{"id":74534,"date":"2020-10-10T06:31:23","date_gmt":"2020-10-10T12:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=74534"},"modified":"2025-10-21T18:56:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T23:56:16","slug":"adult-white-crowned-sparrow-perched-on-a-stump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/10\/adult-white-crowned-sparrow-perched-on-a-stump\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow Perched On A Stump"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow on a stump \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 800, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days ago the first bird I photographed was an adult White-crowned Sparrow that was perched on a rock near a creek and those photos were okay but nothing was special about them.<\/p>\n

Then the sparrow flew to a stump where the background creek bank and vegetation were completely in the shade while the bird and the stump were in the bright morning light.<\/p>\n

I liked how the contrast between darkness and light made the bird stand out as if it were a feathered beacon when I saw the scene through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

I did need to change my exposure compensation setting on my camera to -1.0 so the light colored feathers of the adult White-crowned Sparrow weren’t blown out.<\/p>\n

For my readers who aren’t photographers when I say “blown out” that means the light colored feathers can be so bright that any fine details in the feathers are missing.<\/p>\n

Sometimes those fine details can be recovered in post processing and other times they can’t without looking artificial. I feel that it is crucial to get the exposure right in the camera so that less time is spent trying to make it “right” in a photo editing program.<\/p>\n

This is a really simple photo with three features, the White-crowned Sparrow, the stump, and a very dark background.<\/p>\n

Typically I prefer to have my subject and the setting both well lit yet I don’t hesitate to take photos in other types of light because doing so tests my skills, forces me out of my comfort zone as a photographer, and challenges me to do the best I can with what I have.<\/p>\n

I believe that having that kind of attitude worked in my favor with this White-crowned Sparrow<\/span><\/a> photograph.<\/p>\n

My tip for the day: Don’t pass up photographing a bird or animal just because the light isn’t perfect.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This is a really simple photo with three features, the White-crowned Sparrow, the stump, and a very dark background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161227,"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":[27,1316,358,26,1314,356],"tags":[4004,970,3940,5725,9869,4098,4620,4069,10452,855,4195,5113,10506,4327,4256],"class_list":["post-74534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-canyon","tag-contrast","tag-dark-background","tag-desert","tag-fall","tag-mountains","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-stump","tag-tip","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-stump-mia-mcpherson-2492.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-joa","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51745,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/21\/adult-white-crowned-sparrow-perched-on-a-budding-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":74534,"position":0},"title":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow Perched On A Budding Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago after I photographed the female American Kestrel eating her prey on a lichen-covered rock I was able to take a few photographs of a single adult White-crowned Sparrow that was perched on a budding tree.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-crowned Sparrow perched on a budding tree, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-0927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-0927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-0927.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-0927.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15858,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/19\/interior-west-white-crowned-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":74534,"position":1},"title":"Interior West White-crowned Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bird photography isn't easy and for smaller birds like this adult White-crowned Sparrow it can be challenging and require more patience than when photographing larger birds.","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":"Interior West White-crowned Sparrow perched on Western Serviceberry, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2403.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-2403.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":96549,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/10\/20\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-photos-in-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":74534,"position":3},"title":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow Photos In Fall","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was way up north in Box Elder County three days ago I had the opportunity to take immature White-crowned Sparrow photos with fall colors in the frames.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow on a sumac at a desert seep, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-fall-sumac-mia-mcpherson-0590.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-fall-sumac-mia-mcpherson-0590.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-fall-sumac-mia-mcpherson-0590.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-fall-sumac-mia-mcpherson-0590.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60978,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/23\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-perched-in-a-hackberry-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":74534,"position":4},"title":"White-crowned Sparrow Adult Perched In A Hackberry Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this adult White-crowned Sparrow about two weeks ago in northern Utah while it perched on a hackberry tree on a hill with blooming rabbitbrush in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in a hackberry tree, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100931,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/20\/world-sparrow-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":74534,"position":5},"title":"World Sparrow Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is World Sparrow Day and since I love all of the sparrows on the planet I thought I'd share some of the sparrows I have photographed in North America.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in a hackberry tree, Box Elder County, 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