With the ubiquitous nature of smartphones in everyone’s hands, taking a photograph seems easier today than ever before. But making a great photograph still requires more thought and effort than simply pointing and shooting.
If you want to upgrade your fall photography skills, try focusing on the light, composition and framing of your images. When you intentionally combine these elements, your photographs will convey the essence of your subject with more detail and depth.
Golden hour light. Light is one of the most important elements of a successful photograph, for without it, this art form simply doesn’t exist.
Each day begins and ends with a golden hour casting a low-angled, warm glow across the landscape. It happens about an hour after sunrise and again about an hour before sunset. The lower-angled light seen as the sun is close to the horizon accentuates textures and details while the warm glow enhances the deep reds, oranges and golds of Tennessee’s fall.
The combination of beautiful light and colorful subject matter is just the beginning of a great image.
Composition. Creating an interesting composition will keep your viewer’s eye moving through the photograph. Incorporating traditional composition techniques like the rule of thirds, leading lines and filling the frame will greatly improve your photography skills.
To utilize the rule of thirds, imagine dividing your screen into thirds with two horizontal and two vertical lines, creating a grid pattern. Placing your main subject at one of the intersections of these lines will make your compositions less centered and more interesting.
Most cameras and smartphones have a setting that allows you to see this grid in the viewfinder or on the screen.
Leading lines will also make more interesting compositions. Examples could be a winding road leading into the forest, a split-rail fence leading to a red barn or a branch leading your eye to a red maple leaf.
Filling the frame sounds easy, but it often gets left to the wayside. When I compose an image, I automatically scan the edges of the viewfinder in a clockwise pattern, starting in the upper right corner. I scan each side of the viewfinder to make sure I am including everything I want to have in the image and excluding anything that is distracting.
A pro tip here would be that if the sky doesn’t add anything interesting to the image, crop it out as it is a bright area that can be distracting to the viewer.
Framing. Like composition, framing also helps move the viewer’s eye through the image. When I frame an image, I always try to address the three depths — foreground, middle ground and background. Being aware of these ranges in an image and thinking through them will exponentially improve your images.
As an example, I framed this image of Radnor Lake and the vibrant trees from a vantage point with a few leaves and branches in the foreground to add some depth to this image. The reflections on the surface are in the middle ground.
This fall, try following great light, carefully define your subject with an interesting composition and then look high and low for different angles and objects that might frame your subject. You will be surprised by the images you will be rewarded with simply by putting a little extra thought, intentionality and effort into your art.
