Autumn Leaves Photography Complete Guide - Take Autumn Photography To The Next Level

In autumn leaves photography and fall photos in general, as in all photographs, it's important to find something to build on.

An element stronger than the others to compose its image and which will guide the viewer's eye. It is often the foreground, it is the most obvious case ... It is therefore an element to choose well.

AUTUMN, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SEASON!

The colors are warm, changeable and the light penetrates forests that are usually opaque. If you've taken a few photo trips this summer, you might have already scouted it out! (In spirit. So you've already imagined what such a place could look like in the fall  ! ( Anticipate for winter ). So let's do it taking into account a few parameters when even.

This guide will give you some tips. Some simple, others a little more pointed to optimize your fall photos . As a reminder, the Best Of Automne  is still relevant today. But let's move on to something new with these 4 themes all focused on autumn photos :

THE 4 MAIN THEMES OF THIS ARTICLE:

1. the light
2. filters
3. weather conditions
4. post processing

I assume that you already master the basic techniques of photography seen in the articles:

So we will not talk here about composition or framing.

Let's now move on to our Autumn Leaves Photography Complete Guide - Take Autumn Photography To The Next Level article shall we?

THE LIGHT

The most important element in photography. No light, no photo!

You have to take it into account as soon as you arrive at a spot. Where does she come from ? Where's she going ? and how it behaves between these 2 points. It takes a few moments to become aware of your surroundings. See shadows, contrasts and gradients of light. This will help us compose an image!

Unlike other seasons where it is recommended to take the fall photos at the start or end of the day to take advantage of the best light, in the fall you can shoot whenever you want! Very early in the morning to take advantage of the mist or the first frosts ( a macro lens can bring out great details ). The day also allows you to enjoy the warm colors against a blue sky and of course at the end of the afternoon for the famous Golden Hours!

Golden hour

It is the last hour during which the sun shines before disappearing behind the horizon. The light takes on the color of honey while the shadows lengthen and envelop the landscapes in a particularly warm atmosphere. The same phenomenon exists in the morning about 1 hour after sunrise.

FILTERS

There are three filters that I never leave:  a polarizer, a neutral gray gradient filter and at least 1 ND filter. While each of these filters has its own purpose, they will help you overcome obstacles that would otherwise be impossible to fix without using a filter, even digitally.

A polarizing filter will enhance the saturation of your images, but remember that the foliage is particularly sensitive to the direction of light. Front-lit foliage will generally be dull and boring. Against the light, the light will be much brighter and add depth to the image. Side lighting can sometimes work too.

The most important filter for fall is the polarizer.  Usable in all facets of nature photography, this filter can bring a significant improvement to your images. The polarizer deepens the color of the blue sky, provides more saturated colors, and reduces glare and glare in bright or sunny conditions.

When it comes to fall foliage , the polarizer eliminates reflections affects autumn leaves photography and flowers. It intensifies and saturates the color in wet leaves and adds density in blue or hazy skies. An added benefit of using a polarizer is that it passes through the mist in the atmosphere. This increased clarity allows subjects to stand out more against the deeper tones of the sky so that the fall foliage is even more pronounced. 

Neutral gray or ND filters  reduce the light intensity but do not change the colors! How it works ? For example the NDx4  filter  multiplies the exposure time by 4, the  NDx8  by 8, the  NDx400  by 400 and that goes up to 1000 … and we can even combine the filters. Very useful for photographing the movements of water or clouds!

The use of an ND filter allows the photographer to create original and creative compositions! It encourages the photographer to think outside the box. An ND filter is applied to reduce the amount of light reaching the camera's sensor so that the exposure time is longer. The extended exposure of ND filters provides photographers with the dynamic sensation of movement, especially noticeable in subjects such as water, which can be an excellent complement to the vivid colors of fall foliage in contrast to the blur effect of movement. 

Another essential filter that is used frequently for photographing fall colors is the neutral density gradient filter . It compensates for an uneven light source. Often in landscape images the sky is clearer than the ground. So if you have exposure measured primarily on the ground, the sky is overexposed. Alternatively, if you expose the sky, the ground becomes underexposed.

These neutral density gradient filters  were designed to allow the photographer to darken the sky with various stops of light, allowing everything to be properly exposed. I also talk about it in the article: Essential photo accessories to make a dramatic landscape .

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Always important the weather! And our phones give us a huge helping hand! Here is a selection of iPhone applications to check the weather in the field. The fall rush means the weather is volatile and unpredictable - rain, fog, and frost can appear without warning, but that doesn't mean you can't shoot in these conditions. You will often be a little tight at the shutter speed level, plan the tripod.

Not only is fall a living spectacle of color , but cold nights often result in many foggy mornings. Fog and thick mist in the air can provide a stunning composition.

There are also a selection of applications for your smartphone that will help you in the field.

POST TREATMENT

When it comes to color and impact, fall is full of possibilities. This season is a unique and incredible time to create an atmosphere with warm colors while capturing landscapes that are transforming before our eyes.

I can not help but tell you about the Orton effect, so suitable for the fall photo! ( hellish rhyme ) This is a quick and easy effect to do in Photoshop to blur the whole image. See the Orton effect tutorial . We talk about white balance and color temperature in the article:  Beginning of autumn and RAW files .

I also used the oil paint filter proposed by default in Photoshop CS5 and CS6 filters: I talk about it in  the Paintography tutorial . A year later, Topaz released Impression, a software program independent of Photoshop that allows you to go even further! See the article Fall and Paintography .

This was our "Autumn Leaves Photography Complete Guide - Take Autumn Photography To The Next Level" article for you. I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave us your question down below in the comments. We would love to hear from you.