Fall’s palette of vibrant colors surrounds us at the moment. Does it seem to you that the reds are especially brilliant this year? Evidently, in maple trees, glucose stays around after photosynthesis ends. As the temperatures change, the glucose changes into anthocyanin, a red pigment. Our lack of rain this year is one reason the trees’ colors are bright and eye-catching. Read more about the process of leaves changing colors here.
Gorgeous color in the neighborhood!
Ninety-nine times out of a hundred we have our phones with us when we go out and about, and therefore we can stop for a minute or two and shoot fabulous photos of our colorful surroundings. Here are four strategies to try this fall:
FRAME IT!
Use an architectural or natural feature to guide your viewer’s eye toward your focal point. It might be a doorway, window, arch, fence or grouping of trees. Opportunities abound when we pay attention to our surroundings.
Hubbard Cottage–Campobello Island
Looking through this glorious window at the foliage makes your think you are gazing at a painting. The image below uses trees to frame the colorful reflection.
Paper Mill Trail–Lisbon Falls, Maine
CONJURE UP THE MIST!
Mist and fog add an other worldly atmosphere to photographs. Get up early to catch the mist before it burns off with the warming sun. You might get really lucky if you are near a lake, stream, or the ocean. Often, mist will also settle in low spots in field and offer you a glimpse of short-lived beauty or perhaps it’s Brigadoon emerging after 100 years.
Rangeley, Maine
Merrymeeting Bay, Maine
Fill the Frame!
Not every picture of fall needs to be a landscape. On occasion, go for the close-up and fill your screen with just one image–a flower or pumpkin or leaves–anything that shows off the reds, oranges, and golds of autumn. Or perhaps, you just want to focus on something that occurs in autumn like the bursting of the milkweed plant below.
Milkweed–Lisbon Falls, Maine
Notice that the background is blurred. You can get that effect by placing your yellow focus box right on the part of the scene you want very sharp. Remember, you just have to tap your screen when your camera app is open to make the focus box appear. Learn all about the wonderful features of your iPhone/iPad camera in our course Taking Awesome Pictures with Your iPhone/iPad Camera.
Here are two more images where the frame has been filled so the viewer can really see the details. Our camera helps us appreciate the intricacies of nature.
Late blooming sunflower
Multi-colored maple leaves
FOCUS ON CONTRASTS!
My cousin Julia, an artist, once urged me to picture the color wheel when thinking about composition, whether it be a painting, a photograph, afghan, or a piece of embroidery. Include one color from the opposite side of the color wheel. This technique provides startling contrasts that grab the viewer’s attention. What do you think of the images below?
Bright orange against the green and brilliant blue sky.
The mushroom really stands out against the greenery.
Bottom line…
Don’t just drive past and exclaim over the lovely colors of fall. Take the time to stop, get out, pull out your iPhone, and take some fabulous photos using unique perspectives. But most of all, have some fun!
Fall is apple picking time, and who doesn’t love a piece of warm apple crisp with vanilla ice cream on top. Or, if you are BoomerTECH Adventures guide Chris, you’ll also have whipped cream!
Click below to get BoomerTECH Adventures’ favorite apple crisp recipe!
https://boomertechadventures.lpages.co/apple-crisp2
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