Bringing Photographers Closer to Their Natural World
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If leaves were born red, fall would be a non-event. Fall drama comes from change
– a 180 degree change in several ways: from green to red, opposites on the
color wheel; from a cool to a warm shade; and from background to main subject.
Foliage, previously a dutiful backdrop for more attractive florals, boldly
reverses roles and demands center stage with its brilliance and novelty.
The autumn sun shines from a lower angle, changing the quality of light.
Clear blue sky replaces summer’s dirty haze. Fluffy white clouds sail in,
further enhancing the reds, oranges and yellows of autumn. And color isn’t the
only subject. Patterns abound in leaves. Early morning frost and fog add texture
and mood. Nature, in the fall, gifts everything on the summer weary
photographer’s wish list. And we haven’t even got to reflections yet. Those
will add yet another level of richness.
So get the Velvia out of the fridge and pack every lens you’ve got. And
don’t forget your gloves.
Day one: stand before the red maple and click. Zoom
in on a few leaves, click. Aim upward and shoot leaves against blue sky. Then
shoot some backlit leaves.
Now you are done with the clichés.
Get ready for some creative image making. Several strategies can elevate
your images from simply “nice” to extraordinary. One is to go to the photo
spots over and over, getting slides processed daily and reviewing them nightly.
This gives you a chance to improve on images and redo any errors.
To intensify reds and oranges, use that natural enhancer, the morning
sun. Contrasted against blue sky, reds will appear even redder. Polarize to
saturate foliage and deepen the sky. Spot meter on the deep red leaves and
underexpose by one stop.
Fall photos change from year to year - you cannot duplicate last year’s
images. In Illinois’ Mathiessen State Park this year the canyon floor was
flooded and I could not walk beyond a 50 foot area. This turned out to be a
blessing in disguise, for it forced me to look closer. And I struck gold. The
most amazing gold and copper colors were reflected in the water, bordered by
rocks and strewn with red leaves.
First I took some wide angle shots encompassing the canyon walls, rocks
and water, with trees rising up the center. Using my 28mm lens at f16, I set the
hyperfocal distance at 7 feet, spot metered on a gray card and bracketed by 2/3rd
stop on both sides.
Then I took the camera off the tripod and moved around, looking through
the viewfinder from various angles and varying focal lengths. Each time
different compositions presented themselves, and new metallic reflections
appeared. For better composition, I gently moved some of the leaves on the
water’s surface. At 100mm focal length and f8, I framed three rocks, with
leaves floating diagonally across the frame. I looked for S-shaped patterns and
shot some vertical as well as horizontal frames.
Then, at 300mm and f5.6, I zoomed on a small group of leaves that lay on
green reflection. Surrounded by pine needles and blue bubbles, they made
interesting patterns whose jewel-like quality immediately suggested a title –
“fallen gems.” I metered on the rocks, and, judging them to be darker than a
gray card, I underexposed by 2/3rd stop and used that as my middle
exposure. Then I shot at 2/3rd stop over as well as under the middle
exposure. I focused about a third of the way into the image. Moving around, I
framed some red leaves floating on the sky’s blue reflection.
Remember, don’t walk away because there seems to be nothing to shoot.
Follow Lonnie Brock’s advice. Just stay and “work” a spot and you will be
rewarded with one-of-a-kind images.
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