Make Better Fall Colour Images

Hello all. I realize that this topic is only timely for readers in the Northern Hemisphere but it’s top of mind, so my apologies to readers for whom fall colours are not a thing.

Look through your photo library and have a look at how many fall colour scenes you already have. Then compare that on the number that are printed and on your walls. No need to tell me the numerical ratio.

For those who photograph fall colours, we are drawn to do so by both the colour change (because it’s different) and because of the change in the angle of the sun which produces a much nicer light and creates a more effective balance of light and shade.

You may be familiar with the quote from one of my personal heroes, Professor Albert Einstein. Einstein is reputed to have said that if you do the same thing over and over expected different results, you may need to seek help from a mental health professional.

Actually I cleaned that up a bit.

So when you decide to go make fall colour images, decide up front NOT to do the same thing as you always do, which is based on some fairly straightforward data analysis is a landscape, shot with a wide angle lens, sometimes, but not nearly often enough, using a polarizer filter.

I’ve shot more of these than I care to admit, and none are on my walls. Mostly because they look the same as every other fall colour shot. Spell b-o-r-i-n-g.

Change things up.

My proposal and challenge to you is not to make fall colour images using a wide angle lens. Instead take one or both of two different lenses.

The first being the longest focal length telephoto that you have access to. Shoot so tight and so close that you only see a small portion of the larger scene and now compose for patterns, light and shade, colour transitions of any kind and duplicating myself, keep it really tight.

The second being a macro lens that at least delivers 1:1 magnification. If you already own a set of extension tubes, take them as well. Now focus on (pun intended) on the internal framework structure of a single leaf. You are looking for the segments that hold the parts between segments, colour shifts, faults in the leaf, pores in the leaf and if you are particularly lucky some fauna on the leaf for interest and context. If the leaf you like is still on the tree (best), it’s ok to remove it. Nature will do so in short order anyways and if it is the colour that is really driving the subject, get it before it falls and the internal sugars oxidize into brown. Alternatively, use a fallen leaf. You’re the artist, you do you.

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