17 October 2008
Five Quick Fall Color Tips
Posted by
Scott under:
Tips
Photo by Scott Bourne
We’re in the peak of fall colors in many areas of the Unites States. For some of you this will come late. You can file this away for next year. Here are five quick tips for improving your fall color shots.
1. Use a polarizing filter. The glare that reflects off the leaves makes it harder to capture the real, deep, beautiful fall colors. The polarizing filter can help you cut out that glare.
2. Underexpose by a half stop. If you underexpose, the colors in your image will be more saturated.’
3. Keep the sun behind you and make your photos within 90 minutes of sunrise or sunset. This tip will keep you in the best light.
4. On windy days, move in for close ups. If there’s too much wind to get a wide shot, move in and shoot details.
5. Use themes. On one day just shoot red. On another, concentrate on close-ups. Day three try including interesting foreground or background objects. Day four try mixing water into the equation.
These are just some starting points. Feel free to share your tips below.
19 Comments so far...
Jason Says:
17 October 2008 at 8:58 am.
Scott your fall colors tips were just in time for me! I’m going out shooting tomorrow.
I’ll also finally buy a polar filter tomorrow! (I heard from a podcast it’s basically the only filter you use)
I have to admit the theme tip sounds good, but I find it hard to stay disciplined especially if I know I only have one chance to shoot a particular place or area.
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TheHalfShow.com Says:
17 October 2008 at 9:26 am.
Thanks for the tips Scott! I have a photographer’s meet-up group that wants to go on a Fall Season walk soon. I will spread the good news (your tips).
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David Pollitt Says:
17 October 2008 at 10:48 am.
A few tips that have worked for me:
If you are shooting deep reds/yellows/orange leaves, find a birch or similar tree to contrast the bright colors against the white bark.
Shoot trees in different angles, from right next to the trunk, to looking down a branch, etc.
Bring a spray bottle with water, and setup a shot with water drops on a leaf.
Use the polarizing filter for blue skys on brightly colored leaves. But make sure to watch the sky if you are trying to do a composite or pano- I’d leave out the filter for that.
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Mary Says:
17 October 2008 at 11:16 am.
My fall shooting planned for this weekend so your tips are greatly appreciated. Scott, do you have a go-to lens for your fall shooting?
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Scott Says:
17 October 2008 at 11:28 am.
Sorry Mary just depends. A super wide and telephoto are good places to start.
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Derek K. Says:
17 October 2008 at 11:28 am.
I like the idea of using themes, really forces me to be think before I shoot, recompose and be more creative.
I often shoot variations on a theme (shape, color) or a single subject. Challenging myself to make 5 or 10 creative photographs of a lamp or a series of hanging lights can often produce very interesting results results.
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Rosh Says:
17 October 2008 at 12:30 pm.
I like looking for the little details in the fall (as well as spring). I’ll make sure to bring the macro with me during fall photo walks.
Rosh
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Bruce D Says:
17 October 2008 at 2:22 pm.
Thank you, just i time for a weekend trip down the Eastern Sierras to Yosemite.
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Kevin Says:
17 October 2008 at 6:37 pm.
We’ve got some kind of leaves around here that have turned extremely red, and if you get them backlit they appear almost “turned on” with electricity (or neon glow).
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Kevin Ballon Says:
17 October 2008 at 7:43 pm.
@ Kevin: I agree that the leaves are very interesting when they’re backlight. I am going to go out tonight and shoot some leaves backlit by a streetlamp.
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Jim Brekke Says:
17 October 2008 at 8:53 pm.
Excellent!….here’s one more.. find some still water surrounded with colorful trees and work the reflections.
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Tim Says:
17 October 2008 at 9:21 pm.
One caveat… Watch out using a polarizer on a wide or super-wide lens. If you include sky in your shot, the amount that the polarizer darkens the sky can vary significantly over the width of the frame (different areas of the sky are polarized different amounts; you generally get the most dramatic sky darkening effect if you shoot at a 90 degree angle to the sun’s path across the sky, i.e. put the sun off one of your shoulders). This can look mighty weird, with part of the sky being a deep, dark blue and another part quite a bit lighter… Trust me; I just pulled this bonehead trick a couple of weeks ago.
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Kent Goldings Says:
18 October 2008 at 5:09 pm.
These are very timely tips. The leaves look great now here in New York’s Hudson Valley. But, I fully expect them to be gone by the end of the month.
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browserfruits : Foto News & Links 2008/10/19 » Beitrag » Digitale Fotografie Lernen - KWERFELDEIN - Martin Gommel Says:
19 October 2008 at 3:18 am.
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Nathan Says:
19 October 2008 at 11:18 pm.
I don’t understand the tip about windy days. How i harder to get wide shots when there’s lots of wind?
I usually have trouble getting close shots on windy days because things are moving around so darn much!
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Scott Says:
20 October 2008 at 6:27 am.
@Nathan wind impacts shots at every focal length. I probably could have constructed that sentence better. I am saying that things like a single leaf on the ground or a rock in a stream full of moving leaves might work better on windy days than shots of an entire tree.
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