NATURE'S COLORS

My tip this month is not only applicable to autumn colors, but also for capturing spring colors, and forest colors in general.

Although the peak of fall colors has passed in some states, other states don't reach their peak until late October or early November. My tips apply to any scene with trees, at any time of the year.

 First, let me explain what I look for when I'm out in the middle of nature searching for nature's colors. I don't look for objects/subjects. I take away labels like "trees" and other labels we've been taught. Instead, I look for colors, primary colors, secondary colors, complementary colors. I also look for shapes, designs, and even moods and feelings. Then, and only then, do I ask myself how I can best translate all that into something we call a photograph?    

Additionally, when I see something with my eyes, I ask myself how would that look if.........       
I underexpose it by 1-stop, overexpose it by 2-stops, take it at ground level, use spot metering, etc. When I go through that mental exercise, I can see something before I see it. In other words, I do my own pre-processing in my mind and in-camera before I even see the final image. The better my pre-processing, the less post-processing, or fine-tuning, I'll need to do later.  

Sometimes the scene itself looks good, but I might create a second rendition through creative in-camera techniques. I will show a couple of examples of that in this blog. .   

Overriding all of the above, the conditions and factors I look for, or hope for, in most settings are overcast skies. I know, for many folks, that might sound counter intuitive. My desire for overcast skies has to do with my understanding of how that built-in light meter, which I spend a lot of time on in my book, Right Brain Photography. In my experience, the built-in light meter is the #1 problem in photography. In most cases, it does not give me what I look for in my photos, which goes back to why I love overcast skies. They give me nice, soft, even lighting distribution throughout the scene, without harsh shadows and blown out (over-exposed) areas in the scene. The built-in light meter does what it is designed to do more effectively and more efficiently. It really struggles with high contrast scenarios.Overcast skies make life easier for the meter,which, in turn, makes things easier for me.

Now, with that introduction. here are some examples of how I dance with nature's colors. 

Backlit scenes can make for interesting photos. Don't be afraid to shoot into the bright setting sun. You can always use your exposure compensation dial to make proper exposure readjustments in the field. I found this particular scene around 4:30 in the afternoon, which gave me those nice backlit yellows in the background.I positioned my tripod about two feet from the ground to emphasize the trail leading toward the grove of aspens.

I saw this scene from the road. While I was driving, I took a quick glance to my left and knew I had to turn around and get a closer look. I always follow my intuition.

After I found a safe place to park, I walked over to the scene and loved what I saw--nice gold aspens, white barks, and a puddle created in the middle of a 4-wheel road after recent rains. 

I liked the reflections of surrounding aspens in the puddles. I also liked the distant dark tree colors that gave interesting contrast to aspen golds and added depth and interest.

I found this grove of red and orange aspens in late afternoon. If I can't have overcast skies, I will shoot in either early morning or late afternoon when the sun is setting and the landscape  is evenly lit.I loved the less abundant reds and oranges, especially against the white barks. 

This next example is more on the creative side. As photographers, we program ourselves to think that everything in our images must be super sharp and have unbelievable color. I like to break out of that habit and add an artist's perspective, which is what I did here. 

This scene, surrounded by an early morning fog, felt mysterious yet peaceful; tranquil. In my attempt to translate that into a photograph, I moved slowly forward, with a shutter speed of 1/13 to intentionally blur the scene. It gave the image an Impressionistic feel. By the way, I don't mind shadows in my images--they give me mystery, interest and a sense of three dimensions. 

I love the transition of seasons, especially between late autumn and early winter. Such was the time when I found this scene on a mountainside in Rocky Mountain National Park.

For this scene, I overexposed the scene to keep the background yellows, yellow. If I had not done that, the scene, and those background yellows, would have been underexposed. When a major portion of the scene is bright or very light colored, the built-in light meter will underexpose the scene--it doesn't know any better. We have to help it out, i.e., override it. 

I'll throw in a little spring color as well. For this naturally decorated tree in the spring I created a double exposure to give it a "painterly" effect. Try that someday, if your camera has a multiple exposure feature. If you're interested in step-by-step instructions on how to achieve this look, feel free to contact me for a 1-on-1 ZOOM lesson. 

Now, this is a slight twist to today's theme. Yes, there is nature. Yes, there are trees, but there is a touch of humankind in the scene. I included it in this segment to show that adding lightness, or overexposing a scene, can add mood. Not every image has to be perfectly exposed and have off-the-wall sharpness. To me, it's boring to have all my images have the same qualities. I like variety. For this relaxing scene, I overexposed it +1 2/3 stops to create mood. There is no such thing as the correct exposure. There is only the right exposure, based on what we want.

Oh, and don't forget the importance of varying your perspective in photography--not every scene has to be photographed at eye level. For this image, I placed my tripod about two feet from the ground and leaning right up against this tree, shooting straight up to get this uncommon viewpoint. I couldn't even see through my viewfinder. I placed my camera on autofocus making sure it would focus about 1/3 from the bottom of the viewfinder (to increase my depth-of-field), and I adjusted my exposure to make sure the scene would not come out underexposed--I pre-set my exposure for a + 2 2/3 stops! I did that in order to keep the white aspens white and the nice bright yellows nice and bright.   

I'll leave you with one final and creative image--another double exposure. Just like in the world of music, variety in photography is good. It adds depth to our style and to our repertoire. This image looks different than the previous double exposure simply because the subject matter was different. Tulips in spring. I hope this encourages you to explore and expand your horizons. 

So, go out there and push the envelope, explore, get out of your comfort zone, try something different. Create images; don't just take pictures. Think like an artist, not a photographer.  

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions. Be safe!