{"id":62026,"date":"2019-12-12T05:55:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T12:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62026"},"modified":"2025-09-14T05:58:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T10:58:22","slug":"drake-common-goldeneye-in-flight-during-the-golden-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/12\/drake-common-goldeneye-in-flight-during-the-golden-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Common Goldeneye In Flight During The “Golden Hour”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CommonCommon Goldeneye in flight during the \u201cGolden Hour\u201d – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Not quite two years ago there was a break in the cold, dreary weather of winter and the storms had cleared out the worst of the inversion so I went to one of the local ponds to see what birds were there. I probably had a bad case of cabin fever and needed to get out even if it was just for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

There is a period of time that photographers call the “Golden Hour” in the early morning and late afternoon during which time the daylight is redder and softer than when the sun is high in the sky.<\/p>\n

That is because the light is more diffused since it has to pass through the atmosphere at a greater distance compared to when the sun is higher in the sky.<\/p>\n

The word “hour” is used loosely because the period of time where the light is golden varies according to season, latitude and in my case here in Utah, the proximity of the mountains.<\/p>\n

I know I don’t like wasting that golden light at all, I want to be where there are birds in front of me during that time period and I put my entire focus on photographing them.<\/p>\n

When I lived in Florida and photographed birds I had more golden light to do that in because there weren’t any mountains there to block the best light early in the day or late in the evening.<\/p>\n

Here in Utah the closer I am to the Wasatch Mountains when photographing birds in the morning the longer I have to wait for the sun to rise above the peaks and that can mean I don’t get that “golden hour” light.<\/p>\n

Close to home in the late afternoon though I can and do get that beautiful, soft light because the Oquirrh Mountains to the west aren’t nearly as tall as the Wasatch Mountains and they only block the sun briefly before sunset so when there aren’t any clouds the light can be spectacular here during the late afternoon.<\/p>\n

I’m grateful when I can photograph a drake Common Goldeneye in flight during the “Golden Hour” or any other bird I see through my viewfinder. I took that light for granted in Florida most of the time but I sure don’t here in Utah.<\/p>\n

Speaking of light, it sure looks like I will be struggling to find it for nearly the rest of this month.<\/p>\n

\"Fifteen<\/p>\n

Just taking a peek at the fifteen day forecast made me groan this morning.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I’m grateful when I can photograph a drake Common Goldeneye in flight during the “Golden Hour” or any other bird I see through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,962,709,26],"tags":[4004,8123,4238,4520,8124,4753,4483,126,4052,4122,8122,6348,5586,4062,8018,2063],"class_list":["post-62026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-goldeneyes","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-atmosphere","tag-bucephala-clangula","tag-common-goldeneye","tag-diffused-light","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-ducks-2","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-golden-hour","tag-goldeneye","tag-goldeneyes","tag-male","tag-urban","tag-waterfowl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-drake-in-flight-golden-pond-mia-mcpherson-8178.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-g8q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75597,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/29\/landing-drake-common-goldeneye\/","url_meta":{"origin":62026,"position":0},"title":"Landing Drake Common Goldeneye","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm anxious to start photographing the ducks I see close to home during the winter here in the Salt Lake Valley and from what I understand a few Common Goldeneyes have shown up.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Landing adult drake Common Goldeneye, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-goldeneye-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-5921.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-goldeneye-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-5921.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Dispute","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The drake Common Goldeneyes didn't have any physical contact that I could see because that often happens under the water but the drake in the back seemed intent on making the one in the front leave the area.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Common Goldeneye being chased, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-fight-mia-mcpherson-4114.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-fight-mia-mcpherson-4114.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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