{"id":32490,"date":"2015-11-13T05:26:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T12:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=32490"},"modified":"2025-10-31T12:45:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T17:45:06","slug":"an-american-pipit-with-a-spider-and-the-boulder-behind-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/13\/an-american-pipit-with-a-spider-and-the-boulder-behind-it\/","title":{"rendered":"An American Pipit with a spider and the boulder behind it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit with a spider – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was able to get a few images of an American Pipit with a spider two days ago while photographing the Peregrine Falcon<\/span><\/a> from the Antelope Island causeway.<\/p>\n

I’ve never seen as many pipits as I have this year and their high numbers have been going on for at least a month now. Every where I go to photograph birds I hear and see the pipits. They may have had a very good breeding season.<\/p>\n

This posts isn’t just about the American Pipit though, it is about eyes and the bokeh of a lens. In the image above the pipit and the spider and part of the rock it is perched on is in sharp focus while the background boulder is smooth and almost creamy looking.<\/p>\n

That is because of the bokeh of my lens causing the blur of the background.<\/p>\n

Bokeh has been defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”. It also describes the appearance or feeling of the out of focus areas.<\/p>\n

\"ProterozoicProterozoic Farmington Canyon gneiss<\/span> boulder in the background – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The pipit flew off rather quickly, I only took three images of it and the last image I took shows the Proterozoic Farmington Canyon gneiss<\/span> boulder that was behind the pipit.<\/p>\n

My lens very quickly focused on the boulder and because of the depth of field the rock the pipit had been perched on it out of focus in this frame.<\/p>\n

When I looked at this image I wanted to be able to show what features were in focus in this frame and not in focus and compare it to the frame with the pipit and spider in focus.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Pipit, spider and boulder composite<\/span><\/p>\n

By combining the two frames above as a composite I can show the boulder in the background much more sharply in focus along with the pipit and the spider (minus the birds shadow).<\/p>\n

If I had used f32 for my aperture I “might” have been able to get a frame with the bird, spider, boulder, and perch all in sharp focus but I think the swirls and textures of the background boulder take the focus away from the subject.<\/p>\n

I actually prefer the smooth bokeh of the first image because the focus is on the American Pipit<\/span><\/a> and the spider.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Pipit photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

See this post on Bokeh and Background Blurs<\/a><\/span> for more information on Bokeh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was able to get a few images of an American Pipit with a spider two days ago while photographing the Peregrine Falcon from the Antelope Island causeway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162488,"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":[4654,511,27,1022,26],"tags":[4004,2400,431,4655,1037,970,212,4138,4720,395,4620,5475,4895,4106,4721,4470,3901],"class_list":["post-32490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-pipits","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-pipit","tag-antelope-island-causeway","tag-anthus-rubescens","tag-aperture","tag-autumn","tag-bokeh","tag-boulder","tag-composite","tag-depth-of-field-2","tag-fall","tag-pipit","tag-pipits","tag-prey","tag-proterozoic-farmington-canyon-gneiss","tag-rocks","tag-spider"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-spider-mia-mcpherson-8662.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-8s2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41952,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/12\/american-pipits-at-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":32490,"position":0},"title":"American Pipits at Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits will soon be migrating through the Salt Lake Valley and I will hear their flight calls along the causeway to Antelope Island and the fields at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit at sunrise, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-pipit-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4115.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54441,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/05\/american-pipits-and-fall-migration\/","url_meta":{"origin":32490,"position":1},"title":"American Pipits and Fall Migration","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits aren't flashy birds, in fact some people might think they are rather plain or dull colored. I am always happy to have them in my viewfinder and to hear their flight calls in the breeze.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit about to fluff its feathers, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-rocks-mia-mcpherson-2555.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96866,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/02\/american-pipits-aka-buff-bellied-pipits\/","url_meta":{"origin":32490,"position":2},"title":"American Pipits – AKA Buff-bellied Pipits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been hearing American Pipits since around the end of September but so far this year I haven't been able to photograph even one of these birds.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit on a large wooden post, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/american-pipit-wooden-post-mia-mcpherson-1678.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49060,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/21\/american-pipit-stretch-lift-and-fluff\/","url_meta":{"origin":32490,"position":3},"title":"American Pipit – Stretch, Lift and Fluff","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"American Pipits aren't flashy birds, their coloring might even be called drab by some people, but I have a great time photographing them whenever I can.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit stretching both its wings, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-7852.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66058,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/03\/american-pipits-in-sweet-morning-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":32490,"position":4},"title":"American Pipits In Sweet Morning Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These are a few of my favorite photos that I have taken of American Pipits. Ever. Part of the reason they are my favorites is because of the sweet morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit in golden light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-2123.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49168,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/28\/one-second-american-pipit-scuffle\/","url_meta":{"origin":32490,"position":5},"title":"One Second American Pipit Scuffle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week while photographing birds at Farmington Bay WMA I was able to take images of a one second scuffle between two American Pipits.","rel":"","context":"In "American Pipits"","block_context":{"text":"American Pipits","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/mimids\/american-pipits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Pipit displaying defensive behavior, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-defensive-mia-mcpherson-2944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-defensive-mia-mcpherson-2944.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-defensive-mia-mcpherson-2944.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-pipit-defensive-mia-mcpherson-2944.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}