A Few Tips For Beautiful Fall Photography
Well, that’s it. Summer has come and gone as quickly as the last one and we’re now finding ourselves headed straight from swim shorts and bikinis to thick jumpers and three pairs of socks.
Alright, maybe things won’t get cold that quickly. It is still summer, technically, but September certainly marks the moment that the air begins to change and the leaves begin to fall. The nights begin to grow a little darker and the days a little more golden. Sweet scents of cinnamon begin to seep out of coffee shops and over-enthusiastic neighbours begin to place pumpkins prematurely on their doorstep.
Yes, fall is definitely on its way. In many ways, it is a beautiful season, and it is also the perfect time to whip the phone out and take advantage of the world around you.
The Popularity Of Fall Photography
Fall photography is notoriously popular, and for good reason. It is immediately identifiable. Soaked with warm and cosy vibes, sharp with unique colours and melancholy scenes. It takes advantage of a small but quaint moment in the year and, if done right, it can be captured in a way that reflects and embodies the elegant beauty that is inherent in the season.
If you’re a budding photographer who is looking to kit out their Instagram with some gorgeous fall photography, then you’ve certainly come to the right place. There are plenty of ways to make your fall photograph stand up there with the best of the best, the first of which is very simple:
Work Hard
That’s right, oftentimes in photography everything you do comes down to this. But what does working hard really mean? Well, if you’ve got a particularly capable camera phone it can be easy to rest on your laurels and simply snap away. The pictures you take might look quaint. They might get a positive comment or two on Instagram. But there’s nothing to them beyond the surface level. This is why it is important to put some effort in and try your best to capture something which can ignite your social media pages and really get people talking.
But how do you work hard, we hear you ask? Easy. Working hard should be done through small but impactful means. Instead of taking some pictures of the trees outside your house, go out on a hike. Try to find a vantage point above the trees and take pictures of the autumn colours below. If you’re wanting to take some photos of a windswept street, wait out for the golden hour and take your pictures then. There are plenty of little things you can do that can push you and your photography a little bit further.
Reflections Are Your Friend
Searching for still water whilst trying to take some interesting, unique fall pictures is a great secret tactic. Smooth, resting water is perfect for reflections and, vice versa, the autumn colours that are surrounding you are just asking to be accentuated through reflection. Try to find a nearby lake or pond, or use a mind-bending glass ball. Angle yourself in a good position where the trees around you are reflected and then snap. Don’t be afraid to include overcast skies in your photograph too.
A lot of the time (especially when searching for the golden hour) photographers will wait for the sky to go blue in the hope that it adds a bit more colour to their landscape. Clouds, however, can add depth and points of interest to your picture in a way that blue sky cannot. With a few clouds and autumn trees around you, your reflection can have far more detail and beauty to it.
Give Your Photographs The Treatment They Deserve
This one is not so much a tip for taking fall photographs, but more about how you should treat them once they’re taken. It’s easy enough to simply place your fall portfolio up on Instagram but, if you’ve put in the work that we talked about above, your portfolio should be given a far more luxurious treatment than that. Collecting these fall photographs and placing them in a specially made Instagram photo book can be the perfect way to remember and display them all year long.
This season is a perfect moment in time to amplify and exemplify your photography skills, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t continue to show them off at home too. Not only this, but photographs do tend to look better in print rather than on a screen. Try to give the most space on the page for the ones you’re really proud of and let the season come alive again every time you take the book off the shelf.
