You can feel it in the air, the evenings are starting to get chilly and the leaves are putting on a brilliant show of yellow, orange, and red’s and falling from the trees. Fall is upon us and that means it’s time to capture those amazing fall colors before they are gone and all those leaves have fallen to the ground.

Fall is an amazing time, it might even be my most favorite season, followed closely by spring time. Both seasons have much more interesting weather with early morning fog, dramatic sunsets, and quick moving rain showers. Both seasons also have a brief show of color with spring blossoms, and fall colors. Timing is everything when capturing the beautiful colors of autumn. It’s amazing the difference a few days can make when photographing the leaves. If you are a couple days early, the leaves can still be green and if your a couple days too late, all the leaves can be on the ground crumbling away. I created a list of my most useful tips for photographing the beautiful fall colors. This list will help you capture those amazing fall colors during the height of the fall colors before they all fall to the ground and winter sets in.

• Have a Plan – The most important thing you can do to successfully capture the fall colors is to plan plan plan. Know exactly when the colors are going to be in their prime. Know exactly where you’re going to go and this way you’re not driving around looking for that perfect spot. There are several online resources that show on a map when the fall colors are going to be the most vibrant in your area. I use this Fall Foliage Map and this Fall Foliage Map The fall colors are their best at different times depending on your location and elevation. But in the northern hemisphere, it is usually around late September and early October.

 

 

• Scout the Location – The last thing you want to be doing is driving around looking for that perfect location where there is a pond surrounded by trees covered in yellow, orange and red leaves while that perfect golden light shines down on it for just a moment. Instead know exactly where you are going to go, get there early, and take your time. You don’t have to go scouting for a location when the colors are already happening, instead use your daily life to keep an eye out for that perfect scene that will make that perfect fall photo. Use your daily commute to work to search for locations. Remember where the trees are that will be the most scenic, and that way in the fall you will already know where you are going to go. This way you are more likely to capture those beautiful fall colors. Change up the route you take to cover more ground and plan more shots. It is also boring to take the same way home everyday, spice it up a bit.

 

 

• Go During Golden Hour – The best time to photograph the fall colors is during the “Golden Hour.” The colorful leaves will look their best when the sun is getting low in the sky and the lighting is softer. But pretty much anything looks better during the gold hour. When the sun is at its highest point in the sky at high noon, the leaves will reflect that sunshine and you will will not see as much color. The whole point of photographing the fall colors is capturing the colors, not the glare of the sun. The shadows will be dark so it will be hard to capture the whole scene without using HDR to pull the details out of the shadows. It is difficult to keep detail in the shadows while maintaining detail in the highlighted areas of your shot. it is best to just wait around for a while until the light gets softer and the dynamic range in your scene is not as extreme.

 

 

• Go When it Rains – Just because it may be raining, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go out and try to capture those fall colors. The rain may actually improve your pictures. When the leaves are wet, the colors seem to pop more than they would if they were dry. And if it is raining, there is a good chance that the sky will be overcast. Overcast skies mean there will be even diffused lighting with no harsh shadows or bright highlights. Another bonus for when it is raining is there will be less people to stand in your shot or get in your way. Most people choose to stay home on a rainy day but true photographers don’t let a little rain slow them down. Just remember to keep your gear dry and bring a lens hood to keep the rain drops off the front element of your lens. Here is a link to the rain cover i use for when I’m shooting in the rain.

 

 

• Use A Polarizer – when photographing the fall colors, a polarizer filter will come in extremely handy. The most useful use of a polarizer just may be when you are photographing the fall colors. A polarizer will cut the glare of the sun off of every surface leaving just the colorful leaf. If the leaves are wet, that can also create a glare, but a polarizer will help eliminate the glare. I almost always leave my polarizer filter home when I’m out shooting, but I always bring it with me when I am photographing the autumn colors.

 

 

• Put The Falling Into Fall – Try to capture the leaves as they fall from the trees. The season is named Fall for a reason. So on one of those windy fall days, go out and capture the leaves blowing off the trees. It will add interest and a sense of motion to your shot.

 

 

• Foggy Mornings – Get up early and head out to photograph the fall scenery before the fog burns off. Early in the morning on those cold mornings, the fog will hang low in the valleys and along the surface of lakes and rivers. It makes for some very atmospheric moody shots. The viewer will get a chill down their spine just looking at your pictures.

 

 

• Backlight and Sidelight – The sun does not need to be at your back when photographing the fall colors. Walk around and shoot with the sun side lighting the leaves or back lit so the leaves glow a brilliant yellow, orange, or red.

 

 

• Its Not Just About The Fall Colors – Fall is not just about the leaves turning colors, it is also about harvest festivals, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, fall fruit, foggy mornings, and much more. On one of the weekends, go to a farmers market and photograph the apples, and pears. Go to a pumpkin field with your kids and take pictures of them picking out their favorite pumpkins.

 

 

• When To Include The Sky and When Not To – on those cloudy overcast days where the sky is just a sheet of grey, try to avoid having the sky in your shots. On those days the sky will just look like A big white overexposed party your picture with no detail. It is possible to use bracketed photos and combined them using HDR to pull detail out of those bright cloudy skies to create a dramatic sky. But sometimes those pictures look over processed, if you could do it in a natural way then it might be worth it but usually I try to avoid including a gray white overexposed sky if I can help it. If the sky it’s just a big blue void, it might also be preferable to avoid including the sky any our shots. But if there’s cotton ball clouds and color I absolutely try to include it in my images.

 

 

• Portraits – The fall colors make for some spectacular backgrounds when shooting portraits. The kids are going back to school in September so snap some shots of them while they still are looking sharp for the first day of school. go into your backyard, or to a park and find those colorful trees. Place your subject in front of those trees and use a low aperture to throw the background out of focus so its just soft reds and oranges. Take some pictures of the kids being kids. Have them jumping into a pile of leaves, running around with pets, the possibilities are endless. These pictures will be treasured memories and also make for some great gifts to send to grandparents and relatives.

 

            There you have it, my top 11 tips for photographing the beautiful colors of fall. Go out there and capture the season, and feel free to share your photos on the Photo Lowdown Facebook Page.