This fall’s color has been one of the most spectacular in recent memory…It is not every year that the oaks, aspens and maples all peak at the same time, but this year they are. So what’s your excuse for not getting out and shooting? Here are some of the reasons I find myself hmmming and hawwwing and procrastinating and avoiding taking fall foliage photos.
1. I CAN’T FIND A GOOD COMPOSITION
SOLUTION: Make your own! I found this dewy Quaking Aspen leaf and very carefully placed it on a background of reversed maple leaves that I laid out. I love the contrast of the yellow with the magenta.
2. IT’S CLOUDY OUT
SOLUTION: No problem, cloudy and foggy days are the best for recording the saturated colors of fall. Even rainy days can be great. But remember to use a polarizer to reduce the sheen from wet leaves.
3. THE LEAVES HAVE ALREADY FALLEN
SOLUTION: So what?…The leaves can be just as pretty and colorful on the ground.
4. I WORK DURING THE DAY
SOLUTION: Get out early! Frost on fall leaves can be a dramatic element
5. TOO LATE…SNOW HAS ALREADY FALLEN
SOLUTION: Count your lucky stars because this is a rare event. Get out right away and find some colorful leaves dusted with snow to make a stunning shot.
6. IT’S JUST A JUMBLE OF LEAVES, TREES, AND COLOR OUT THERE…I CAN’T FIND A SUBJECT
SOLUTION: Isolate! Find a clump of particularly beautiful leaves…or an individual fallen leaf…or grab the telephoto lens to highlight one area of color.
7. THE LEAVES WON’T STAY STILL
SOLUTION: Use this to your advantage…If leaves are swirling in an eddy of a river or creek, just set your tripod up and shoot at a very slow shutter speed…Slower the better. The leaves will become a swirl of color but the rocks and shoreline will be sharp.
8. I CAN’T FIND ANY COLORFUL LEAVES
SOLUTION: Shoot brown leaves
9. I ONLY BROUGHT MY WIDE ANGLE LENS
SOLUTION: The best lens is the one you have with you…So use it! But you have to be careful with wide angle fall foliage shots that you don’t include too much of a gray sky. Here I intentionally eliminated the sky to focus on the variety of colors in a wooded meadow.
10. I ONLY BROUGHT MY TELEPHOTO LENS
SOLUTION: Perfect…Much easier to find good compositions with a medium telephoto (70-200mm) than with a wide angle lens, I believe. Head to a vantage point or lookout where you can isolate part of the scene like in this image from Oberg Mountain, Minnesota, Lake Superior North Shore.
There you have it…A bunch of reasons NOT to shoot this fall’s gorgeous leaves…And a bunch of solutions to these common excuses. Now let’s get out there and shoot like crazy before all the leaves are gone!
8 responses to “10 Reasons NOT to Take Fall Leaf Photos”
Sam Cook
October 3rd, 2012 at 09:42
Nice advice, Sparky. And nice photos, too.
I was out early at Hartley today. One photo attached.
…Sam
Sparky Stensaas
October 3rd, 2012 at 19:48
Thanks Sam! email me the photo…Can’t find the attached image.
meanwhileintexas
October 3rd, 2012 at 09:48
i miss this time of year here in north/east Texas.here every thang just turns brown.
Jack Viere
October 3rd, 2012 at 10:23
Whoa those photos you used were really intense and emphasized your points!
Beret
October 3rd, 2012 at 11:09
Too late for me, unfortunately…where were you a month ago? 🙂
Sparky Stensaas
October 3rd, 2012 at 19:49
Hi Beret, Yeah, I suppose the leaf season is long gone up in Fairbanks…Time to wax up the skis I suppose!
Dounia
October 3rd, 2012 at 13:31
Wow, these are beautiful photos! And your solutions are great too 🙂 Thanks for sharing – the tips and the photos!
travelgardeneat
October 3rd, 2012 at 18:43
Great photo tips in such a visually pleasing post! ~ Kat
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Fall leaves before they fall « Mike Powell October 7th, 2012 at 06:17
[…] attitude changed, though, when I read an article by Sparky Stensaas in The Photonaturalist entitled 10 Reasons NOT to Take Fall Leaf Photos. I encourage you to read the article (by following the link above) if you keep coming up with […]