{"id":49265,"date":"2017-11-03T06:27:23","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T12:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=49265"},"modified":"2026-01-19T08:43:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:43:18","slug":"immature-red-tailed-hawk-looking-at-the-rising-sun-plus-a-new-personal-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/03\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-looking-at-the-rising-sun-plus-a-new-personal-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk Looking At The Rising Sun – Plus a New Personal Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature Red-tailed Hawk looking at the rising sun – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 321mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The wind is blowing hard outside because a weather front is coming in, that means we might get some rain tomorrow which we can always use here in Utah. In previous years we have already had snow in the valley by this time but this fall has been warmer than usual.<\/p>\n

I dug way back into my archives and found this immature Red-tailed Hawk photo for my post today. I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk while in a canyon going up into the Stansbury Mountains as the bird looked into the rising sun.<\/p>\n

This photo made me think about how for for years I have avoided photographing birds in this Stansbury Mountain Range<\/span><\/a> location because the sun rises south of the east-west road at this time of the year and the images can be contrasty at times.<\/p>\n

There can be extremes in the shadows of the mountains in the distance and the brightness of the sagebrush on the slopes can be too light.<\/p>\n

Light colors can easily be blown out when trying to get details in the darker colors, in other words getting the correct exposure there can be tricky, challenging, and hard.<\/p>\n

I think I have wanted “perfect” lighting there and truth be told it just isn’t possible in that location for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n

I have wondered lately if I have gotten into a bit of a rut, photographically speaking, of always wanting to have the sun over my shoulder with “perfect” light falling directly on my subject.<\/p>\n

I have found myself craving opportunities with my bird and wildlife subjects in side lighting, back lighting, and rim lighting situations to name a few.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because I find there there is visual drama and appeal to that kind of lighting and those kinds of lighting conditions challenge me, make me think more carefully about my camera settings, plus they allow me to expand my knowledge and skills as a photographer.<\/p>\n

From now on I’m going to challenge myself to be more open to experimenting with light. Why? Because I don’t want to be in a rut, I want to grow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

No, make that I need<\/em> to grow.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk while in a canyon going up into the Stansbury Mountains as the bird looked into the rising sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167221,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,449,1316,358,26,1314],"tags":[2663,4170,2497,4033,4169,4067,6210,4069,4104,6211,153,4209,6209,4677,5113],"class_list":["post-49265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-tailed-hawks","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-buteo-jamaicensis","tag-buteos","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-immature","tag-lighting-conditions","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-photographic-rut","tag-raptors","tag-red-tailed-hawk","tag-rising-sun","tag-shadows","tag-stump"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-sun-mia-mcpherson-3863.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cOB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54898,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/06\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-at-east-canyon-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":49265,"position":0},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk at East Canyon State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to photograph two immature Red-tailed Hawks at East Canyon State Park and the photos I am sharing today are of the first one that I found.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk in flight at East Canyon State Park, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107272,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/15\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-with-mountains-in-the-background\/","url_meta":{"origin":49265,"position":1},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk With Mountains In The Background","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My best bird photos from yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA were of an immature Red-tailed Hawk with the shadowed Wasatch Mountain slopes in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk on a nest box in early morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-nestbox-mia-mcpherson-0726.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/28\/desert-red-tailed-hawk-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":49265,"position":2},"title":"Desert Red-tailed Hawk Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was up in far northern Utah looking for birds last week, I took quite a few Red-tailed Hawk photos. I shared one image a few days ago and here are a few more.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk taking off from a cliff, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-desert-mia-mcpherson-2032.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97676,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/27\/immature-red-tailed-hawk-perched-in-front-of-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":49265,"position":3},"title":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk Perched In Front Of The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I photograph tons of Red-tailed Hawks. I have shared more Red-tailed Hawk articles on my blog and images in my photo galleries than any other birds species.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Red-tailed Hawk perched in front of the Wasatch Mountains, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-branches-mia-mcpherson-7729.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-branches-mia-mcpherson-7729.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-branches-mia-mcpherson-7729.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"October 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent sometime at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning where my best bird of the day was an immature Red-tailed Hawk resting in a tree.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of an immature Red-tailed Hawk resting in a tree, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-in-tree-mia-mcpherson-4438.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-in-tree-mia-mcpherson-4438.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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