LESSON 16Photographing the Colors of Autumn Foliage

Front light

Front light hits the front of the subject as seen from the camera. With front light, you can shoot colorful images that appear as natural as the way you see the scene. However, because there are no shadows, the light tends to create an ordinary image that lacks depth.

Side light

Side light hits the subject from the side. Shooting with side light brings out the shadows in trees to lend depth to a landscape. If you are shooting at dusk, be sure to try capturing an image using side light.

Back light

Back light hits the subject from the back. When back light shines through leaves, it brings out their translucency and rich colors, so they look like they are sparkling in photographs. The difference in contrast of a backlit subject against a dark background expresses drama, so make effective use of back light.
When using back light, image contrast and saturation can decrease if sunlight enters the lens directly. If this happens, adjust the angle of the camera to the sunlight or the leaves so that the sunlight does not enter the lens directly. Also, when strong light points toward the lens, the subjects tend to become dark. If the subject looks dark or not as vivid as you had anticipated, increase the exposure compensation in the + direction to attain the same brightness that you see with your naked eyes.

Using exposure compensation

If the background is bright due to back light, the foliage may appear dark and heavy. If this happens, adjust the exposure compensation toward + to bring out the vivid colors of the foliage. You can adjust the background so it appears slightly overexposed.

Using white balance

White balance can be effectively used to emphasize vividness. When shooting on a cloudy day or in the shade, setting the white balance to Cloudy can increase the overall reds in the image and make the reds and yellows in the autumn foliage appear more vivid. Fine-tuning the white balance is also effective for making detailed adjustments to the colors.
When shooting landscapes or taking snapshots, you may be tempted to increase the saturation with Creative Style/Creative Look to bring out the vividness even more, but because the original saturation of the full autumn foliage is already high, this may end up saturating the color and the image may lose depth, so it is not recommended.

Instead of increasing the saturation, try adjusting the exposure compensation and white balance.
Of course, color is a personal preference, and there is no right or wrong choice. As shown in the picture below, white balance can be used to add blues to a shot from a cloudy day to express a sense of coldness and tranquility.

Various lenses for various expressions

As shown below, the method of shooting differs completely between using a wide-angle setting and using a telephoto setting, even for the same scenery. Wide angles create inspiring images, and telephoto angles bring you closer to the subject and create blur. By using various lenses to optimize shots from various angles, you can bring out more of the qualities of the autumn foliage.

Shooting from a wide angle

When shooting from a wide angle (short focal length), you can fit a wide landscape into the image, but you can also create dynamic expressions that further emphasize perspective and height. There is also little blurring, so objects throughout a wide area can remain in focus. To fit the full landscape into view, set the aperture to f8.0 to f11.

This image was shot with a wide-angle lens looking up. It emphasizes the height of the trees stretching upward from the left, creating an inspiring image.

Here, we get up close to the vivid autumn leaves. The contrast of the leaves against the wide expanse of the background creates a dynamic photo. In this way, the properties of the wide angle bring out the subject with foreground-to- background contrast. Also, by closing down the aperture to f10, the background can be depicted well without excessive blurring.

Shooting with a telephoto angle

With a telephoto lens (long focal length when using a zoom lens), the subject background can be greatly defocused, and impressive parts can be brought forward to stand out from the distant mountain-spanning landscape. A telephoto lens is also good for creating a compressed effect that includes everything in one image without losing the perspective of the mountains lined up in the background and the scenery in the foreground.

Here, a telephoto lens was used to shoot the autumn colors. The foreground and background are beautifully defocused. The closer-up the telephoto setting, the smaller the range of focus and the more the background is defocused, bringing out the leaves in the autumn foliage. To increase the amount of blur, shoot with the aperture open as wide as possible.
When shooting this type of image, pay attention to the color of the background. The photo above was shot at an angle so that yellow leaves are in the background and the entire image creates a vivid impression.

When you encounter beautiful scenery, there is a tendency to try to fit everything you can see into the image. Have you ever shot an image, but were not able to capture the feeling at all? This is because you end up capturing unnecessary and unexpected elements in the photo that create distraction. Instead of simply pointing the camera aimlessly at a wide area, try to find the most impressive part of the scenery and bring it out with a telephoto setting. In the above photo, the area with the most beautiful autumn foliage is boldly focused upon.

Telephoto shooting is also good for portraying a picture with compressed depth of scenery. Although the yellow trees in the foreground, the conifer trees toward the back, and the mountains in the background are separated by several kilometers, they are tightly compressed together to create an impressive image.

Create expressions with various viewpoints and ideas

Shooting autumn foliage is not just about capturing trees and leaves as your subjects. Incorporating mountain streams, lakes, and other surrounding scenery can make autumn foliage look more attractive, and fallen leaves by themselves can create an expression of an autumn landscape. Try shooting various compositions of various subjects from a broad perspective, and enjoy the freedom of capturing images of autumn foliage.

(1) An image of fallen leaves floating on the surface of a puddle near your feet signifies the end of autumn. Autumn foliage is more than just trees bathed in crimson red. Even after the peak of autumn foliage, autumn is apparent everywhere.
(2) Even water droplets on fallen leaves evoke a sense of autumn.

Lakes, ponds and rivers which are often supporting actors to the autumn foliage and trees, are sometimes the main actors. Pay attention also to how colorful trees are reflected on the surfaces of bodies of water.