Below is a summary of my tips for shooting fall colours. I have purposely written them in point form so the key ideas are easily reviewed. A search on my site or on the internet for Fall Colours will provide many examples.
Lighting
- Sunrise and / or sunset: usually the light is more interesting; tripod is usually needed
- Sunrise will often be foggy, which adds to compositional possibilities
- 15-20 minutes after sunset often offers an interesting sky.
- Cloudy Day: good lighting to capture colours; tripod is often needed
- Full Sun:
- back lighting (sun behind the object so you’re shooting towards the sun),
- side lighting;
- Flash: to fill in dark areas and /or to brighten others (not for long distances > a few feet)
Composition
- Include interesting objects: streams; lakes/ponds; logs; …
- Reflections in water
- Fog
- Shoot “Up” into the trees
- Mix colours
- Get a mixture of red, yellows, greens
- Mix colour of leaves with blue of sky, rocks/cliffs, …
- Look broadly at the shapes and lines formed by the colours and the objects in the composition:
- of the trees / branches, trunks, …
- of many trees together (e.g., the shape of the canopy might look like rolling waves)
- look for “leading” lines (lines that pull you into the picture, e.g., a fallen log, a fence, a path, a shoreline, …)
- Zoom in to get details:
- of far-away trees
- close-up (macro) shots of details (e.g., leaves, nuts, rocks, …); think about using a flash for macro shots
- Move camera up-down or down-up quickly while the shutter is open to get a purposely blurred picture
Other:
- Use tripod with cable release (if you don’t have a cable release set timed release)
- Use polarizing filter to reduce reflections and enhance colours
- Use Variable ND filter to slow down shutter speed, especially for water
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