What Are the Best Settings for Fall Pictures?

The season that you shoot in plays an important role in the quality of your pictures. This is because every season brings with it a unique blend of colors in the environment that serve as a mark for the season. In context to this, we cannot help but prioritize autumn as being the best season for shoots, and every veteran professional photographer will agree to this.

Fall, being the most coveted season for photographers, is a season marked by oranges, reds, browns, and other rich hues of deep colors that look mesmerizing. It enriches the color palette of Mother Nature while also setting the stage for a fresh new canvas for professional photographers. A fresh deviation from the usual green forests and blue skies – you cannot miss out on the fall season to hone your photography skills, whether you are an amateur or an expert.

Fall – The Season of Photography

Starting from September right up to November, the fall season represents the change of season from Summer to Winter. Welcoming the pleasant coolness of weather, Autumn is characterized by the leaves and barks changing color, gracefully waiting to shed off to allow the tree to grow new leaves to make a fresh start and feel and look younger. The pigment chlorophyll, which imparts the green color to the leaves, dries up, thus leaving other pigments like carotenoids and xanthophylls exposed. These pigments impart the various shades of the color spectrum that predominate during the winter preparatory season.

Now, while Autumn is undoubtedly the best and most favorite season for photographers due to its rich color highlight, one may easily fall into the trap of cliches and repetitive patterns without realizing it until much later. Thus, before the exclusively photogenic session arrives, here are a few settings that work best for fall pictures. Remember, these are just a few examples.

Best Settings for Fall Pictures

1. Motion Blur

This is undoubtedly one of our favorite fall photography settings. Motion blur, while adding an element of detailing, highlights equally vivid colors. The sharpness of colors and blur of the picture settings act as contrast and, thus, focus on both elements of Nature most gracefully. With colors as rich as magenta and yellow ochre, the softened detail acts as an effective buffer. You can also go for abstract images with this concept.

2. Foggy Mystery

The fog is hard to overlook, and it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. While you may wonder if it is really a good idea, especially since fog can cloud the picture, here’s the catch. The fog can enhance the capture. It will add a natural layer and highlight a specific color or theme (as you want) in your picture.

3. Canopy

When shooting for fall pictures, do not forget to look up! The canopies of forests at that time of the year look resplendent. Adorned with brightly colored leaves that serve as embellishments, they are a bright theme for your fall photographs. Allow the sunlight to peek through and use it to your advantage by letting the glare of light imbibe a hue of sophistication to your shot.

4. Animals

While Autumn is a season of nature preparing for rest, your focus could be on animals, too, when looking for settings for pictures during the season. With animals taking center stage in your shoot, you can even get excellent pictures in your backyard. Dogs, cats, insects, or even other small wild animals provide a distinct charisma to your pictures as the backdrop of colorful leaves accentuates the setting. Let them run wild or sit still doing whatever they feel like and capture these impromptu moments for pictures of a distinguished taste.

5. Human Faces

Autumn is an excellent time for conducting family and friend photoshoots. Remember to plan the outfits, though, because the highlight should be on the colors of Nature and not be replaced by too gorgeous colors of the clothes of the ones participating in the shoot. You can also focus on a single face instead of elaborate photoshoots for the theme of your fall pictures. We recommend using a backdrop of a single color instead of multiple ones.

6. Landscape

Capture the essence of Mother Nature in all its glory with landscape fall pictures. Barks, leaves – fallen and hanging, fallen twigs, and other insects – why miss out on anyone? Brownie out if there is a waterbody nearby. You can experiment with capturing reflections of the scenery for an illusionary infinite shot.

Fall Colors Photography Tips

• Timing is important when it comes to fall color photography tips. Keep track of the weather through webcams and weather forecasts to evaluate the amount of light that you can expect.
• Go out and shoot throughout the day. The weather keeps changing, and you will also get varied themes and varied lighting conditions.
• Try doing the same shot using different aperture sizes. You will be amazed by the difference it will make!
• Carry rain protection gear because sudden bursts throughout the day are not uncommon and often unpredictable.
• Shoot pictures in the RAW format so you will have more details to work with while editing.

Conclusion

Versatility is the keyword when clicking fall pictures. And this versatility extends to all aspects, ranging from themes and subjects right up to camera settings. So, instead of simply chalking and planning on a screen about how you will proceed with the shoot, we recommend you go out into the lap of Mother Nature and start with the process.

Halfway through, you will get all the ideas that you need for fall pictures that make a mark. Have you shot autumn pictures earlier? If yes, we’d love to know any other tips you might have for readers out here. If not, when are you starting? Which setting from among the list above, would you like to try out first?

Let us know in the comments below.