Tips for taking great fall photos

Before the invention of color photography, the beauty of autumn had to be witnessed firsthand.

Sure, the deep red and brilliant yellow hues that come with the changing of the season could be explained or written about. But photographers now have the power to share the beauty of fall with color that can at times take your breath away. 

Capturing that beauty doesn’t always happen by accident. Knowing a few things about photographing fall colors will help increase your chances of capturing what you saw so others can enjoy it too. 

1. Time of day

Like the key to lucrative real estate, “location, location, location,” the key to great fall photos (and photography in general) is “time of day, time of day, time of day.” 

They’re known as the golden hours: early morning and late evening. The time just after the sun rises and before it sets provides a golden light to illuminate leaves and bring out their most vibrant hues. 

The angle of the sun at this time of day is also an advantage. In the middle of the day, sunlight is harsh and directly overhead, which can create an unflattering flat look. But in the morning and the evening, the lower angle of the sun provides light with more depth, adding dimension to your images. The lower angle also produces longer shadows, further enhancing the drama. 

This might sound crazy, but don’t be afraid to point your camera toward the sun during the golden hours. Not necessarily directly at it, but try positioning yourself in front of a colorful, leafy tree with the sun behind it. The light shining through can produce a translucent effect that will make the leaves glow.  

15 spots to see fall colors in the Milwaukee area

2. Photography equipment

While a camera phone can be suitable in the right situation, a professional DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera will greatly expand your creative options. 

A long lens gives you the ability to move in closer to that canopy of trees. More importantly, longer lenses compress space. This means that trees spread farther apart will appear closer together, compacting the array of color in one scene. A lens of a minimum of 200 millimeters or longer in focal length is good. 

That’s not to say a wider lens doesn’t have its place in fall photography. Use it to capture the single, towering, bright-yellow oak tree, for example. 

Another option is getting in super close with a macro lens. An extremely tight shot, like a single multi-colored leaf, is a great way to show the detail of subjects and places we don’t always notice. If you don't have a lens, many mobile camera phones these days have decent macro capabilities. 

3. Camera settings 

The camera on your phone and virtually all DSLRs have the ability to do the settings work for you in program or automatic mode. Not a lot of thinking is required with this setting, which is great if you just want an exposure. If you’re looking to get creative, however, take some time to explore manual mode. 

Without getting too technical, you’ll get more out of your fall images if you do the thinking rather than letting your camera do it for you. For example, if you have a tree with bright yellow leaves against an area of darker trees, your camera will think it needs a lot of exposure to show the dark areas of the image. But this will result in the bright yellow leaves being over exposed and washed out. 

At the very least, learn to manually decrease or increase your exposure settings to get the image you’re looking for. There’s nothing worse than seeing an amazing scene, clicking the shutter to capture it, then looking at the LCD screen only to see a vastly different image than the one you saw.  

Knowing a little about how your camera operates, getting creative and snapping shots early in the morning or at dusk will hopefully give you a start in capturing the beauty of fall this year. And if you don’t have the fanciest camera in the world, that’s OK. The best camera is the one you have with you. 

Mike De Sisti is an award-winning photojournalist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. For some of his fall photos, follow him on Twitter (@mdesisti) and Instagram (mdesisti)