The Best Season Is Next!
Where did summer go? I am just realizing that the month of August is soon coming to an end! It is crazy how fast weeks go…I remember being in the Pacific North West just a couple of weeks ago! But no…when I look at the calendar, I can clearly see that it was already three months ago.
So what does it mean? It means that Autumn is next in line! The most beautiful season of the year is just about to start and I am so excited. In order to help you create the most beautiful fall season images possible, I am dedicating this whole article about planning, a few tips while shooting and also, a few safety tips!
Keep on reading below as I am sure you will learn a few really interesting tips!
WHEN WILL THE COLOURS PEAK?
In order to have successful autumn season images, the colours must be at their prime. Of course, if you plan on shooting in your own neighborhood, you might already know when the fall colours will be at their best. But if you plan on exploring a new area and have absolutely no clue when these colours will be at their best, you have a couple options. The first one is contacting someone you know in the area you plan on visiting. Social Media can definitely be annoying in many ways. Engagement on Instagram is getting lower and lower by the week…but you have to admit that the amount of information we can find there is awesome. By gently asking someone that lives where you want to go can definitely turn your spontaneous photography excursion into a successful one!
But if you are just like me and don’t like to bother other people, there are apps and websites that exist for fall season colour forecasts. I have found these to be very accurate too. And even though I know an area I plan on visiting for fall season, I like to confirm with an app or an official fall season colour forecast website for the simple reason that peak colours may occur at a different moment based on many factors such as heat, weather in general and even precarious frost. Many Weather Forecast websites also happen to have maps for fall colour forecasts like the one below from Accuweather. Very very useful information here!
BE VISIBLE WHEN HIKING!
Fall season will often happen more or less at the same time as hunting season. I have hiked in many areas where there were signs stating that hunters might be present in the area I was in! That is a bit scary isn’t it? In general, hunters have very good visibility…but in order to avoid a very dangerous situation, I highly recommend wearing a high visibility piece! You could wear a fluorescent baseball cap? Maybe hang a bright orange or yellow piece of fabric on your backpack? Or simply go to Costco and buy a cheap high visibility construction shirt to put over your jacket! These are likely to cost like 10$ and could save you from taking a bullet in the ass!
WATCH OUT FOR TICKS
Fall Season often means milder temperatures…which also means ticks are very likely to be much more active! Protect yourself accordingly! Make sure to put your socks over your pants. I know, this isn’t aesthetically perfect but ticks can cause many more problems than a couple of people laughing about the way you look. Some ticks in my area carry Lime Disease and that disease is a bad one. You definitely don’t want to catch that bitch! You could as well use bug spray to keep them away from you…I found that regular mosquito repellent works really nice with ticks. What ever you do, do not ignore the fact that ticks are dangerous!
USE OPTICAL FILTERS
Ok…enough with non-photographic tips! Let’s dive into the more interesting stuff here! When I photograph fall colours, I often like to use a circular polarizer filter to cut the reflection off of reflecting surfaces. If and when photographing near a body of water such as a river, a creek or a waterfall, using a circular polarizer filter will be very beneficial. It will prevent wet rocks and water surface from reflecting the bright light from the sky. This will help in creating beautiful dark rocks and will enhance the general contrast in your images.
Also, by reflecting surfaces, I wasn’t only referring to rocks and water in general…on a bright sunny day, if you use a circular polarizer and adjust it efficiently, you will recover a great amount of colours from the leaves in the trees themselves! This will greatly improve the overall saturation of fall colours in your images! By looking in the viewfinder and rotating the circular polarizer filter, you will easily be able to notice the effect of the filter and adjust it as desired.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WATER FLOW
Fall season does not differ from any other season…you definitely want to take advantage of the beautiful flow created by moving water. What does that mean? That means you should consider longer exposures. And by longer, I do not mean one minute or two! My sweet spot for long exposures will often be around half a second. I love the amount of detail still present in flowing water with a shutter speed of around half a second. Using a circular polarizer will often cut one and a half stop of light…and if in some situations you need to cut a little bit more light, you can stack an extra filter on top (or under…which works best for you…) of your circular polarizer. A filter of 2 or 3 stops will often be more than enough for me! But then again, this is a pure matter of personal preference. Some people tend to prefer much smoother water than me…I am just sharing what I love most here!
NARROW FOR THE WIN
As most of you already know, I tend to prioritize vertical compositions. And the reason for that is very simple: Narrow compositions are almost always simpler to read! They often include much less distractions on each side which makes for fewer elements in the foreground. Don’t get me wrong, I also capture images in horizontal format…sometimes, horizontal is the way to go! Other times, vertical is the way to go. Just keep in mind that landscape photography doesn’t always have to be done in landscape orientation! Try both!
CHEAT CODE
This one last tip might not please everyone but I am myself guilty for using it very often. I like to play around with my foreground a little bit. Sometimes, everything is perfectly positioned and Mother Nature did a great job! But in other situations, you might think that your foreground is lacking some colours or details…simply try to put a couple leaves in your foreground! Choose some leaves that are looking lovely and position them in such a way that it will not only look « real » but also add the little Je ne sais quoi that was missing in your composition. Like I said, some purists might not agree with this practice but who cares? You do photography for yourself! Right?
…IN CONCLUSION
In conclusion, these are a couple of very useful tips that should without a doubt bring you gloriously to the finishing line when photographing the pure beauty of the autumn season! I very much looking forward to getting out during the fall season and enjoying those fiery colour combinations that Mother Nature will display for us all!
