{"id":8885,"date":"2013-07-16T03:45:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-16T09:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8885"},"modified":"2025-09-16T05:56:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:56:33","slug":"a-turkey-vulture-and-changing-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/16\/a-turkey-vulture-and-changing-backgrounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey Vulture And Changing Backgrounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture with a sky background – Nikon D300, f8, 1\/800, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week while photographing in a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah I spotted this Turkey Vulture roosting in a dead tree in morning light. For this first image we moved to a location that had plain sky in the background so the background is rather simple, some might even say it is plain or boring.<\/p>\n

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture with trees in the background\u00a0– Nikon D300, f9, 1\/400, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

After photographing the Turkey Vulture in the first location we moved a bit to the east which changed the background from sky to the trees across the canyon, because the tree were a distance away from the vulture my choice of aperture and the bokeh of my lens smoothed out the trees to a \u00a0soft blur, enough to be recognizable as trees but out of focus enough to not compete with the subject.<\/p>\n

\"TurkeyTurkey Vulture with sky and trees in the background\u00a0– Nikon D300, f9, 1\/500, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

By moving a bit west we were able to get a few of the out of focus trees in the lower portion of the frame with blue sky above them.<\/p>\n

I really don’t have a favorite among these three images, I like the different backgrounds in all of them. By moving a bit one way or the other though a photographer can change what is in the background slightly which can make an image more or less appealing.<\/p>\n

Does one of these backgrounds appeal to you more than others?<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: The bottom two images had a small bleached twig visible in the top left corner of each frame, I did remove those by cloning out the tip of the twig. It was not visible in the cropped version of the first image because our location was furthest west.<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Last week while photographing in a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah I spotted this Turkey Vulture roosting in a dead tree in morning light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156122,"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":[27,1316,358,1315,26],"tags":[4004,859,2663,4322,4368,4104,2283,10452,4210,2315,2443,4618,4617],"class_list":["post-8885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-turkey-vultures","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-backgrounds","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-cathartes-aura","tag-composition","tag-perched","tag-roosting","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-stansbury-mountains","tag-summer-3","tag-turkey-vulture","tag-vulture","tag-vultures"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-utah-mia-mcpherson-4712.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2jj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101575,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/17\/my-first-of-year-turkey-vulture\/","url_meta":{"origin":8885,"position":0},"title":"My First of Year Turkey Vulture","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This post with an image of my first of year Turkey Vulture is about 16 days late because I actually spotted this vulture on April 1st way up in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Roosting first of year Turkey Vulture, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/turkey-vulture-first-of-year-mia-mcpherson-7881.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4564,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/02\/29\/the-west-desert-of-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":8885,"position":1},"title":"The West Desert of Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I am one of those people who love deserts and the West Desert of Utah is once again beckoning to me. The weather here in Utah is very changeable right now, it can feel like spring one day and the next it still feels like winter but it won't be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Horned Larks"","block_context":{"text":"Horned Larks","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/larks\/horned-larks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/west-desert-utah-mia-mcpherson-1914.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/west-desert-utah-mia-mcpherson-1914.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/west-desert-utah-mia-mcpherson-1914.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/west-desert-utah-mia-mcpherson-1914.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137565,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/28\/wild-turkey-images-happy-thanksgiving-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":8885,"position":2},"title":"Wild Turkey Images – Happy Thanksgiving 2024","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I'm sharing Wild Turkey images of foraging hens I found in the Stansbury Mountains of northern Utah because it's Thanksgiving Day. It was a lovely day.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Wild Turkey hen in the mountains of the West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/wild-turkey-hen-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1433.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36989,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/11\/turkey-vultures-are-natures-clean-up-crew\/","url_meta":{"origin":8885,"position":3},"title":"Turkey Vultures Are Nature’s Clean Up Crew","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Turkey Vultures are Nature's clean up crew. 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I will always try.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Turkey Vulture in front of a sage covered hillside, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-sage-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-1411.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56502,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/09\/migrating-turkey-vultures-are-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":8885,"position":5},"title":"Migrating Turkey Vultures Are On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I miss seeing and photographing Turkey Vultures during the winter and now I am excited that very soon I'll be seeing them roosting on fence posts, rocky outcroppings, cattle gates, trees, corrals and the ground, riding the thermals, thermoregulating and scarfing up road kill all over the place!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Turkey Vulture flying low over sagebrush, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-flight-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-flight-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-flight-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/turkey-vulture-flight-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}