Fall and Autmun Foliage Photography Guide

Fall is an opportune time to get some beautiful pictures of the country side, while vibrant colors explode from the trees and leaves. To me fall and autumn has even more color than spring or summer. At least the colors do in the Appalachian Mountains where I live.

This article is written to give you a comprehensive guide to experiencing fall color in it fullness. The guide is not written for any area in particular as the colors vary in differing environments and areas. However, you can be certain that certain seasonal factors all remain constant no matter where you may experience the change from summer to winter.

The first and most important factor to having a pleasurable fall foliage experience is to choose an area that is near you which has a lot of trees which lose their leaves in the winter. Evergreen forests do not offer much color variation and you are certain to be disappointed if you visit an evergreen forest looking for fall colors. So find a rural area that has a lot of deciduous trees.

Next you will want to visit at the right time. The fall season begins around September 20th or so each year. So depending on your latitude (that is how far north or south you live) in our country you will need to plan accordingly. The leaves on the trees in the far northern areas such as Vermont or Connecticut will certainly change sooner that the leaves will in the South Carolina or Georgia mountains. So you may need to plan for your fall foliage vacation of photography shoot earlier in these regions.

The third factor that you will need to consider is the weather. Dry arid weather will definitely produce more vibrant colors but the leaves will be brittle and the first strong wind or storm that comes along will blow the leaves right off of the tree. The best seasons and the most vibrant colors will show when the weather is dry and not much rain is falling. So watch the weather and try to go before the fall rainy season begins and after the end of the dog days of summer.  

If you will follow these three practical common sense tips and plan for your fall and autumn foliage experience; it will certainly be an experience that you will remember and want to share until the following year.