From late October to mid December is a dark and sad time for landscapers. Golden autumn has scorched away, the trees are bare and gloomy and the motley leaves are slowly mixing with the ubiquitous mud. There is something indistinct in the sky, it sniffs underfoot, and the sun only shows up for a couple of minutes, and even then only on major holidays. Welcome to late fall, when you don’t feel like taking pictures and there’s not much to do. Or it’s not so bad?
A simple puddle can play well in the foreground. Look for puddles, play on their shape, location and reflections in standing water
Late autumn, especially in the central part of America, can really be called the most difficult time of the year for landscape photography. In my photo archive for the last five or six years I have about a dozen good works made in that time.
The story of good photography at this time of year is more of a story of luck. The weather at this time is unpredictable, and relying on forecasts is almost pointless. The monotonous gray sky may suddenly open up for a few minutes, and a spectacular sunbeam will bring the bare trees to life and accentuate the bleakness of the landscape. But you have to be ready for those flashes of light. You should always photograph a landscape in late autumn, not only at sunrise and sunset, the canonical time for landscape photographers. There is too little light at this time to neglect it. But I can safely say that at this time even a ray of midday sun can make a completely boring landscape incredible.
When you’re out shooting, keep your eyes peeled for clouds. Try to figure out where the sky can open up, where to expect the flash of light from. Check the weather report after all. There’s a chance of rain, and blue clouds are gathering in the sky? It’s time to go out and shoot. At such moments you can catch a very interesting light – when the sky gets darker than the ground. In December, leaden black clouds that used to bring rain are a harbinger of snow. Early snowfall is a great way to get spectacular shots. Snow can provide contrast to trees by “coloring” and emphasizing their texture. A thin shroud of snow will create a delicate tonal perspective and wrap the background objects in a haze. Don’t be too lazy to get up in the morning to catch the fogs, although this time of year you can see them not only in the morning, but also in the evening and even at noon. And fog, as we know, makes any landscape better.
Don’t be afraid of bad weather at all. It’s starting to rain? Great, let’s go shoot! It’s snowing? Even better, there’s a chance to get some interesting shots. The camera, of course, also needs to be taken care of, but do not forget that in late fall the principle “the worse the weather the better the pictures” is particularly relevant. And don’t ever put it off-late fall is a fleeting time to shoot. The snow will melt, the light will leave, and the rain will turn neat puddles into muddy, totally unsavory swamps.
Look for any storytelling elements. A solitary, graphic birch tree in a dark forest, a road through fields covered with the first snow. Take a telephoto lens with you when you take pictures so you can pick out that kind of detail. The first snow on trees bent over the water, light ice, the reflection of bare trees in a quiet river, the reflection of the sky in puddles on the road. Puddles can make for interesting foregrounds. All these elements can play in the frame even without the bright light.
Try to find an interesting place to shoot. If you live in New York, I recommend taking a weekend trip to Kaluga or Tula Region, where there are a lot of beautiful winding rivers and hills.
The rare flashes of light and the large differences in light between the sky and the ground are a serious challenge for the camera. Often these types of scenes just don’t fit into the dynamic range. In this case, it is much more important to keep the information in the highlights, and the shadows can be underexposed, so set your camera to a negative exposure correction of up to -1 EV. Always judge the result by the histogram. And turn on D-Lighting, which helps to widen the dynamic range. What the camera didn’t automatically pull out can be corrected in post-processing, so shoot in RAW. Then you can use an editor to dramatize the scene, like enhance contrast, darken overcast skies, or add vignetting.
When it comes to technical preparations for photography, apart from your camera and lens kit, take a tripod and a high-density neutral filter – 3 stops and up – it will help lengthen shutter speeds, blur running clouds or falling snow. A polarizing filter can work as a medium density neutral filter that can quadruple shutter speeds. Take a spare battery with you – late fall is not the warmest time of year, and batteries drain much faster in the cold. You can also use a microfiber cloth to wipe raindrops or snowflakes on the lens.
And remember the most important thing – a good landscape is always a mood. Mood of late autumn is light sadness and melancholy. Try to experience this state of nature and express it in your photographs. And maybe then your photos will evoke from the audience not melancholy, but tender love for this most difficult time of the year.
In late fall, snow can fall quite suddenly, creating a light shroud in the frame
Very often in late fall there can be fog. Look for it on rivers and lakes to capture the translucent matte hues of unspoiled nature.
Late fall weather is very unstable and unpredictable. Dense clouds may any second open and a ray of sunshine enlivens the dull landscape.
Be sure to work on your resulting photos in a graphic editor. It is ideal if you shoot in RAW – this format gives you the opportunity of in depth processing without worsening the quality of the picture. Increase contrast, apply a digital gradient to light sky, and enhance warm colors to bring more life into the shot.
Since there is no color, bet on contrasts, such as white birch trees against a black forest.
Late autumn is a very hard time for taking pictures. Among all the other challenges at this time of year, it’s very difficult to find an interesting and tidy foreground. Look for waves of grass flattened by the first snow, or ice on lakes
Late autumn is a time of quiet sadness and melancholy. Try to underline this state of nature in your photos. Show the first snow caps on rocks or tree trunks in the middle of lakes.
If you are lucky enough to see migrating birds, try to include them in the scenery.
Late autumn is a very graphic time. Try to look for that graphic in everything – in the curves of the trees, in the lines of the first ice on the lake. Emphasize this graphicality in the editor by increasing the contrast and micro-contrast of the picture Clarity slider in Adobe Camera RAW .
The first snowfall adds a special graphic quality to the landscape, emphasizing the trees which blend into a dark mass without the snow.
Take pictures of tree reflections in rivers and lakes. Standing water will give mirror-clear reflections, while flowing water will give distorted, rippled reflections.
Include a human being as a symbol of loneliness in the shot. Pick up the effect in an image editor, reducing contrast to make the photo almost colorless, monochrome
How does the Nikon D5500 perform in capturing the unique and elusive beauty of late autumn landscapes? Is it able to capture the subtle colors and textures that make this time of year so enchanting, even in challenging lighting conditions?