Years ago, I saw this cynical comment on a website or forum related to nature and landscape photography: “The world does not need another aspen photo.” I’ll get to that sentiment later but before doing so, I’ll acknowledge that the same could be said about this blog post: “The world does not need another article about fall nature photography.” This morning, an email landed in my inbox with what I thought included some bad advice for photographing fall colors and that email started a journey into the Google rabbit hole of articles on this topic. After reading some of the articles at the top of my search results, I decided I had a bit more to add on the topic than is generally covered.
Nearly all of these “how to photograph fall colors” articles set photographers up for disappointment and encourage limited thinking by emphasizing the importance of getting your timing perfect for peak fall colors and seeking out the “best” weather, light, and locations. These ideas suggest that everything needs to align to create worthwhile photography conditions. My years of experience conversely show that conditions are rarely optimal so cultivating a different mindset and greater adaptability can both enhance the experience of being outside during autumn and result in a more interesting, personal, and diverse body of work.
Generally, our thinking and practices can limit our opportunities or expand them. I want to choose the practices and ideas, like the four lessons I share below, that expand my opportunities.
The last leaves on a cottonwood against a canyon wall. With the canyon wall in shade and most of the tree in light, the tree stood out against its background and the leaves took on a bit of glow from the backlighting. Zion National Park. Canon R5, 186mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO 400.
“Peak Fall Color” Doesn’t Exist
If you have spent any time in online fall color report groups, you will quickly see that many members are obsessed with the concept of peak fall colors, as if there is a single day in which a region looks its very best, and if you arrive before or after that day, you will essentially be wasting your time. The feeling of potentially missing “the best” conditions creates stress and anxiety, two emotions that are not conducive to creative thinking and can diminish the experience of being outside. The concept of peak fall color also assumes that all photographers are looking for the same thing and that there is a single definition of “best conditions.”
Autumn is a process: the days become shorter, temperatures start to drop, flowering plants go to seed, birds begin migrating, some animals prepare for hibernation, and trees move toward winter dormancy. I think it is helpful to think of photographing autumn in the same way in the sense that fall evolves slowly, often over the course of a month or two, and from the photographer’s perspective, there are opportunities all along this continuum.
The little bit of pink light filled this scene for mere moments. If I had been waiting in the car for the storm to clear, I would have missed this moment because it happened so fast. Being outside during challenging weather can put you in place to photograph these brief, special moments. Mount Rainier National Park. Canon R5, 47mm, f/16, 2 seconds, ISO 200.
Landscapes are complex ecosystems, often featuring significant changes in elevation and a variety of habitats. On the same mountainside, the leaves on deciduous shrubs at the subalpine level will typically start changing while the trees below, in the montane ecosystems at lower elevations, will still be fully green. In Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, for example, the subalpine willows in many places are already likely past their most vibrant phase. The willows and birches growing at slightly lower elevations are starting look especially nice right now, and aspens at the higher elevations will follow along in a few days. Cottonwoods in the lower elevation foothills, plains, and canyon ecosystems will follow, possibly retaining colorful leaves into November in some areas.
I prefer early autumn and late autumn compared to the conditions that might be considered “peak” by others. In early autumn, as the trees start to change, a broader palette of colors blankets the landscape. In Colorado, this might mean a mix of green, yellow, gold, and even red aspens. Whereas “peak” color will be a more uniform sea of yellow or gold, early autumn will be more of a tapestry of color and texture. In New England, pops of green among red, orange, and purplish leaves adds the same kind of visual interest. Later in the season, as autumn fades into winter, a lighter covering of leaves will allow the structure of a tree to shine through, providing more building blocks for composition.
By seeing autumn as a long period of transition, with equally worthy photographic opportunities throughout, we can feel less pressure to get the timing perfect and can instead be open to the opportunities present during the time of our visit.
A leaf frozen into swirled ice. Smaller subjects like this one can add diversity to a portfolio and show some of what you might see later in autumn. Zion National Park. Canon R5, 100mm, f/14, 0.4 sec, ISO 100, 4 file focus stack.
Be Open to All Subjects, Not Just Dramatic Scenery and Boldly Colored Trees
In some of the more popular spots for fall colors, photographers are drawn only to iconic autumn scenes and plan a trip around moving from hot spot to hot spot, hoping to photograph each location with lovely conditions (peak fall colors blanketing a grand landscape with an interesting sky above). These iconic scenes can be specific places, like the Maroon Bells in Colorado, or iconic themes, like a red barn among a sea of color in New England. While I often visit and sometimes photograph these iconic spots, I am always looking to go beyond the common or most obvious views so that I can tell a more personal story while also showing the diversity of a landscape.
Also, it is generally unrealistic to expect nice condition for photographing grand landscapes to repeat every day over the course of a week-long trip. When “good” conditions do not materialize, we can stick to our pre-conceived plan or we can try something different. Instead of feeling like I need to photograph a specific grand scene under a plain sky because that is what I had planned, I would rather work with smaller slices of the landscape where I might find an interesting interplay between light and shadow, a compelling reflection, a nice medley of leaves and plants at my feet, or a harmonious collection of trees that I can isolate with my telephoto lens.
