Autumn is about the beautiful colors nature gives to us, this is no secret. But capturing such color has been around autumn photography since quite a time now, and there are some things you should keep in mind while doing the job.
Color Correction
This is something that happens mainly in post-production, and the best thing you can do is to shoot in RAW format. It doesn’t really matter if you are shooting in manual Kelvin degrees on camera, or just in auto (in terms of White Balance of course). Since you can easily correct the color in post-production. White Balance correction allows to create a more accurate mood things to color temperature and tint controllers.
Consider a Polarizing Filter
Polarizing filters has one prime goal, and one great side effect. The prime goal of polarizing filters is to eliminate unwanted reflections and light hazes. The amazing side effect of this, is that saturation increases, especially in the blue tones of the sky. You’ll get fantastic saturation tones, which are tedious to achieve in post-production.
Shoot in the Golden Hours
Do yourselves a favor and avoid shooting in midday, or in harsh sun light situations, since the amount of light, kills the beautiful tones autumn has to offer. Try to shoot in dusk and dawn in order to enhance the lovely colors of autumn.
Underexpose
I know that I always talk about overexposing a little bit in order to recover lights and highlights tones, but in this case, we are thinking about color, and saturation, and underexposing a little bit (maybe 1/3 EV) is the best way to go for preserving those saturated colors of autumn.
Complementary colors
Complementary colors is a sometimes forgotten aspect of composition. When colors are placed next to their opposite, visual complement is achieved. Complementary colors also create a strong levels of pleasant contrast. Due to the striking colors clash, photographs composed with complementary colors, are often considered to have exquisite levels of appeal. The secret behind complementary colors is simple, they happen almost naturally, and are great for making compositions stronger, but capturing them require a well-trained and sensitive eye, and this eye can only be developed with practice.
Scouting
There are many moments in landscape photography, that you’ll not even going to take your camera out. This is what I like to call scouting. Scouting for a great location will give you a better comprehension about the photographic and weather needs you’ll be willing to have at the moment of the shot. Don’t forget about scouting if you are willing to capture breathtaking landscapes.
Urban nature
Autumn isn’t just about vast woods turned warm and beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves. It is about the season and the climate as well. Seek beautiful scenes inside cities. Nature bursts into colors even in the concrete lands. When doing this, remember to scout and to seek hours with less harsh brightness from the sun. Autumn has the potential of great photo essays with the peculiar statement of nature being more powerful than the urban contexts. Try to work things out in order to capture this idea when doing urban explorations.
Inspiration
Here are a few more free autumn stock photos from our free gallery, download them and study them: