4 Tips for Fall Photography
Bring out the best of fall with these quick tips.
In many US areas, this is the time of year to capture the beauty of autumn and all its colors, textures, and details. I hope you can get out to shoot this season, even if it’s just in your neighborhood or nearby park. These 4 tips can be used anywhere to bring out the best of fall.
The 4 tips we will cover are Complimentary Color, Reflections, Texture/Small Details, and Intentional Camera Movement.
Complimentary Color is a critical component in fall photography. It is an opportunity to highlight the best of the season. There are so many colors during fall, rich oranges, golds, greens, and reds. One thing I like to do is really focus on complementary colors, like blue and orange. Use these colors to set the stage for your image when post-processing, bring out the saturation in both colors or use color grading in Lightroom to enhance the color tones. If the fall season does not give you a bright clear blue sky, you can adjust the hue or temperature sliders to bring out more blue, or as a last resort, you could always replace the sky in Photoshop or another application.
Reflections are so beautiful to capture, and the tones and colors of fall make for a great image. Look for reflections at local ponds, water features, lakes, etc… The light of the season will help bring out the reflections in the water. Even taking a walk after a rainy day, you can find water spots with reflections of fall trees and color. The reflections can be part of your image or make them the subject.
Fall is a great time to focus on the small details and textures around you. Look for and highlight the textures that you see. Think about grasses, plants that have faded from summer, leaves, tree bark, mushrooms. Look for old, weathered objects that you can add to your scene. The textures found during the season can be the highlight of your image. Using contrast when editing will help bring out the best details of the texture. Also, raising the clarity slider a little will enhance the textures in the image. Take time to find the small objects around you. Spot leaves full of water drops, late-blooming plants, acorns, or berries. Adjust your camera settings to really focus and capture the beauty of these small objects. Try shooting with a wide-open aperture to reduce the background and bring attention to these small details. Capturing the sights of fall with an abstract look adds interest and intrigue.
Intentional camera movement is a great way to add interest and creativity during the season. The trees during fall and winter are great specimens to capture as ICM. Think about capturing blowing grasses, meadows, water reflections all with camera movement. Intentional camera movement can be done with any camera, any lens, and almost anytime. Check out this post to learn more.
Fall is a short season but packed full of color, texture, and new subjects to photograph. I hope you will enjoy the season!
Originally published at https://www.lorilankford.com.
