by Dominic Clacy

Created on: September 26, 2009

Believe it or not but we are approaching my favourite time of year for photography. Autumn with all the muted reds, browns, oranges and yellows is the most colourful time of year for me and an excellent opportunity for grabbing the camera and getting some brilliant and memorable snaps. One of the attractions for me is that the distinctive colours we associate with

Autumn are only around for one season and so year upon year I find myself looking forward to this single period of the year. Camping provides great opportunities for Autumn photography as you are already fully immersed in nature eagerly anticipating that snap-shot moment.

Many people are disappointed with their Autumn photography but this is only because the majority of cameras are still setup for Summer and not yet tailored to the Autumn light levels and colours. A common mistake is to see for example a spectacular orange tree and adjust the zoom of the camera to get a close up of the tree dominating the image. If you do this, you lose the contrast of Autumn, you want to take the image of that orange tree against the surrounding greenery to really show off this spectacle. By using high colour contrast you can really get some great pictures and test the image capture capability of your camera.

However you do not want to mix the wrong colours as this can make your picture look un-appealing. There are certain colours that compliment each other which you can find on opposite sides of any colour wheel. A good colour wheel can easily be found on the Internet.

We see from any colour diagram that good contrasting colours are red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple. The red leaves and green grass, orange leaves and blue sky of Autumn are therefore great photographic examples.

For the more skilled photographer single subject photos are possible but you need to play around with the perspective, framing and focal lengths. If you see a good subject then walk around and check the scene from different angles. Repetition can be good for these types of photographs and unusual features can often make interesting subjects, such as a bright red leaf amongst a sea of orange. Although the colours do not directly compliment they still attract the eye.

When photography went digital we found ourselves in a sea of adjustable features. For Autumn photography you really should only need to adjust a few features such as:

Low ISO to minimise the graining effect Eliminate reflections using polarizers, especially after rain Use depth to your advantage in landscape scenes. Include 3 or 4 subjects of different distances Use red to your advantage, it is a naturally dominant colour Creativity is the key; different angles, different colours, EXPERIMENT!

Autumn gives you the colours, the subjects and the scenes for some great photographs. Do not dispair that the Summer is over but rejoice in the excellent opportunities for photography that are now available. Get outdoors and capture the moment!

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