As with seeing opportunity outside of peak colors, being open to smaller, sometimes quieter subjects can greatly enrich the experience of photographing autumn, especially if conditions are not as you had hoped: an extended period of clear skies, hazy skies from wildfire smoke, a wind storm that stripped most of the trees of their leaves, or an early frost that ended the autumn transition before it really began. I have experienced each of these scenarios during my recent autumn travels yet I was still able to fully enjoy the experience because I turned my attention to subjects other than the ones I might have hoped to photograph.
Autumn is more than the showy trees. Smaller shrubs like this dwarf birch are equally worth photography subjects. San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Canon 6D, 100mm macro lens, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO 100.
I’ll use another Colorado example to illustrate my own evolution with regard to this point. During my first few years of photographing fall colors in Colorado, I exclusively focused on the aspen trees. Until I started learning about naturalist practices and worked on observing my surroundings more closely, I never noticed the incredibly colorful gambel oak (also called scrub oak) growing on hillsides, sometimes intermingling with aspen groves. I also never noticed the willows and dwarf birch that grow in wetter areas. The dwarf birch is now among my favorite subjects for autumn photography. The round leaves have delicately serrated edges and they transition from green to a lovely range of orange, red, pink, and purple over the course of autumn. Photography is far more exciting now that I appreciate these other potential subjects.
Another benefit to being open to a broader range of subjects is the potential to see rich photographic opportunities in places that are considered less scenic for landscape photography. If you are near a forested setting with deciduous trees and find intimate landscapes compelling, you do not need to travel far to create an interesting and personally meaningful body of work during autumn.
A tall ponderosa surrounded by colorful maples and other autumnal trees. Zion National Park. Canon R5, 70mm, f/14, 1/4 sec, ISO 400.
Build Your Observation Skills
Open-mindedness about subjects is only the starting point for seeing more options for autumn photography in a landscape. We need to constantly nurture and further develop our observation skills as well. My favorite dwarf birches: they have always been there, I just never noticed them. Before I started noticing subjects like these, I was often moving fast and chasing weather. I never spent the time to get to know a place beyond surface-level impressions. At least in my experience, it takes time to see a landscape more deeply so sometimes slowing down is an essential step. The middle of the day is the perfect time to leisurely get to know a place so I encourage you to spend some time this autumn just wandering around.
During this wandering, think deliberately about what you see in front of you. Consider the light and how it is interacting with the landscape. Consider your first impressions and then work on seeing the next level of details. If you are in a forest, look for some of these things: grasses, small plants, leaves on the ground, flowers gone to seed, fungi, tree bark, lichen, and mosses. Consider the shapes of the leaves you see and the differences between plants. Look for interesting textures, patterns, and repetition. Think about the range of colors in front of you. As you notice these details of the landscape, think about which subjects sparked your curiosity the most. These sparks of interest could be the seeds of a photograph.
The combination of being open-minded about potential subjects and continually working on my observation skills means that I typically can generate more ideas for photographs than I could ever actually work through. This feels both exciting and challenging—a combination of emotions that keeps me engaged in photography. Through both my experience and in working with others, this general approach results in an enhanced experience, a deeper connection with the natural world, and a more diverse autumn portfolio. This does not mean there is no room for photographing icons or grand landscapes. Instead, these skills help a photographer be more adaptable and see more opportunities, especially when conditions are not ideal.
A fresh coat of snow on a lovely oak. I photographed this tree right as the snow stopped falling. A few hours later, it had all melted. Being outside during the storm allowed me to create a variety of photos while it was snowing, after the snow stopped, and as the storm cleared. Zion National Park. Canon R5, 159mm, f/14, 1/25 sec, ISO 400.
Light and Weather: Attentiveness and Adaptability
In discussing light and weather, I want to start with dismissing the idea of “best” and instead focus on two more flexible ideas: attentiveness and adaptability. Attentiveness is an extension of the lesson from above and simply involves closely observing the qualities of natural light (direction, intensity, and color) and generating ideas in response. Adaptability is developing the ability to respond to light as it changes, including being able to respond very quickly to an ephemeral moment or rapidly evolving conditions.
When talking about good light, photographers often mean colorful clouds in the sky. Instead of relying only on colorful clouds to create photographic opportunities, it can be helpful to instead pay closer attention to how light is interacting with the landscape and smaller individual subjects because doing significantly broadens your opportunities for photography, and in my experience heightens my appreciation for the small moments of beauty that occur all around us. Sometimes, a little mix of light and shadow on a clear day or a bit of reflected light on an interesting subject are all you need to create a worthwhile photograph.
Maple leaves, algae, and pine needles at rest. You can find photographs anywhere in nature, even stagnant scummy ponds. Adirondack Mountains, New York. Canon R5, 128mm, f/14, 1/60 sec, ISO 800, 6 file focus stack.
