5 tips for shooting great Fall Foliage

It's that time of year! The woods are gearing to explode in Fall color! Here are some tips to help you capture the beauty of the season.

1. Watch the weather.
I love the way this shot happened. I was on assignment for New Jersey Monthly Magazine. They wanted me to go through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and capture the beauty of Fall. I picked a day where I knew there would be morning fog because of my aviation training in weather, calculating dew point. It was just after sunrise when I came upon the perfect spot in the road that combined color and fog.

2. Framing.
You can use many things to frame the main subject of a photo, whether it's tree branches, buildings, etc. In this case I wanted to use the fog as a way to frame the foliage on the bank of the Delaware River.

3. Diagonal Lines.

This was literal one of the very first things that I ever learned in my High School Photography class and have used it through out my career. My teacher said Diagonal lines are Dynamic! My photo assistants have joked with me for quoting Mr. Maioli way too much. But they really are dynamic and draw your eye into a shot.

4. Water, Water, Water

Water is such a great way to accent Autumn foliage. In this photo I used a 4 stop neutral density filter during the middle of the day to create a long 10 second exposure which causes water to look smooth and creamy.

5. Help from above

There's so many new relatively inexpensive drones on the market today that produce very high quality imagery. Safety is important, so be sure to get proper training and follow FAA regulations. You can get more drone tips at AEROJO. All of these images were taken on assignment for New Jersey Monthly. All Drone activity was conducted outside of Delaware River Water Gap National Park because Drones are not to fly in National Parks. So make sure you know the rules and fly safe.

Have a question? Contact me @ jopofoto@gmail.com