{"id":6001,"date":"2012-08-27T05:04:58","date_gmt":"2012-08-27T11:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6001"},"modified":"2026-02-02T09:27:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:27:41","slug":"smokey-sunrises-in-southwestern-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/27\/smokey-sunrises-in-southwestern-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Smokey sunrises in southwestern Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wildfires have been burning in much of the western United States, before my trip to Montana the skies here in the Salt Lake Valley had been filled with it causing milky looking skies with a slight yellowish tinge. All the way from Salt Lake City, through Idaho and into southwestern Montana.\u00a0I kept hoping that the smoke would\u00a0drift away and that the fires would go out.<\/p>\n

\"SmokeySmokey sunrise over the Lower Lake – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/180, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 120mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The smoke-filled sky created interesting conditions at sunrise, the sun glowed differently as it rose above the mountains to the east of the misty\u00a0Lower Lake.<\/p>\n

\"SunriseSunrise with smoke-filled skies – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/8000, ISO 320, -2.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 56mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This image was taken the same morning as the first image, a little later and closer to the water.<\/p>\n

\"SmokeySmoke-filled sunrise over the Lower Lake – Nikon D200, f16, 1\/2500, ISO 320, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 200mm<\/span><\/p>\n

On another morning I zoomed in all the way with my 18-200mm VR lens to capture the mist rising off of the lake as the sun rose into the layer of smoke as American Coots scurried around on the water’s surface.<\/p>\n

While I was in southwestern Montana during the daylight hours\u00a0the smoke seemed to either dissipate because of the wind or it hung over the mountains, a reminder of the large wildfires burning\u00a0in neighboring Idaho.<\/p>\n

The smoke got in the way for creating crisp images of the beautiful landscapes of southwestern Montana yet it also helped me to create the images above.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my landscape and travel photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The smoke-filled skies created interesting conditions during the sunrises I viewed in while in southwestern Montana recently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11783,"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":[1513,223,12,608],"tags":[1516,4026,4312,4360,3969,4035,1769,4190,1770],"class_list":["post-6001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-beaverhead-county-2","tag-centennial-valley","tag-environment","tag-landscape-photography","tag-montana","tag-nature-photography","tag-smokey-sky","tag-sunrise","tag-wildfires"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/red-rock-lakes-smoke-sky-mia-mcpherson-1400.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1yN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":48396,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/08\/juvenile-mourning-dove-in-morning-light-in-southwestern-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":6001,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Mourning Dove in Morning Light in Southwestern Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The juvenile and out of focus adult Mourning Doves were perched on a lichen encrusted, slightly frosted fence rail near the road in the southern part of the Centennial Valley.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Mourning Dove in morning light, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4363.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mourning-dove-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-4363.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Centennial Valley of Montana beckons to me","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Centennial Valley says \"home\" to me with the expansive views it offers of not only the valley but the Centennial Mountains and the Lower Lake and beyond. I find peace there.","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":"Centennial Mountain rock face, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/centennial-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7337.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/centennial-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7337.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/centennial-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7337.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/centennial-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7337.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5417,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/29\/willets-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":6001,"position":4},"title":"Willets in Beaverhead County, Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These images were taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana. 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