{"id":54411,"date":"2018-10-03T05:40:01","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T11:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54411"},"modified":"2025-06-06T06:41:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:41:54","slug":"ruby-crowned-kinglet-photographed-in-golden-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/03\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-photographed-in-golden-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruby-crowned Kinglet Photographed in Golden Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of you who follow my blog probably know by now that I am an early riser. I like to get up, get my post for the day published and then get on the road before the sun comes up so I can capture my subjects in the golden light of dawn or as some people call it, the golden hour. The light is softer during that period of time and it does make my subjects and their surroundings appear as if they have been lightly brushed with gold.<\/p>\n

\"Ruby-crownedRuby-crowned Kinglet in golden light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The same morning that I photographed the Sage Thrasher with the berry in mid air<\/span><\/a> I was also able to take a series of images of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the sweet golden light just after dawn. I saw the tiny kinglet pop into view as it perched on a Fragrant Sumac<\/span><\/a> while it seemed to be looking directly at me as I clicked my shutter button.<\/p>\n

\"Ruby-crownedRuby-crowned Kinglet perched in Fragrant Sumac – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet only made a brief appearance so I was only able to take 13 images of it but it moved around during that time so I was able to get a few different poses of the bird before it flew off. I photographed a few more kinglets that morning but the other photos didn’t have this golden glow to them.<\/p>\n

I had been wanting to arrive at this particular location at dawn for a long time and I can say that it was worth getting up and leaving extra early to photograph the birds there in this sweet light.<\/p>\n

On another note, I have a WordPress app on my phone and for the last couple of weeks the app has been sending me notifications that I am on a publishing streak and today that streak will be for 1250 days without missing a single day of publishing a post. The last time I missed posting was May 2, 2015 while I was up in the wilderness of Montana and Idaho and the cell signal I had was so bad I couldn’t connect my laptop to my cell phone hot spot.<\/p>\n

\"1250<\/p>\n

1250 days is 3.4 years or about 41.09 months of getting up every morning, writing and sharing the wonders of my journey as a bird photographer. Thank you all for sharing my journey with me.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The same morning that I photographed the Sage Thrasher with the berry in mid air I was also able to take a series of images of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the sweet golden light just after dawn. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,1148,6137,26],"tags":[4004,6139,4098,6767,4254,6153,6146,4099,6768,6138,7630],"class_list":["post-54411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-ruby-crowned-kinglets","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-corthylio-calendula","tag-desert","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-golden-light","tag-kinglet","tag-kinglets","tag-morning-light","tag-rhus-aromatica","tag-ruby-crowned-kinglet","tag-sumac"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-golden-light-mia-mcpherson-2102.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-e9B","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59914,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/01\/ruby-crowned-kinglets-challenging-subjects\/","url_meta":{"origin":54411,"position":0},"title":"Ruby-crowned Kinglets – Challenging Subjects","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Ruby-crowned Kinglets always seem to be on the move and blend into their habitat well which makes them challenging subjects to photograph.\u00a0 I love the challenge of photographing small birds though.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruby-crowned Kinglet peering out of a hawthorn, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-fall-colors-mia-mcpherson-8752.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-fall-colors-mia-mcpherson-8752.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-adult-mia-mcpherson-7848.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-adult-mia-mcpherson-7848.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-adult-mia-mcpherson-7848.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-adult-mia-mcpherson-7848.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":79780,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/25\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":54411,"position":2},"title":"Ruby-crowned Kinglet Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this male Ruby-crowned Kinglet a few years ago he was foraging in a sumac close to the edge of road in Box Elder County.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Ruby-crowned Kinglet showing his crown, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-adult-male-crown-mia-mcpherson-3391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-adult-male-crown-mia-mcpherson-3391.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ruby-crowned-kinglet-adult-male-crown-mia-mcpherson-3391.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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