{"id":7488,"date":"2013-02-10T04:24:46","date_gmt":"2013-02-10T11:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=7488"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:57:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T14:57:51","slug":"chukars-how-light-can-make-the-mood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/10\/chukars-how-light-can-make-the-mood\/","title":{"rendered":"Chukars – How Light Can Make The Mood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Low Low light Chukar in snow – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Every bird photographer should want to photograph in what is called “sweet light”, the golden light found just after the sun rises or when it is getting close to sunset and avoid the\u00a0light of mid day when there can be\u00a0harsh shadows and too much contrast but also recognize that other light can add a feeling of\u00a0moodiness to an image that might not be there in different light.<\/p>\n

For instance;\u00a0when I look at\u00a0these two snowy Chukar\u00a0images I sense a moodiness in the first image that the second one doesn’t seem to convey. One of the photos was taken in bright, clear light while the other was created in low, foggy light on two different days but in the same general location on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the Chukar image above I sense that the bird might be struggling to survive the harshness of winter, I get a sense of the bird being alone even though close by there were other Chukars and I also feel that the bird might be enduring a strong wind because of the tiny, directional snow drifts around the grasses near the front of the bird even though the wind was actually not blowing at the time. The low light seems to amplify the moodiness I feel while looking at this image.<\/p>\n

\"ChukarChukar running across glittering snow on a clear January morning – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The snowy Chukar\u00a0image above was taken on a much brighter day, there was no snow falling and no trace of fog. The habitat and terrain\u00a0is essentially the same; minus the grasses seen in front of the Chukar in the image above, yet to my eyes this image does not have the moodiness the top image does.<\/p>\n

In my mind I think more about how the Chukar survives in winter in the first image\u00a0than I do in the second frame and I seem to view the image longer too.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

To view more of my Chukar photos plus facts and information about this species click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I look at these two snowy Chukar images I sense a moodiness in the first image that the second one doesn’t seem to convey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165427,"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":[511,27,26],"tags":[4004,4146,4021,445,3981,156,519,4035,4050,4147,102,4032,373],"class_list":["post-7488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-alectoris-chukar","tag-bird-photography","tag-chukar","tag-davis-county","tag-low-light-2","tag-nature","tag-nature-photography","tag-snow","tag-upland-game-bird","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-photography","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-gray-snow-mia-mcpherson-4638.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1WM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7550,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/18\/more-chukars-in-the-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":0},"title":"More Chukars In The Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, more Chukars in the snow! I spotted this Chukar on top of a mound of snow that the plow had pushed to the side of the road on Antelope Island State Park.","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":"High key Chukar on Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7317,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/29\/snowy-coyote-chukar-and-antelope-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":1},"title":"Snowy Coyote, Chukar and Antelope Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday when I saw this running Chukar image on my camera LCD in mid-stride and mid-air I had to chuckle because it looks something like a feathered Nerf football some one tossed across the snow.","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":"Snow-covered Coyote, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-covered-nose-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-covered-nose-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-covered-nose-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-covered-nose-mia-mcpherson-4792.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3440,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/03\/bird-photography-you-have-to-be-prepared\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":2},"title":"Bird Photography – You Have To Be Prepared","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I have learned that you have to be prepared to be a bird photographer and additionally that you need to be fast because birds are free moving creatures. There are times that you simply don't or won't have time to change your camera's settings.","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":"Young Chukar on rocks near the Frary Peak Trailhead, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-young-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-young-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-young-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-young-rocks-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6508,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/05\/chukar-in-the-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":3},"title":"Chukar In The Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A simple image from a series of images I took last year of a Chukar calling on a rocky outcropping with a snowy mountain in the background.","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":"Chukar calling in the snow near the Frary Peak Trailhead on Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-snow-mountain-mia-mcpherson-8114.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-snow-mountain-mia-mcpherson-8114.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/chukar-snow-mountain-mia-mcpherson-8114.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6932,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/28\/chukar-in-fresh-fallen-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":7488,"position":4},"title":"Chukar In Fresh Fallen Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Fresh snow fell on Antelope Island last night and it made for wonderful settings for the subjects I photographed this morning like this Chukar. I haven't been seeing the Chukars regularly lately so I was very pleased to see them again.","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":"Bad Seed? Chukar tongue exposed. 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