Fall Photo Tips

Everyone loves autumn photos. And now--especially if you live in the Atlanta area--is the time to take them! It's been a very rainy fall, so picture-taking opportunities have been limited. But those bright colors will be gone before you know it! (I'm not sure they'll last much longer than a week.) Seize the opportunity, grab your camera and capture some fall photography.

Marchet's tips:

Act soon. That gorgeous red- or orange-colored tree will drop all of its leaves in a few days. Take that photo now, not just when you get around to it. During the fall, I often take my camera with me on errands, to the park, or out running for spur-of-the-moment shots.

Use fall leaves as props. But try to use leaves with some color. For some reason, kids always want to grab the ugly dead ones.

Up your shutter speed/ISO. If you want to shoot kids throwing leaves, you're going to have to go for a faster shutter speed or higher ISO to freeze the action of those leaves falling.

Get pleasing bokeh. The farther away you are from the fall foilage in the background, the more out-of-focus the background will appear. I love autumn bokeh!

Get close up on leaves. Photos of whole trees generally don't capture the color or essence of that amazing fall color. Instead, zoom in (and get closer) to a single branch (or a single leaf) and take several shots. (This same principle applies for most photography, especially portraits: get close! Fill the frame.)

Shoot in the morning or late afternoon. With daylight savings ending, I'm seeing the best light for photos around 8:00 - 9:00 in the morning and from 4:00 - 5:30 in the evening, with golden light peaking around 5:15.

If you can't shoot at those times, bring an umbrella and shoot in the sun. Just make sure your model is in shade or umbrella-shadow. That's the technique my friend and I used to shoot this little one at Lake Winward last week. (More photos from this shoot to come . . . ) Good luck!