There’s a reason why fall is considered the most beautiful season. The bright orange hues of the leaves combined with the soft and golden light create a spectacular opportunity for photographers to capture the most breathtaking landscape views. Brimming with bright fall colors and contrasts, a fall landscape photo will be filled with fiery hues. But the only downside with the fall season is that the days are shorter, and the weather is often dark and dismal. Therefore, you will have less time to capture the breathtaking views.
Still, armed with perseverance and some tips, you should be able to capture the most beautiful fall landscape photography. To help you with this, here are some tips to help you capture striking autumn landscape images.
Look for the Best Light
One of the most beautiful things about the autumn season is its rich, golden light. During this season, the sun stays at a lower angle longer and produces stunning sunset views. If you want to shoot during the golden hour, look for this light just after sunrise and before sunset. The golden hour produces soft, golden light, which compliments well with the colorful hues of autumn.
Certain lighting conditions can also help you to produce fantastic autumn landscapes. During sunny days, the direct light coming from the sun will lead to an increase of shadows, which highlights the texture of the landscape and adds depth and texture to the image. When capturing fall color photos under bright and sunny conditions, consider using an ND filter to prevent overexposure and blown-out highlights.
Choose an Ideal Location
Remember that location plays an important factor when it comes to taking fall landscape images. An ideal setting for fall color photography would be a high vantage point overlooking a forest. Of course, you will find several other excellent locations, such as in a field at the edge of a forest, at the lakeside, or a road leading through a jungle. Even a park with a single tree can make for a great setting for your fall landscape photography.
Try to be as creative as you can and think outside the box when scouting areas for your photoshoot. Look for locations that offer different compositional elements, which can further enhance the images.
Work with the Different Elements
Shooting landscapes during fall is full of surprises. Misty and foggy mornings can create some dramatic images. Frost and rain can also produce special effects on your landscape photos. Take advantage of these elements to make your photos look even more dramatic.
Start shooting early on a clear morning, and you could be rewarded with some beautiful morning fogs. Soft streaks of golden light can also result in striking images with a mysterious effect. When there’s a sudden drop in temperature, frost will start to form. Be sure to take advantage of close-up images when there’s frost, such as frosty leaves and frozen grasses.
The rain can also make for a great element to include in your fall landscape photos. Take advantage of the beautiful light that would break through the clouds right after a rainstorm. Raindrops can also lead to vibrant color splashes amidst the beautiful fall foliage.
Find a Focal Point
The breathtaking hues of fall could easily overwhelm any photographer. But do not get too carried away that you will forget about composition. Before you start shooting, try to look for a clear focal point that can give the image a much stronger effect. For instance, you can choose a lone tree in the middle of a park or perhaps a bright-colored fence. You can also feature the wildlife as a focal point in your landscape photos. When it comes to composing your fall landscape photos and looking for a focal point, always apply the rule of thirds. This guideline requires placing your subject in the left or right third of an entire image, leaving the other two-thirds open.
Capture Some Reflections
Another creative way to take fall landscape photos is to capture reflections. Autumn foliage will look spectacular once it’s reflected over a lake. For smoother results, start shooting early and try to capture the stillness of the lake. You can also shoot autumn reflections in a pond, shallow pool, or stream of water.
While smooth and calm days are ideal for capturing glassy and mirror-like reflections, it’s also possible to capture reflections on the surface of choppy water. Autumn foliage that’s reflected into rippled water can also lead to beautiful, abstract images. Use a fast shutter speed when taking reflection photos and zoom into the portion of the water that has the reflection. Make sure to remove the cover of the polarizer lens to minimize unnecessary reflections.
Blur Movement
Blurry water looks beautiful during fall, so this is a good idea to consider for your fall landscape photos. The best way to capture this is to use a tripod and apply slow shutter speed to blur any movement. This will result in softly blurred water. This technique can also be used to blur other moving subjects, such as grass blowing in the wind or leaves falling from trees.
When the color of the leaves starts changing in fall, you could find unexpected photo opportunities in those areas you might have overlooked in the past. Look for bright and contrasting colors, and be mindful of pools of water to capture the reflections from them. Take advantage of long exposures to capture softly blurred movement and use fast shutter speeds to freeze motion. Try to experiment with different angles and settings, and you’ll be surprised at what you can capture.
Conclusion
There’s nothing quite beautiful like the changing of seasons from summer to fall. The flood of vivid colors would be a perfect opportunity for photographers to take advantage of. Sure, the colors can be overwhelming at first, but with experiment and practice, you should be able to capture the most beautiful fall landscape images. Whether you are new to photography or not, the tips above should help you in capturing the most beautiful photos out of the colorful fall landscapes.