{"id":40303,"date":"2016-07-03T04:49:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-03T10:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40303"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:13:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T18:13:48","slug":"explore-dream-discover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/03\/explore-dream-discover\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore. Dream. Discover."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SettingSetting Moon over the West Desert<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn\u2019t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Mark Twain<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

Looking back over the last 20 years of my life I can see many times where I threw off the bowlines and sailed away from safe harbor. I went exploring, I dreamed and discovered. I’ve been back and forth across the country more times than I can count plus seen new countries and explored each place I visited with the curiosity of a child.<\/p>\n

Because I explored, dreamed and discovered I found my passion for bird photography. I started off photographing the scenery of those new vistas which graduated to taking images of flowers and insects before my bird photography addiction set in.<\/p>\n

Explore. Dream. Discover. Then repeat again.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Utah landscape and travel photos.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking back over the last 20 years of my life I can see many times where I threw off the bowlines and sailed away from safe harbor. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174632,"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":[358,26,1314],"tags":[2069,5256,5257,5255,5254,225,5253],"class_list":["post-40303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-blue-sky","tag-discover","tag-dream","tag-explore","tag-mark-twain","tag-moon","tag-setting-moon"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/moon-mia-mcpherson-3805.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-au3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":76602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/31\/2020-photographic-year-in-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":40303,"position":0},"title":"2020 Photographic Year In Review","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Golden Eagle in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-9219.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96080,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/10\/october-west-desert-views-of-clouds-mountains-and-the-moon\/","url_meta":{"origin":40303,"position":1},"title":"October West Desert Views Of Clouds, Mountains, And The Moon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I wanted to share these photos of some West Desert views of clouds, mountains, and the moon because I'd like to be out there seeing and photographing them all.","rel":"","context":"In "Stansbury Mountains"","block_context":{"text":"Stansbury Mountains","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/stansbury-mountains-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"October West Desert view, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-october-view-mia-mcpherson-6909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-october-view-mia-mcpherson-6909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-october-view-mia-mcpherson-6909.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/west-desert-october-view-mia-mcpherson-6909.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":128732,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/05\/19\/tishomingo-wildlife-management-unit-views\/","url_meta":{"origin":40303,"position":2},"title":"Tishomingo Wildlife Management Unit Views Plus A Sunbathing Turkey Vulture","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I wandered around Tishomingo Wildlife Management Unit yesterday morning. It was gorgeous and peaceful! I know I will go back to explore it again soon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reeve's Ravine lake view and road, Tishomingo Wildlife Management Unit, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/tishomingo-wildlife-management-unit-oklahoma-2820.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/tishomingo-wildlife-management-unit-oklahoma-2820.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/tishomingo-wildlife-management-unit-oklahoma-2820.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/tishomingo-wildlife-management-unit-oklahoma-2820.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7980,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/31\/female-horned-lark-and-the-moon-setting-over-the-stansbury-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":40303,"position":3},"title":"Female Horned Lark And The Moon Setting Over The Stansbury Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photograph tons of male Horned Larks but don't have that many images of female Horned Larks, I was happy to find this beautiful female dancing and singing on a boulder in early morning light yesterday in Tooele County, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing female Horned Lark in Tooele County, Utah.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/horned-lark-singing-female-mia-mcpherson-3733.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15250,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/21\/happy-summer-solstice\/","url_meta":{"origin":40303,"position":4},"title":"Happy Summer Solstice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Summer Solstice.","rel":"","context":"In "Florida"","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Moonset on the Summer Solstice, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/summer-solstice-2008-mia-mcpherson-3741.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/summer-solstice-2008-mia-mcpherson-3741.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/summer-solstice-2008-mia-mcpherson-3741.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/summer-solstice-2008-mia-mcpherson-3741.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2735,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/09\/summer-lunacy-nikons-image-overlay-function\/","url_meta":{"origin":40303,"position":5},"title":"Summer Lunacy – Nikon’s Image Overlay Function","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Nikon's Image Overlay Function. Yes, I was experimenting with a little bit of Summer Lunacy. This is a bit whimsical and it makes me smile.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Summer Lunacy, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/summer-full-moon-osprey-florida-mia-mcpherson-3168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/summer-full-moon-osprey-florida-mia-mcpherson-3168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/summer-full-moon-osprey-florida-mia-mcpherson-3168.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/summer-full-moon-osprey-florida-mia-mcpherson-3168.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\/40303","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=40303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}