10 tips for late summer and early autumn woodland photography

It’s getting to that time of year again for folks in the northern hemisphere. The days are getting shorter, and wetter and the sun’s starting to stay a little lower in the sky, but with that comes the beginning of autumn and some beautiful woodland colours. This time of year is rich with colour and just begging to be photographed.

If you’re planning to brave the chilly weather and head out with your camera into the wilderness, here are 10 tips from Photo Tom to help get you going in the right direction.

• Block the sun with tree trunks – you don’t have the dynamic range to include it in the shot
• Explore the location for different angles – don’t just go with the first or most obvious spot you find
• Look for cold humid nights and warm sunny mornings – if you want sun rays!
• Create frames inside frames
• Place yourself in areas of darkness – to avoid unwanted flare and increase contrast
• Look for reflections in things like puddles and pools
• Use a polarising filter – it’ll increase saturation in the leaves and reduce glare
• Expect the unexpected – nature can surprise you when you least expect it, so keep your eyes open
• Hard light… go inside the woodland – when the sun’s high in the sky, head deep into the woods
• Look for streams of water – particularly s-curves to create some ground interest

It’s a great set of tips and it foregoes the usual generic “make sure you’ve got spare batteries and memory cards” type things you usually see on lists like this. It’s some real practical advice and Tom presents examples of images he’s created while explaining each of the tips.

I know I’ll be out with my camera in the woods very soon. How about you? What’s your top woodland photography tip?