In this article, I’ll share with you the essential fall color photo tips that will put you on the path to making your own beautiful images of the season. With this flexibility, I can stay at one place or move about the half-dozen states that are renown for this yearly display of Mother Nature. As a professional photographer, I use my home base of New England and the ability to make short trips at “peak” times to capture the colors. With the winding road and fall color, this photo just shouts autumn. Lee Filters 100 x 100mm Little Stopper 1.One of my favorite spots in the whole world is the Burgess Cemetery in Grafton, Vermont. Lee Filters 77mm Big Stopper Kit – Lee Filters 4×4 Big Stopper (10-stop ND Filter), Lee Filters Foundation Kit and 77mm Wide Angle Ring with 2filter cleaning kit Lee Filters 100 x 100mm Big Stopper 3.0 Neutral Density Filter, 10-Stop Links to these and some other options below on Amazon. I use the Lee Big Stopper (10 stops) and Little Stopper (6 stops) for these situations. A rock or rocks, a log, or a duck are just some examples to look for when making autumn color photos of reflections. In order to get exposures of 10 seconds of longer during the middle of the day, you will need a strong neutral density filter of 6 to 10 stops in filter strength. These type of refection images almost always need some help in the form of one or more visual anchors in addition to reflection. The above image is an example of the latter, with a 10-second exposure being used to smooth out the water’s surface. If the water is choppy from the wind or is moving, like you would find in a river or stream, you can make abstract reflections or colored water with longer exposures. If the water is still enough, you can capture some literal refections that create a mirror image of the primary subject. Here is where you will find a great opportunity to photograph fall reflections. On any sunny autumn day, find a body of water that is in the shade but also near some brightly illuminated autumn color, such as a grove of colorful trees or hillside. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR Some short telephoto lenses to consider (links to Amazon):Ĭanon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom LensĬanon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens In the example above with a focal length of 85mm, I reveal to the viewer only a small section of a larger waterfall and scene, splitting the image into three equal sections: the autumn color, the falling water, and the distinctive glacial blue of the river. This is particularly true when shooting autumn color. Telephoto isolation in landscape photography is the fine art of exclusion, stripping away any extraneous visual elements to reveal only the most essential and important parts of the scene. But by isolating smaller vignettes with a telephoto lens, you can help bring some order to that chaos. A forest of trees, colorful or not, can be a confusing maze of visual chaos. You should look to use a short telephoto lens (70-200mm or even 100-400mm) to isolate patterns of autumn color, interconnected shapes, and textures within the larger landscape. The warm tones in the backlit foliage fully complement the blues in the sky. Try to employ complementary colors by shooting skyward on a sunny, blue-sky day. ![]() Best results are when you partially obscure the sun behind a tree branch or mountain, leaving only some of the sun’s rays peeking through. A small aperture is associated with large f-stop numbers so a setting of f/22 usually does the trick. ![]() A sunstar is created by using lens diffraction when a small aperture is used. Look to add a sunstar for additional interest and a strong focal point of the image – if it needs one.Better yet, consult the histogram and “exposure to the right.” Consider adding a stop or two of exposure to keep the image from being too dark. Your camera’s meter will probably want to underexpose the scene under most backlighting conditions. Your lens hood might help, although probably not if shooting directly into the sun, so consider using your hand, a hat, a book, anything that can block the sun’s rays from striking the front element of the lens. Be aware of ghosting or flare when shooting into the sun.
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