It’s that time of the year again when the leafs turn those gorgeous yellows, oranges and reds. The color is seductive that it’s hard to put the camera down. What most don’t realize is that color can also be too overpowering. Pretty much every photographer has seen at some point a good fall color shot and a bad fall color shot. It’s really quite understandable since, like every over photograph, a bad composition or bad light can lead to a disappointing image. The color by itself isn’t always a savior!
One great way to make sure that the color isn’t overpowering is contrast. Yellow, orange and red are usually bright colors and thus our eyes often go to them first if there is no white in the photo. If you have something dark like blue, green or black to balance out the photo then the Fall color won’t be overpowering. Now does this mean that every Fall color photograph should be this way? No, of course not. But it is important to keep in the back of your mind that fall color can be overpowering and that the other elements like composition and light are still essential.
Captured with Nikon D4, 85 F1.4, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film