The Best Smartphone Tips And Tricks For Fall Photography

A few blogs ago, we wrote about all the best places to go in the US for fall photography. This included New York, Maine, New Mexico, and even a pumpkin patch in Illinois. But what we didn’t talk about was how to take those photos. 

Now we know what you’re thinking: well, duh! You know how to shoot photographs. You know how to post them on Instagram, and you know how to create an Instagram photo book – or even books! You don’t need us to give you more guidance on any of those things.

But hold off on that thought, because we think we do, especially where photography is concerned.

The world of photography is always changing. Every day someone comes up with a new way to shoot something beautiful, or there’s a new app that gives you new ways to edit your pictures. There might even be a few trends you’ve missed over the last few years that you can apply in 2023.

With this in mind, we’re here to update you on the world of fall photography, and share some tips and tricks that will make your fall photographs better than ever before! Starting with the tips…

Fall Photography Tips

• Trees And Their Skies

One tip that we have seen recently – that we cannot believe we haven’t thought about before – includes capturing more vibrancy through angles. For instance, if you have a particular beautiful group of trees with vibrant leaves, get down low and direct your phone toward the sky. Bright leaves against a dull background always fail to pop, so this will bring about the contrast in your image which will, in effect, increase the color. 

• Seeing Red

This is a little more of a widely known tip, but it’s still worth mentioning in case you’ve not heard of it. When you’re out and about taking some fall photography, if you see red, photograph it! Red is always a powerful color in photography, and it stands out more than every other autumnal color, including yellow, brown, and orange. It doesn’t matter how you take the picture, just make sure it’s taken!

• Reflective Beauty

One of the latest trends in fall photography involves water. All you have to do is go to a body of water – Bar Harbor, in Maine, is a perfect fall location for this – and take some reflective photography of the sky above you. In this case, try to sector your frame into two parts – the reality, and the reflection of that reality. This will take some time to get right, and you’ll have to play with several angles, but we promise it’ll be worth it in the end.

• Natural Patterns

If you’re thinking of uploading these photos to a photo book maker, then you need to find a way to make them jump from the page. That will involve finding movement. To do this, make sure to include the entire body of a tree. By that we mean, position yourself a bit further away from your subject so that you can capture the roots as well as the branches. Doing this can give you some wonderful patterns, created by the roots and the vines, that will evoke movement in the photograph.

• Lonely Subject

One last tip, we recommend not just taking pictures of trees (plural), but taking pictures of trees (singular). That is to say, try to actively seek out trees that are standing alone, without any nearby companions. This will create a simple, stark image, that will work perfectly if the tree is at the forefront of a contrasting background. If you want to make an impact, and immediately draw the viewer's gaze, then this is the way to do it. 

Fall Photography Tricks

• Autumn Frames

Now onto the tricks. There are several different apps and settings you can download and configure to elevate your fall photography. The first is known as Autumn Frames – literally a photography app made for the fall! In our opinion, this is a must-download for your smartphone, especially if you want to edit and decorate your frames to really evoke that autumnal feeling.

• Exposure Compensation

It’s important to trust your phone, sure, but you shouldn’t trust it with everything. When you’re taking photographs, your phone’s camera is going to guess what the right exposure should be. This means, if you’re taking pictures of dark red leaves, against a darker background, your camera will adjust the exposure and make it too bright. In your settings, however, you can look for an EV slider, and adjust it at your own will.

• Focal Lengths

Your phone will also allow you to toggle and manually adjust focal lengths. Doing this won’t exactly improve the colors you’ve got in the frame, but it will compose them in a way that improves the contrast – especially considering the tree/sky photograph tip we mentioned earlier.

• Fall Filters

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, “Filters” is not a dirty word! If you filter your photograph carefully, you can make it pop in a way that it didn’t naturally. Of course, this has to be done tactfully if you want it to work, but the right filter can make any photograph just that little bit better.

• Changing Colors

Lastly, there’s a great app called Abode Photoshop Express that will become especially useful during the fall. In this app, you have support for HSL adjustments, meaning you can adjust the luminance, hue, and saturation of your photograph. By doing this, you can essentially adjust the existing colors, making oranges redder, or reds more orange – and so on! This is just one app that can achieve this, but there are many more, so do a little research and make sure you have the best digital companions for your fall photography in 2023!