{"id":50724,"date":"2018-01-19T05:56:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T12:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=50724"},"modified":"2023-03-10T05:13:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T12:13:47","slug":"photographing-american-wigeon-drakes-in-afternoon-and-low-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/19\/photographing-american-wigeon-drakes-in-afternoon-and-low-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing American Wigeon Drakes in Afternoon and Low Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LowLow light portrait of an American Wigeon drake – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/400, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the regular readers of my blog know that I photograph in all kinds of weather conditions from blowing snow, heavy fog to golden morning and afternoon light, plus sweltering summer days to winter days when my fingers go numb, I’m okay with that because I am following my passion.\u00a0 I love observing and photographing birds and even though some of the conditions make me uncomfortable I am just happy to be there with my subjects, watching and learning more about them.<\/p>\n

Some lighting conditions require more thought about my choice of settings including when there is low light where I often use positive exposure compensation so my subject isn’t too dark. I shoot in aperture priority because that is what I learned to do when I first started using a DSLR and it is the mode I am most comfortable with.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago at my local pond the lighting conditions were quite dreary because of heavy fog and low hanging clouds but I went to the local pond to get out of the house and to see what birds might be hanging around. There have been a pair of American Wigeons at the pond and to my surprise they swam in very close to where I sat in a vehicle using it as a mobile blind, in fact the drake got out of the water and walked up onto the shore and was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of him despite the low light conditions. I had to crank my ISO up to 1000 just to have enough shutter speed and I set just a touch of positive exposure compensation so the duck wouldn’t be too dark. The little bit of snow on the ground created the light colored background.<\/p>\n

Even though the wigeon is sharp the image has a soft feel to it that I quite enjoy.<\/p>\n

\"AlertAlert American Wigeon drake – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just two days ago I had another opportunity with an American Wigeon drake up close and in afternoon light where I used negative exposure compensation to keep the brightest whites of the duck from blowing out, his white head feathers would have been easy to blow out.<\/p>\n

I like how both these two American Wigeon photos turned out even though they were taken in different lighting conditions, they are both pleasing to my eye.<\/p>\n

I can’t say for sure that these are the same drake wigeons they may be two separate individuals, the drakes were photographed at two different ponds that aren’t that far away from each other so it is possible they are the same bird. You’ll notice this drake has more green on his head than the drake in the first photo but the drake wigeons are going into breeding plumage (Definitive Alternate Plumage) right now and that could account for the differences in the amount of green feathers.<\/p>\n

It would be wonderful if the American Wigeons hung around the local ponds long enough for me to see and photograph their courtship display behaviors. The Redheads, Mallards and Common Goldeneyes at the local ponds have been busy courting perhaps they will inspire the wigeons to start courting too.<\/p>\n

The wind is howling outside my window this morning ahead of a weather front that is heading for Salt Lake City that the forecasters say might bring snow to the valley. It is about 6 am and it is 57\u00b0F right now, our normal temps for this time of the year are in the 20 degree range before daybreak. Given how warm and weird this winter has been so far I will only believe that when the ground turns white.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I like how both these two American Wigeon photos turned out even though they were taken in different lighting conditions, they are both pleasing to my eye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111012,"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":[6312,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,4540,6313,4053,4142,6330,5606,4483,1129,126,1042,156,4062,6314,8301,8300,1984,4046,8018,2063,6315,6316],"class_list":["post-50724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-wigeons","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-alert","tag-american-wigeon","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-close-up","tag-dabbling-duck","tag-definitive-alternate-plumage","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-exposure-compensation-2","tag-low-light-2","tag-male","tag-mareca-americana","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-urban","tag-waterfowl","tag-wigeon","tag-wigeons"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2841.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dc8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55694,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/15\/drake-american-wigeon-close-ups-in-afternoon-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":50724,"position":0},"title":"Drake American Wigeon Close Ups in Afternoon Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"American Wigeons are here in this area of northern Utah year round but I seem to have my best opportunities with them during the winter. I'm delighted that this drake came in so close.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Wigeon drake close up, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50538,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/07\/american-wigeon-pair-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":50724,"position":1},"title":"American Wigeon Pair In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I wonder how long this pair of American Wigeons will hang around, I hope it is long enough for me to see more green iridescence on the drake's head and long enough for me to take more images of them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Wigeons in Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75507,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/25\/hen-and-drake-american-wigeon-pair-close-to-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":50724,"position":2},"title":"Hen And Drake American Wigeons Close To Home","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Among the duck species I look for during the winter are American Wigeons which are medium sized dabbling ducks.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake and hen American Wigeons, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110984,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/10\/urban-drake-american-wigeon-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":50724,"position":3},"title":"Urban Drake American Wigeon In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun came out for a bit yesterday so I went down to my local urban ponds. I was tickled to find and photograph a drake American Wigeon resting in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake American Wigeon resting in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111487,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/23\/american-wigeon-on-the-last-day-of-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":50724,"position":4},"title":"American Wigeon On The Last Day Of Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed an American Wigeon drake on the last day of winter at my local pond. The light was nice and lovely but my view of the wigeon was even nicer.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Wigeon drake on the last day of winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137856,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/15\/storm-wigeon-its-a-crap-shot-the-story-behind-this-image\/","url_meta":{"origin":50724,"position":5},"title":"Storm Wigeon – It’s A Crap Shot – The Story Behind This Image","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"There is no way to deny that this is a crap shot of a Storm Wigeon. This awful photo was taken at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma last week.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Crappy Storm Wigeon photo from Sequoyah NWR, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/american-wigeon-storm-wigeon-mia-mcpherson-7547.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/american-wigeon-storm-wigeon-mia-mcpherson-7547.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/american-wigeon-storm-wigeon-mia-mcpherson-7547.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/american-wigeon-storm-wigeon-mia-mcpherson-7547.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\/50724","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=50724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}