material-landing-mia-mcpherson-2112.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-nesting-material-landing-mia-mcpherson-2112.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6782,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/13\/female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":2335,"position":4},"title":"Female Northern Harrier in flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Typically I see far more Northern Harriers in the winter here in Utah than I do during the breeding season which might be partly due to the harriers preferring to nest within marshy wetland areas which are in abundance around the Great Salt Lake.","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":"Female Northern Harrier in flight over the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-female-mia-mcpherson-1446.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-female-mia-mcpherson-1446.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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