Top Ten Tips for Photographing Fall Colors.

1.      Golden Hour.  Light can make all the difference in your pictures and videos.   Try shooting early in the morning or late in the afternoon to get that great ‘golden’  light.   The color of the light will accentuate the color of the leaves even more.   You can sometimes get great mist, dew and fog in the early hours too.

2.      Don’t discount the cloudy days.  Sometimes the soft light of a cloudy day can create a great mood for fall work.  Just try to avoid the grey sky and focus on the leaves, tree trunks or lower brush and ground.

3.      Use a variety of lens.  Wide lens are great for big scenes and lots of depth of field, but the zooms and macros can pull in tight detail and drop the background out of focus to give a complete different look.

4.      Perspective.  Don’t just stand up and point and shoot.  Try looking up, crouching down and seeing your subject from angles you might have not considered before.   Reflections in standing water or rivers can create great backdrops.

5.      Add contrast.  In the middle of the day, the light is harsh, but it also gives brilliant blue skies and the contrast of the golden leaves or snow capped mountains can be very dramatic.

6.      Keep it simple.  Grand scenics are great, but usually, the simpler the subject, the more dramatic the image can be.  Try focusing on trees trunks or single leaves.   Get in close.

7.      Use a tripod.  Flowing rivers or cloudy, windy days can give motion to images that you might not get otherwise.   By using a tripod, you can extend your exposures to show that motion without the blur of camera shake.   Especially when shooting video, tripods can make the difference in making the shots viewable without the common shake of hand holding your camera.  

8.      Remember composition rules.  Turn the camera vertical for portraits and get in close with soft light to make great shots of kids and family.   The rule of thirds is always good to remember.  Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid on your lens.  Put your subjects where the lines cross, or horizons on the upper or lower third for more impact.   Too many people put the subject right in the middle. Foreground, middle ground, background.  If you can incorporate something in each of these areas, it will help to tell your story better.   Leading lines. Try to include fences, roads, or any other line that takes the eye into the image.

9.      Add a little brilliance in post production.  Even if you don’t have photoshop, most image manipulation programs have the option to add saturation.  Just be very careful not to overdo it!  It’s easy to get carried away.

10.  Get off the grid.  Get out of your car.  Take a hike, a bike ride or even a four wheel road to a less traveled spot.  While things like Maroon Bells are great, to make your images uniquely yours, get off the beaten path and find your own paradise this fall.