{"id":5388,"date":"2012-07-23T11:08:07","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T17:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5388"},"modified":"2025-11-03T11:53:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T17:53:25","slug":"exhausted-but-elated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/23\/exhausted-but-elated\/","title":{"rendered":"Exhausted But Elated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RedRed Rock Lakes NWR sunrise with pink clouds – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/40, ISO 250, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I arrived home last night after spending five days photographing in southwestern Montana and although I am exhausted I am also elated because the trip was simply divine.<\/p>\n

With the exception of some intermittent clouds and infrequent light rain in the mornings and afternoons, the\u00a0light was wonderful and the weather hot during the middle of the day. The winds came up around noon each day but I’m not usually out photographing in the harsher light of mid day.<\/p>\n

There must have been a recent hatch of Deer and Horse Flies because they swarmed around\u00a0me in\u00a0the hundreds and although they made photography a touch miserable I wasn’t about to let them chase me away from the great opportunities that were presented to me. Besides, their bites\u00a0aren’t nearly as troublesome as the biting flies found on Antelope Island State Park in the spring.<\/p>\n

I took 5,428 photos while I was there so the process of culling and editing them is going to take some time, but after scanning through some of the images I am quite pleased with the results of my efforts.<\/p>\n

Because of my photography I’ve been able to meet the most fascinating people, have seen gorgeous scenery, listened to the sounds of nature and have seen the most amazing birds and wildlife. Life is good, very good!<\/p>\n

I will be writing more\u00a0about this amazingly wonderful journey to southwestern Montana but I wanted to post this sunrise image from the campground at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge today as a prelude of photographs to come.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge photos plus facts and information about this refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I arrived home last night after spending five days photographing in southwestern Montana and although I am exhausted I am also elated because the trip was simply divine. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162653,"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":[12,608],"tags":[3969,4035,4435,4190],"class_list":["post-5388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-montana","tag-nature-photography","tag-pink-clouds","tag-sunrise"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/red-rock-lakes-nwr-pink-mia-mcpherson-1027.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1oU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8552,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/09\/swainsons-hawks-in-montana-and-the-chase-is-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":5388,"position":0},"title":"Swainson’s Hawks In Montana – And The Chase Is On","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've just returned from spending six wonderful days photographing in western Montana, the weather was lovely, the scenery spectacular and the birds; as usual, were awesome including these two Swainson's Hawks.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Swainson\u2019s Hawk in its first spring, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/swainson-hawk-second-year-mia-mcpherson-7341.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 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