As the summer months quickly approach their yearly end and the Autumn season about to get started. Fall photography should be a fun and enjoyable experience, as this is a great time to capture the fall foliage and all the sharp and vibrant autumn colors. The fall season brings about cooler weather temperatures, and as we see the fall leaves begin to start to fall from the trees. This is my favorite time of the year, as the fallen leaves and all the autumn foliage make for an amazing fall photoshoot.
With this type of photography, fall images of clear blue skies, overcast days and even rainy days, which could pose shooting difficulties even for professional photographers when taking nature photography. Therefore, as we will reference below noting the time of day, you want to conduct your fall photoshoot will make a difference on how you photograph your fall pictures. Even taking fall photos on sunny days could present some challenges as you need to be prepared for more natural and ambient light which might be in your photography scene.
However, no matter the lighting conditions you visible during autumn photography, with the right photography tips, photography ideas, tutorials and correct camera settings with some great photography equipment, will help you to snap some still images and video recordings.
These should help your fall photos really nail the vibrant colors found during the beautiful fall months. There are so many wonderful pieces of nature that are visible in fall photos especially the landscape full of autumn leaves. We have found that these months bring a sort of coziness, that you will enjoy showing off on your social media page.
Let’s look at some fall photography tips and equipment to get your fall photoshoot done and show off your final exposures.
Photography Tips
Starting Off
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Once you have the DSLR camera and camera lens you want, you can prepare for your fall photoshoot by setting up your photography scene and determining the time of day that you want to conduct it. Bear in mind that sunny days will have less harsh lighting conditions than shooting during overcast or rainy days.
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Try taking your images and video recordings the Golden Hour. The golden hour is the period during the first hour of light after sunrise, and the last hour of light before sunset times when the color of the sky goes from red and orange to yellow. This time of the day will show the hue from the sky on the autumn foliage, and you will have a great opportunity to practice and advance your landscape photography skills.
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You can also try taking your images during the “Blue Hour”. The blue hour is the time of day immediately before sunrise and after sunset where the sky takes on a nice almost translucent blue hue. Photographing the blue sky accompanied with freshly lined fall foliage will make for some great landscape photography.
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Make sure that you set up your photoshoot with an awesome background like waterfalls. Your subject will appear wonderfully in exposures taken during the autumn with gorgeous nature backgrounds like this.
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Shutter speed will be crucial for your photoshoot. As with a faster shutter speed, less ambient light will hit your camera’s image sensor, conversely a slower shutter speed will let more light into your exposure which is great to capture all the fall foliage, no matter your lighting conditions.
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The shutter speed directly correlates to the exposure length, meaning that if you have a slow shutter speed, you will get a long exposure, more light will enter your camera’s sensor.
Next Steps-Settings and Tips
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You can try using manual mode versus autofocus mode (where the camera automatically sets its performance settings based off the surrounds). This will give you greater control over the exposure including setting the ISO number, aperture settings and white balance to name a few.
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If you see that more ambient light is needed in your exposure, you should raise your shooting ISO number to allow for more light to hit your camera’s sensor. If you do that, make sure to adjust your aperture setting and white balance to a warm setting. If, you shoot with a low ISO number and you need to adjust the lighting during your photoshoot, that can be accomplished by adjusting your aperture opening wider for more light or slowing down your shutter speed.
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Taking great landscape photography during the fall months, will come out looking great with a nice wide angle lens. It gives a wider depth of field to take your still images and videos.
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For those bright sunny days a filter such as a polarizing filter would be extremely helpful. A polarizing filter will help reduce glare and unwanted reflections onto your subject. They will also increase color saturation, meaning that your fall colors will appear even more vibrant in your final exposure.
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Don’t forget to get your hands on a top-notch telephoto lens that meet all the close-up shooting needs you will need for portrait photography in the autumn. Not only can you use this to get close ups of your person subject, but it also wonderful for taking close ups of amazing architecture with the fall foliage in the background.
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With Halloween not too far away, many people have already begun decorating the exterior of their homes and businesses with decorations. That makes this a great time to get some pre-holiday photos of pumpkin patches or cool jack-o-lanterns found during your landscape photography this autumn.
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Try taking your still images in a RAW format. This allows for more post processing to be performed on your image, before you settle on a final exposure that you feel comfortable sharing with others and placing on your social media page.
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You can also shoot with the rule of thirds which will place two vertical and horizontal lines in the viewfinder or LCD screen of your camera, it is then that you can focus in on your subject to where any of these lines intersect and allow for the other two areas of your exposure to be that of the beautiful fall foliage and tremendous backgrounds.
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Another idea would be to take your still photos with backlighting, where your subject is directly between your camera and the light source that you will use during your fall photoshoot. While this does present some challenges in the composition of the photo, some of which can be addressed in post processing, you can use this mode of shooting to add contrast to your exposure and distinguish your subject in your final exposure better.
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Post processing can be performed with a variety of different apps and software like Adobe Lightroom or photoshop for example.
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And finally make sure to read the user manuals for products that you would be using during a fall photoshoot to make sure that they all meet your needs.
Photography Equipment
Recommended Camera
A great DSLR camera at amazing price point that is the perfect camera for your fall photography is the Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR Camera with EF18-55mm + EF 75-300mm Double Zoom Kit. This camera bundle comes with two different lens options along with camera body. It is compact and lightweight even with the lens attached making it for some great travel landscape photography this autumn. It’s powerful 24.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor can be counted on to bring out the most of every megapixel in your exposure showing off some amazing clarity and detail of fall foliage such as autumn leaves. Imagine using the zoom lens to really get in a close-up of some raindrops and dew on foliage in your fall photos.
The optical viewfinder and the large LCD screen show off your Full HD or FHD autumn photography, so you can watch closely as you shoot in real time, which will help ensure that you utilize the camera settings to adjust to the scene as you see it. You can let the camera handle all of this with it’s amazing autofocus features, or like professional photographers, use manual mode and set the camera settings yourself, for more control.
Wi-Fi and NFC or (Near Field Control) are built into the camera, so you can easily connect to your social media page and upload your images, as well as connecting to peripheral devices.
Additional Shooting Options and Accessories
We would be remiss without discussing DJI and it’s amazing lineup of handheld pocket cameras and what they are most known for; drones. When shooting landscape photography this autumn you can really get a great depth of field view when flying your drone and taking amazing still images and video recordings.
So, you can see a large variety of pocket cameras like the DJI OSMO 3 or superb drones like the DJI MAVIC and DJI FLY More. It is crucial to note a few things when discussing photographing with drones. Start by having a good visual line of sight of your drone. This will give you more comfort in knowing where the drone is and if it is safely in flight. Activate the “Return to Home” easily to get the drone back safely to your landing pad on its own, without you having to navigate it.
Not only do these drones contain peace of mind safety features like that but you get features like 4K image and video recording with High Dynamic Range in many cases. These will display the vibrant colors of your fall photos amazingly.
Remember to review the FAA regulations for your local area for any restrictions on drone flying. Some drones can fall under the UAV guidelines and restrictions imposed by the FAA.
But this autumn, you shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get your hands on one of these great DJI drones.
Final Thoughts
As you embark on your fall photoshoot this autumn, utilize the provided fall photography tips and tutorials coupled with some of our recommended photography equipment, like a new Canon EOS Rebel camera or a DJI drone. These will all go a long way in improving your overall photography skills let alone your autumn photography. Before you know it, you may find yourself well on your way to a career as a professional photographer when your family, friends and subscribers see the amazing image quality of your fall photoshoot.
