Keep your eye on the weather and embrace cloudy days which offer a consistent source of flat light Think carefully about which colours you put next to each other - seek separation and contrast Look for graphical shapes (such as diagonal lines and curves) in branches and trunksĬonsider the colour contrasts between yellows, greens and oranges and how much percentage of the frame you dedicate to each Try working with longer focal lengths such as 70-200mm lensesĭirect your gaze above ground level, i.e seek out the mid-level foliage

There’s no single piece of advice here that will suddenly clarify your vision but I’d say the following quick tips might be useful: It’s a topic I get into with people on workshops and during 1-2-1 sessions. One thing some photographers can struggle with is finding order in the chaos of woodland locations. The woodland images however are popular with photographers (and viewers) and it’s a busy time for making images and indeed just enjoying being outside during this period. I personally try to get out as much as possible in Autumn, not only for woodland images but also to my local beaches and countryside. I suspect most photographers are also happy to see the end of endless weeks and months of green in the landscape! Finally in Autumn comes Red which during this period and in nature offers feelings of cosiness and motivation. Yellow is the most visible colour in the spectrum and research has shown it even generates optimism in people. Orange is believed to enhance feelings of joy and fun, essentially it’s a very 'positive’ colour.

The colours we associate with Autumn here in the UK combine to make quite the tantalising feast for our eyes. It’s widely accepted that certain colours do promote a variety of reactions from individuals.

There has been increasing amounts of research into the psychology of colours and how we interpret them. As such our minds and bodies attribute even more meaning to it. The strength of these signals are magnified when they appear regularly, such as the annual changing of the seasons. In general terms our brains interpret these markers as a meaningful signal to engage with. Why Do We Love Autumn?Īutumn itself is known to be a temporal landmark, this is a psychological concept that refers to well established markers and events in our lives. Although the ‘photography police’ might point the cliche finger at some of their peers I do think it’s interesting to consider WHY photographers and indeed the general public seem to find it such a visually engaging time of the year.

The rich colours and changing scenes offered in woodland are particularly popular. Ask any outdoor/landscape photographer for their favourite season and a large percentage would say Autumn.

Autumn Burning by Sam Gregory