Where I live in southwestern Colorado, autumn weather sometimes includes long stretches of clear days. This often prompts a lot of complaints from nature photographers, and while I agree that dynamic weather is more exciting, clear skies are not going to keep me from looking for opportunities. With more open-mindedness about light, I try to take advantage of the options that come with clear sky days: backlit leaves that glow, the bold mix of strong shadows and strong light, the possibility of finding silhouettes, and colorful reflections. As the sun crests over a mountain on a clear day, it can light up small parts of the landscape while the rest of a scene is in shadow. Looking for these edges of light and interesting interactions can be just as enjoyable and visually exciting as photographing a grand scene under ideal light, with the former being a far more common occurrence compared to the latter.
With autumn photography, I often find colorful clouds to be among the least appealing conditions because the color combinations are not visually pleasing given my preferences. With golden trees, I would much prefer white clouds or stormy blue-grey skies over pink clouds at sunrise or sunset. This means that midday light on days with dynamic or stormy weather are often my favorite for fall photography. I am also perfectly happy on bluebird days, misty days, and overcast days because they all present different opportunities for creating interesting photographs. Photographing in a snowstorm can be an exciting challenge as well, with snow streaking through a scene adding texture and an element of movement. Being outside during these times is also the best way to experience the dynamism and excitement of a clearing storm since clearings often happen quite fast.
Just like the other topics I have discussed here, there is no “best.” All conditions (even wind!) can work for autumn photography and going outside during a range of conditions will bring diversity to your work. Learn to be adaptable and flow with the light and weather as it exists, not as you hoped it would be.
Two examples of backlit trees on clear sky days. With the backgrounds in shadow, the brighter trees and leaves stand out. Left: Mount Rainier National Park. Canon R, 63mm, f/14, 1.8 sec, ISO 400. Right: San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Canon R, 220 mm, f/18, 1/50 sec, ISO 400.
Practical Quick Tips:
In addition to the four lessons I share above, I will add four practical tips to help improve your autumn photos:
Bring Along a Polarizer: Autumn leaves can be shiny, especially when they are wet. A circular polarizer can remove some of this glare so the colors look more saturated. You cannot replicate this effect in processing so it is important to use a polarizer in the field. Just like everything else above, there is no right answer to when a polarizer will enhance a scene. Since a polarizer will have a different effect on each scene you photograph, it is helpful to experiment with no polarization, partial polarization, and full polarization to see which option works best for the scene. Consider taking photos at different polarizer settings so you can see which option you like best once you get home. Using a polarizer requires a longer shutter speed. If it is windy, I go for sharp leaves over using the polarizer in most cases.
All The Lenses: During any autumn season, I will use every lens in my bag, from 14mm to 800mm. I use each of these lenses for all different kinds of scenes, including grand landscapes and smaller scenes. Having a variety of lenses available means that you will be more able to respond to a wide variety of opportunities. I generally carry four lenses, which is enough to be adaptable without feeling burdened with too much gear (14-35mm, 24-105mm, 100mm macro, and a 100-500mm). A telephoto lens is especially helpful for isolating smaller areas of an expansive landscape. I most often turn to my 100-500mm lens for telephoto landscapes, intimate landscapes, and photos of plants.
Where to Stand: If you are new to photographing trees and forests, one thing will quickly become clear: it can be challenging to photograph chaotic landscapes, especially when you are inside of them. To build your skills at organizing chaos into a photograph, it can be helpful to look for the edges of a landscape, like a road, river or creek, meadow, or other clearing. With less chaos between you and your subjects, creating a composition can be easier.
Composition: And speaking of composition, another way to help organize chaos is to look for interesting characters, like especially shapely or dominant trees. Subjects like these can help bring order to an otherwise chaotic scene by adding a visual structure and drawing attention. I also find it helpful to look for patterns and repetition, both of which can be used to add structure to a composition. We offer a course on composition if you would like to learn more about this topic.
Reeds and lily pads. Another example of autumnal subjects other than showy trees. Acadia National Park. Canon R5, 500mm, f/14, 1/8 sec, ISO 800, 6 file focus stack.
“The World Doesn’t Need Another Aspen Photo”
To wrap up, I’ll return to where I started: the sentiment that the world does not need another aspen photo. The premise here is that photography is mostly about the experience of the viewer. If you are scrolling through Instagram, the 30th aspen photo is going to seem kinda boring, right?
I think we should start in a different place in assessing the value of adding another fall color photo to the world. The type of photography I pursue helps me connect more deeply with my surroundings. Photography has made me a more curious person and the act of photographing something makes me care more about it. The process of selecting a subject and creating a personally meaningful photo of it is an enriching and affirming experience, with my camera serving as the vehicle for creating this connection. While the world might not need my autumn photos, I do. And the ideas above help make the experience far more enjoyable, exciting, challenging, and often more photographically productive.