DIY Network

Photographing Fall Foliage Capture the majesty of fall's colors with your digital camera. From "The Whole Picture" episode DTWP-204

Fall, with all of its brilliant colors, is one of the most exciting times of year for taking photographs.

In this lesson from DIY's The Whole Picture, professional photographer Erin Manning offers tips for digital photo enthusiasts who want to "take it outdoors" and capture the natural beauty of the fall season.

Erin offers tips and techniques showing how to maximize the composition, color and lighting in outdoor photographs. Also, in the "digital darkroom", she goes through the steps for enhancing color and sharpening an image using photo-editing software.

Materials:

digital camera
camera manual
tripod
reflector
computer
image-editing software (e.g., Adobe Photoshop)

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Composition, Color and Framing

• The first thing to do in a landscape shot is identify the subject of your picture. Ask yourself: "What do I want the viewer to remember from this picture?" Patterns may appear, but make sure there is an identifiable subject. Find your subject in the viewfinder and move the camera slightly side to side and up and down to see what elements you want to include in your composition.

• Next, decide on the orientation of the photograph. Observe the subject and determine if the image will look best framed vertically or horizontally.

  Vertical composition

  Horizontal composition

  
  

  Use a tree branch as a lead-in line.

• Use the rule of thirds to frame your image. Imagine your viewfinder is divided into thirds vertically and horizontally. Compose the image so that the main subject is located at one of the intersections of the third lines.

• Now bring your attention to the edges of your frame. Find elements in the foreground to frame your subject. This will add depth to the picture. Look for a lead-in line--something from the corner of the image to the middle or center of the subject.
  

  Use complementary colors in your compositions. A color's complement is the one opposite it on the color wheel--e.g., the complement of green is red.

• The best lead-in lines start from the lower left corner and move to the center. Diagonal lines are dynamic in images and can lead the eye right to the center of your subject.

• When composing your photograph, remember to work with color. As a rule of thumb, complementary colors create harmony. If appropriate, work with visually opposing colors--greens and reds together, or oranges and blues or purples and yellows. The use of complimentary colors in your photo can increase the dramatic focus on your subject.

• Finally, simplify the image. Eliminate extraneous elements that distract from the subject of your picture. Make sure lead-in lines don't compete with your subject.

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