4 Tips for Capturing a Beautiful Autumn

Ahhh, Fall. Oh how I love Thee! It is my absolute favorite season. The gorgeous colors, the cooler temperatures, and the cozy traditions have me swooning from the time I see the first leaf fall from the trees. Forget Christmas, for me FALL is the most wonderful time of the year! Here are my 4 tips for capturing a beautiful autumn.

Light

My favorite part of Autumn is the glorious, golden light! The Earth’s tilt on its axis as it orbits the sun determines our seasons. In the Summer, the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun and in Winter the South Pole is tilted toward the Sun. In the Fall, the Earth’s axis is directly in line with the Sun and has no tilt. The Autumnal Equinox is the day in September where the sun sits right over the Equator and the daylight hours and night time hours are pretty much equal. The shorter days (Horray for earlier Golden Hour!), and the position of the sun in line with the Earth make the light a bit more golden delicious and the shadows a bit longer. I think any photographer would say that makes for some amazing shots!

Golden Hour:

The best time to catch that gorgeous Autumn Light is during Golden Hour! Since the position of the Sun in the sky is changing, there is a difference in how our eyes perceive light and color. Lucky for us, these changes result in beautiful, rich colors and light that is a touch more golden!

Golden Hour is often talked about as the favorite type of light for photographers… and for good reason. This magical stretch of time isn’t technically an hour and can vary from day to day. But in general terms it usually happens in the first hour after sunrise, and also in the hour before sunset. It’s called golden hour because the light is beautiful, soft and golden due to the sun’s low position in the sky – and it appears even more golden in the fall!

The closer the sun is to the horizon, the more diffuse the light is. The light is soft and buttery, and more even. Also, the closer the sun is to the horizon line, the more golden or even reddish tones appear in the light. To put it simply… it’s glorious. The soft, directional light during golden hour results in very flattering light for portraits. It casts long shadows and adds more dimension to your scene. Also, with the sun being so low, it’s easy to use techniques like backlighting and rim lighting to add drama and depth to your images.

Soft Light:

Overcast days are abundant during the fall. But even though you may not catch that golden light on an overcast day, don’t let it keep you from getting out and capturing this beautiful season! Overcast days provide soft, diffused light that is more even and flattering on your subject. Cloudy or overcast days provide a soft box effect that blocks out some of the hard light, making your subject more evenly lit and even your tones a bit more rich. And since our tones are getting more bright and beautiful by the day during Autumn, an overcast day can be the perfect way to capture the season!

However, shooting on overcast days poses some challenges. If you aren’t careful, your image may look flat or lack dimension. Placing your subject in front of a dark background helps to make them pop in the scene and creates depth. You can also add dimension to your image by using directional lighting. Place your subject next to an area of open shade, a building, some trees… anything that will block some of the light on one side, and create flattering contour and shadows.

Fog:

In Autumn, the longer nights and cooler temperatures cause the ground to chill, making beautiful, foggy mornings more common. Fog, like cloudy and overcast weather, is like shooting in a giant soft box. It creates a wonderful sense of atmosphere and depth to your images. 

If the fog is too thick, consider shooting with a shorter lens. This way, there is less atmosphere between you and your subject and details will be less muddy. You can also use a “Dehaze” brush or the slider in Lightroom to bring back some details if needed.

 

 

Color

In Autumn, “Color” is the star of the show! The warm oranges, golds, yellows, browns and reds we start to see when the leaves change make for a glorious backdrop for your photos. The rich colors work together in such a magical and emotive away to bring your storytelling to life. We wait all year for these beautiful hues to emerge, so take advantage of this brief season and get shooting!

The way we perceive color actually changes with the seasons based on our surrounding environment. The light is warmer, and so are the tones in the vibrant reds and oranges of Autumn. For the most vivid and rich colors in your images, timing can make a big difference in color quality. Golden Hour gives us beautiful, soft warm light that will complement the warm colors of Autumn foliage. Overcast or foggy days can also make colors appear more rich and saturated. You should also add a Circular Polarizing Filter to your camera bag. A Circular Polarizing Filter will enhance your colors and image contrast, and also reduce glare on leaves and water.

You can also choose colors in your images to compliment your scene. Color Theory is a set of general rules on how we use color in art and design. It provides us with guidelines on the visual effects of mixing colors and specific color combinations. It also gives us insight on how we can use color to not only create a visually appealing images, but also to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. According to Color Theory, combining colors in different ways allows us as artists to create images that are both evocative and pleasing to the eye.

• Analogous Colors: Three colors that are located next to each other on the color wheel.
• Complementary Colors: Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.
• Split-Complementary Colors: Three colors that include a base color and two colors adjacent to its complementary color on the color wheel.
• Triadic Colors: Three colors that are equal distances from each other on the color wheel.
• Tetradic Colors: Four colors on the color wheel arranged into two complementary pairs.
• Color Temperature: Warm, Cool and Neutral Colors are used to portray different emotional responses.

Autumn Inspiration

One of my favorite things about Autumn (aside from colors, cooler temperatures, and endless treats), is the fact that things can change so quickly from one day to the next. This means there is always something new to discover and photograph pretty much every day of this magical season. You just have to keep your eyes open to the subtle changes all around you.

To help inspire you on what to look for and things to shoot this Fall, I’ve made this handy Fall Photo Bucket List you can download! Not only will it give you great ideas of things to capture, but it will help you get out and about to enjoy the most of what this spectacular season has to offer!

Editing

Now that you’re inspired and shooting a gorgeous autumn season, you will have a bunch of images in your editing backlog. There is a lot you can do in post processing to enhance your autumn images and also make your editing consistent and easy. Some things I regularly do in post processing are:

• Correct crooked lines and compositions with cropping.
• Remove clutter or distractions from the frame.
• Enhance or replace a boring sky.
• Change or pop colors of elements in the frame to better complement the scene.
• Enhance the light to create drama or emotion.
• Enhance the shadows/contrast to evoke emotion.

 

My favorite way to keep my editing consistent and EASY is to use my Autumn Glory Preset Collection on my Autumn Images. This gives me a beautiful base in Lightroom, with brushes/masks to help enhance the details and colors. Then I use my Autumn Glory Tone and Light Overlays to give my images a finishing touch in Photoshop.

Check out the brand new Autumn Glory Preset collection here!

I hope you enjoyed these 4 tips on capturing a beautiful Autumn! For more inspiration, follow me on Instagram!