It’s that time of the year when photographers become overly saturated as the landscape turns kaleidoscopic with the turning colors of Autumn. Here is the down and dirty best tips to get your best fall foliage images.
1. Photograph in light rain if you can or immediately after a rain. The colors will be the richest and no one else will be around. The absolutely the best condition is early morning fog. Wow! Orgasmic!!
2. Use a polarizer whenever you are photographing leaves, especially wet leaves. All the glare will be removed and the resulting colors will knock whatever socks you are wearing clean off.
3. Don’t even think of including white skies. A sliver if it is medically necessary but only if it is life or death. Even small pieces of blank white skies leaking through your composition will kill your picture. Zoom in, take a few steps to the side, tilt down, I don’t care, just don’t include blank white skies in your shots.
4. On blue sky days shoot reflections but don’t do it on cloudy days. Blue skies add color to your shot, cloudy days add dullness. The old looking-straight-up-in-the-forest composition is also only possible on blue sky days.
5. Don’t use flash, car headlights, flashlights, glow sticks, porch lights, lighters, head lamps or iPhones to light your scene. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should and you definitely shouldn’t.