Photography Technique - Capture Autumn Colour

By Author: Adam Coupe
Total Articles: 18
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Capture Autumn Colour
From fallen leaves to luscious landscapes, in autumn everything turns a kaleidoscope of colours.
Autumn is the most photogenic time of year for outdoor photography. Not only is the landscape transformed into a kaleidoscope of glorious rustic colours, but the light can also be incredibly evocative and rapid changes in the weather create challenging conditions that will keep you on your toes. Head into the countryside on a perfect autumn day and you can shoot non-stop from dawn to dusk, with magnificent scenes appearing at every turn. Equally, your own garden or local park will be full of great subjects, from a colourful carpet of fallen leaves to dew covered spider's webs glistening in the morning sunlight.
Trees are the most obvious autumnal subjects . As they shut down for the winter and their foliage dies, deciduous species undergo an amazing transformation, their greens of summer turning into myriad shades of yellow, gold, orange and red.
Beech woodland is perhaps the most stunning in autumn though all deciduous varieties can look breathtaking. If you visit a garden or arboretum ...
... you can photograph ornamental trees, such as Japanese maple, which have vibrant red foliage.
The point at which foliage colour peaks is influenced by the weather earlier in the year. The last week in October and the first week in November are traditionally when landscape photographers plan trips to scenic areas to capture the autumn colours. It's worth earmarking possible locations, so you've got a selection of places to visit once autumn arrives. A forest isn't necessary, just half a dozen trees will give you lots of options.
Don't leave it too late before you start shooting. It only takes one stormy night for the trees to be laid bare and your plans for autumn shots will be in tatters for another year. So once the colour looks good, shoot them.
As well as trees, Autumn also throws up many other interesting subjects. Bracken turns gold and makes brilliant foreground interest for rolling landscapes. Deciduous climbers such as Virginia creeper also turn deep red, adding colour to shots of churches and other buildings, while shiny conkers and fir cones lie scattered among fallen autumn leaves.
Locations containing woodland and water are often the most productive. Autumn leaves trapped on moss covered rocks mid-stream make great shots if you use a slow shutter speed (a second or more) to record the moving water as a graceful blur. Be sure to take your tripod and cable release to avoid any camera shake on these long exposures.
Reflections of autumn colours in water can look stunning, too especially when the warm hues contrast with the cold blue of the sky. Capturing perfect reflections is easy, but you should bear in mind one or two factors. First, for the best results you need a still day so the surface of the water is as calm as possible. Next, to ensure the reflection is sharp, focus on it rather than the surface of the water. You may find that you can improve the reflection by using a polarising filter to take surface glare off the water, but take care as the reflection itself may be eliminated. Finally, keep the shutter speed reasonably brief if there's any movement on the water, otherwise the reflection will blur - 1/15 sec is about as slow as you should go.
Watch the Weather
Autumn weather tends to be unpredictable, but this makes for exciting picture taking with everything from bright sunshine to dramatic storms changing the face of the autumn landscape. Clear sunny days provide the best conditions to capture autumn's beauty, especially during early morning and late afternoon when daylight is naturally warm and the sky is deep blue. During early morning and late afternoon the sun is low in the sky so long shadows are cast that reveal texture and depth. In clear weather you can capture woodland and landscape scenes bathed in golden light against deep blue sky and the last hour before sunset can be truly remarkable if the weather's on your side.
Adam Coupe is pro commercial photographer specialising in commercial photography and architectural photography for a wide range of organisations that need to project their products, people or brand in a vibrant way see http://www.adamcoupe.com and http://www.adamcoupe.com/portfolio/category/19/architectural_photography/projects.htm