With fall color working its way through the season, questions on what is the right way to photograph them pop up. There is no right or wrong but perhaps better or worse based on what you want to say about them. One very simple way is to change up the light. Above is a backlit scene just seconds before the sun raced around the globe.
Sebago Lake captured by Z7 / Z24-200 @20mm
Then turning around there was this tree frontlit. The drama in the color in both photos comes from the darkness or black around them. Backlit, it’s easy to get this darkness. Frontlit, you might need to underexpose which at the same time, saturates the color. In both, the actual fall color doesn’t not fill the frame, in fact, the opposite. This permits the imagination to fill in some of the holes. Our imagination is a powerful tool to tap into your photos, another great attribute of black. Just something to ponder when you’re out in the woods this fall capturing your fall color.
Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Breakthrough 10x
Some locations are just too cool. Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse is one of those where the photos from my first visit just didn’t quite bring back the story for me. So, I went back.
Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse captured by Z7 / Z24-70f2.8 / Breakthrough 10x
The top photo is from this morning, the bottom is from last week. Both taken the same time in the morning with the same technique and exposure time, both completely different. Because of the fog that was rolling in, I went wider this morning and that simple element makes the photo for me. I was told long ago it’s always better the second time. It was this morning!
Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, ME captured by Z7 / Z24-200 / 10x Breakthrough
It’s been a few years, too many actually, so we’re back on the East Coast getting our lighthouse appetite feed once again! This morning we headed out to Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse. As lighthouses go, it’s unique in that it’s pudgy with a really special place in the harbor. Being in place before the sun could kiss the lighthouse, I went with a long exposure of 16 minutes to transform the otherwise blah water into a palette for the colors to play on (using Breakthrough 10x). I shot at 9k WB to bring out the subtle colors of the basically bald sky. That was just the start of a marvelous shoot.
Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, ME captured by Z7 / Z24-200 / 10x Breakthrough
Before the sun could creep up any more on the horizon, I scooted over to my right and shoot right down the breakwater at the lighthouse. With the exposure time around twelve minutes, the folks walking down the breakwater and the college kid making us feel old running laps, laps, on the breakwater don’t show up in the photo since they are not in any one spot for more than 25% of the exposure time.
Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, ME captured by Z7 / Z1-40 / 10x Breakthrough
Once we finished up the long view and the sun came up to wrap itself around the lighthouse, we walked the 900-foot breakwater right to its base. This 1897 Lighthouse has some great details that popped in the light and in B&W. Being as large as it and with the time of year, we could position ourselves so the lighthouse blocked the sun setting the lighthouse in a glow without seeing the sun itself. It was a great morning!
On a side note, being able to travel light, just the Z7, Z14-30, and the Z24-200 was incredibly fun! I have a step-up ring so I can use the 82mm 10x Breakthrough on the Z24-200 as well as the Z14-30.
One of the first species to be listed when the Endangered Species Act was signed by President Nixon, the San Joaquin Kit Fox still fights for a place on this earth. It has been a dear, long-term project of ours and we were thrilled to be a small part in telling its story in the new Saving Species Together program!
The CDFG Saving Species Together program is all about education through images and words and in keeping with how folks received their information today, it’s all video. Many don’t realize that video has been a big part of your visual storytelling with our footage here starting back in 2010.
Cripple Creek, CO captured by D4s / 200-400 w/drop-in polarizer
It’s time, fall color is starting to peak in some regions which means it’s time to get out and celebrate the light! The emails are coming in asking for help and I’m happy to help as best as I can. I have some basic advice to pass along to get you started. At the top of the list is watching the light and use a polarizer whenever you can. The polarizer is to remove the blue color cast of the sky off the leaves. In other words, remove the blue of the sky that is reflecting off the leaves. This is important when photographing fall color that is front lit. It brings out the brilliant color of the leaves.
Next, try shooting the fall color backlit! It is a fast and easy way to punch up the color and drama of the fall color. Walk into a grove, look up, and backlit those colorful gems. Perhaps include the sun and close down the aperture to get a nice starburst.
One of my favorites techniques though for fall color is to go long. The photo above is a small slice of the hillside you see below. Shooting at 400mm, the small patch of orange is now front and center and with the inclusion of green, looks more vibrant with simply its addition.
There are many good resources out there to help you zero in on the good fall color and to help you celebrate it in your photography. I have a number of classes on KelbyOne and one just on fall color HERE. Get out with your camera and let the color in!
Cripple Creek, CO captured by D4s / 24-70 w/polarizer
Yep, as of 07:31 MDT today, it’s officially fall. Fall for many means spectacular color draping our forests. And while I relish that aspect of fall, it’s not all this day brings. There is the light as the sun rides the equator bringing a low angle and mellowness to its rays. And I love that but fall for me signals the change in our critters, especially birds. Now is when heading south hits the panic button and the skies become filled with our summer friends!
What science and technology bring to this seasonal magic blows my mind! Head to Live Bird Migration Maps and you will see how the wave of birds move south across North America. At times, you can tell what species of birds other, it’s simply sheer numbers which even with the disasters that have hit our wild heritage is still staggering. For us, this fall is especially exciting as it’s all new.
New, because we’ve moved up the globe and down slope. We knew pretty much to the day when we lived in the Sierra what birds would be in our feeders but here in the Bitterroots, it’s all new and very exciting (now up to 52 species). What has remained the same is we are still providing food, water, and shelter, the three things migrants depend on. The Snow Geese you see in the photo above is a prime example of this system. They nested in Canada and regions north then they head south with this population wintering in New Mexico where they have food, water, and shelter.
This is a great time to get into backyard bird photography. All you need is a camera, lens, food, water and shelter and you’ll quickly have friends. If you need more help, lots of resources here on the website and you can always email specific questions. Put out the welcome mat, you’ll soon have new friends because it’s the first day of fall!
