{"id":62432,"date":"2020-01-06T05:06:35","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T12:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62432"},"modified":"2025-04-02T12:55:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T17:55:34","slug":"low-light-drake-mallard-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/06\/low-light-drake-mallard-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Low Light Drake Mallard Portrait"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LowLow light portrait of a Mallard drake resting in snow \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 1000, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On the first day of the new year there was fresh snow on the ground in the morning, light snow fell throughout the day and there were heavy clouds overhead that dimmed the sun. That didn’t stop me from trying to get photos of birds at my local pond though.<\/p>\n

Because of the low light and snowy conditions on the first day of the year I did not take many photos of the birds that I saw but I did get a few mallard images that I liked. I know these ducks don’t excite too many people but they are among the very first birds I remember seeing, watching and learning about as a child so I have a soft spot for them. I’ve been a bird lover and watcher for as long as I can remember.<\/p>\n

I like this low light, wintry portrait of this Mallard drake resting in the snow. They are common yet beautiful birds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Mallard photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because of the low light and snowy conditions on the first day of the year I did not take many photos of the birds that I saw but I did get a few mallard images that I liked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142530,"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":[27,965,709,26],"tags":[4004,4237,4142,4717,4483,126,156,4062,1604,7951,4046,4156,4050,2063,373],"class_list":["post-62432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-mallards","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-anas-platyrhynchos","tag-close-up","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-ducks-2","tag-low-light-2","tag-male","tag-mallard","tag-mallards","tag-portrait","tag-resting","tag-snow","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mallard-drake-portrait-low-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-8677.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-geY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50736,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/21\/snowy-high-key-mallard-drake-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":62432,"position":0},"title":"Snowy High Key Mallard Drake Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"My favorite image of the day was this high key Mallard drake portrait that was taken in the late afternoon which was the only time I could see the sun behind the clouds the whole day.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"High key Mallard drake portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-high-key-mia-mcpherson-6219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-high-key-mia-mcpherson-6219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-high-key-mia-mcpherson-6219.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-high-key-mia-mcpherson-6219.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109334,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/05\/dapper-mallard-drake-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":62432,"position":1},"title":"Dapper Mallard Drake In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After I photographed the handsome Gadwall drake that I shared yesterday I couldn't resist taking images of this alert and dapper Mallard drake in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dapper Mallard drake in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119683,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/14\/male-mallard-resting-in-snow-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":62432,"position":2},"title":"Male Mallard Resting In Snow – Connections","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I visited my local ponds yesterday even though the sky was gray, and snow was falling. While I was there, I photographed this male Mallard resting in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mallard watching me photographing him, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37408,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/25\/mallard-drake-portrait-salt-lake-county-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":62432,"position":3},"title":"Mallard Drake Portrait Salt Lake County, Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to take a Mallard drake portrait of one of the ducks that were close and loved how this showed the blue green iridescence.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mallard Drake portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3612.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3612.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3612.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3612.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107402,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/20\/jordan-river-mallard-drake\/","url_meta":{"origin":62432,"position":4},"title":"Jordan River Mallard Drake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I took this low light Mallard drake photo yesterday while I walked along the Jordan River in the chill of the early morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jordan River Mallard drake in low light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49531,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/22\/drake-mallards-bathing-and-splashing\/","url_meta":{"origin":62432,"position":5},"title":"Drake Mallards Bathing and Splashing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After bathing the Mallards lift up, flap their wings and shake the water off and I have also noticed them repeat the process of bathing several times in succession. 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