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How to Take Vibrant Fall Photos
Fall photos are a challenge for photographers and amateurs alike, but the effort can be worth it. The combinations of deep red leaves, bright green grass, and electric blue skies make autumn photos a universal favourite.
With that in mind, here are five solid ways to make your photos impress:
Get in Close to the Leaves
Trees are tricky because they overwhelm your digital camera’s sensor with detail. This can make your photo look overly busy if you’re not careful. Rather than trying to frame the whole tree, move up close and capture just a few autumn leaves.
Zoom lenses are excellent for this if you don’t want to get dirty. Wide angle lenses give a different look to fall photos, but to get up close you’ll have to climb the trees!
Shoot Autumn in Black and White
Another way to make photos of this season interesting is to eliminate the colour. Fall photos are often full of heavily saturated colours; having a photo without them can make people stand up and take notice. Get your audience to focus on the texture and shape of the leaves by converting a few of your fall photos to monochrome.
Use Leaves as a Background Element
Using trees as photo backgrounds in the fall is a no-brainer. You capture all the colour of the season and you can adjust your aperture to give a really pleasing, soft bokeh. Done right, this effect can look almost like an Impressionist painting.
Having the leaves as a prop is also fun. You can shoot portraits of people holding leaves close to their face and kids jumping into great big piles of ‘em. Unlock a host of possibilities by using such a recognizable symbol of the season as a minor element in your composition.
Take Your Fall Portraits on a Cold Day
The chill will make your model’s breath visible when they exhale. That tiny wisp of breath can communicate so much in a photo. Breath and clothes are the simplest way to communicate the coolness of the scene. Giving a photo full of warm, vibrant reds a crisp cool feeling can be difficult, but it will make your photo stand out.
Warm Things Up a Bit
Leaves that have been on the ground for a bit can look dull. Warming the photo up can make people really see the dusky oranges and deep reds of fall. Those of you with compact cameras can try adjusting your white balance or make adjustments in Photoshop
If you’ve got an SLR though, here’s where we get a bit technical. When you’re shooting available light, use one of the 81 series of warming filters. The filter will help pump up the oranges and reds. As an alternative, you can put a polarizer on your lens to maintain a crisp blue sky and gel your flash to warm the leaves.
I’ve become a bit obsessed with the look of the Rosco #18 Flame gel, but I’ve also been reading too much Bob Krist lately. A 1/4 or 1/2 CTO gel should be more than enough to give the leaves in your photo a bit more oomph.
Whatever skill level you’re at, taking photos of fall leaves provides a unique challenge that only comes around once a year. Get out there and shoot!
Related Posts:
- 5 Ways to Make Your Texture Photos Pop!
- How to Take Great Photos at High Noon - Part One
- How to Improve Your Photos by Ignoring Them
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damon Said,
September 16, 2007 @ 7:53 pm
That Northern-hemisphere bias is coming through again, Andrew :)
I guess I should stop complaining and just go back 6 months into your archives to find your tips for spring shooting. Nice post though.
Andrew Ferguson Said,
September 16, 2007 @ 8:02 pm
Hahahahaha, yeah I know. I’m sorry :/
I’ll have to repost ‘em for ya :P
To be fair though, you guys int he southern hemisphere have the uber-blogger on your side: Darren Rowse, who runs Digital Photography School is an Aussie.
Bob's Bit of the Web Said,
September 17, 2007 @ 12:29 am
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therightpic Said,
September 17, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
As a biased Northern Hemispherian (not sure if that is a real word) I appreciate the good advice. I live in Utah and I am heading to the mountains sometimes this week if it kills me. Have to get some good pictures of the aspens and other trees and fields and things.
Paul D'Andrea Said,
September 17, 2007 @ 8:07 pm
Keep in mind that if you are shooting digital you may not need warming filters. Many cameras allow you to tweak white balance, + or -. Plus will cool the image and minus will warm it (I think of it as “adding blue” to make it easy to remember). This way, if you are in daylight and want your image to be slightly warmer, set your camera to daylight minus one or two.
Also, if you use auto white balance, filters may not work as the camera will adjust to neutral gray and remove the effect of the filter.
I’m a new reader to this blog, thanks for the great info…
Andrew Ferguson Said,
September 18, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
therightpic: Good on you, man! Post a link to your photos here when you get back from the moutains and I’ll go take a look :)
@Paul: I mentioned white balance adjusting for compact digital cameras and it’s obviously a DSLR mainstay as well, but there’s something in me that makes filters really appealing.
It’s difficult to describe, but I find they give photos a slightly different effect than white-balancing would. It’s pleasing in a way, like film grain.
That’s a good piece of advice, to remember to stay out of AWB when using filters. The only time it wouldn’t matter would be if you’re shooting RAW. Your white balance can be done in post, so it doesn’t matter if the camera white balance settings are wonky.
Welcome Paul! I love hearing from new readers, so if you have any questions just let me know.
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September 21, 2007 @ 8:18 am
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therightpic Said,
September 24, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
Hey Andrew,
I wasn’t able to get up to the mountains, I got sent to Northern Cali for a quick business trip. I did get some pics at Half Moon Bay at sunset, which almost makes up for it. Here is a link to a few of the pics: http://www.therightpic.com/wp/life/half-moon-bay-at-sunset
There is snow on the mountains today up at the higher elevations and the temperature is dropping fast. I have to get up there ASAP.
Lau Said,
September 25, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
Nice article. There is one thing I don’t completely agree with (but I tried last autumn): black & white in autumn is not vibrant… it’s like black & white in summer.
What I like about autumn is that the sky has a darker blue which contrasts even more with the yellow leaves.
My new camera is about to ship and next weekend I’ll make a tour in the nearby forest.
Stephanie-CHC Said,
October 5, 2007 @ 9:32 am
These are great photography tips, thanks! It certainly is that time of year, our company just posted a blog about taking fall photos as well. Thanks again!
Chris Ridley Said,
November 6, 2007 @ 6:12 am
I love first photo - great colours. Am gonna head out tonight and see what I can find! Thanks!