Fall color photography and infrared

If color hasn’t already started to change where you are, it won’t be long now. Here’s an idea that can make your scouting times more productive. Add infrared captures. Many times, you need to scout areas for color and that happens in the middle of the day. With an IR camera you can make some keeper images during a time when light on the color is less than perfect.

What is fall color?

You might want to know scientifically why leaves color, so I poked around as I couldn’t remember my early science classes. Chlorophyll is the chemical that gives leaves their green color. Shorter days and cooler temperatures begin the process of breaking down the chlorophyll as the leaves stop making food to rest for the winter. Leaves that have carotenoids will turn yellow, brown and orange. Red, purple and crimson colors appear in leaves that have anthocyanin in their makeup.

Backlit aspens by the side of the road.

When to look for fall color

Fall color timing can vary from year to year, dependent upon the weather. For best color, look for times when the colder weather moves in strong and clear with little rain. These will be years with more intense color. If it’s damp and cloudy, the vibrancy will be washed away. Higher temperatures under cloudy skies can cause the change to spread over different times. Become a weather weenie to find the best times and places to get out and chase fall color.

Color images

I will still photograph in color even when I am scouting. This is especially when I will only be in an area for a day or two. Changing leaves can make a relatively homogenous color palette start to sing, even when the light is not perfect. Here, I make my goal to see solid dynamic compositions including patterns and angles. In this case you won’t see much sky as the clouds eluded us leaving only flat blue behind.

Found a pond with aspen reflections. Can’t beat that!

Toward the end of the day when the sun was more directional, we found a reflective pond. I worked that in a lot of different ways. One thing I neglected to capture was some Intentional Camera Movement. ICM is a technique you might want to add to your quiver as it can create some wonderful patterns and colors when the light is less than stellar.

Aspen trees in the middle of the day would not make a great color image. Stands out pretty well in infrared.

Infrared

If you don’t already have a camera dedicated to IR capture, I think you are missing out. You can take a camera that has been languishing on the shelf as you use your upgraded gear and put it to use. There are a few infrared camera conversion companies. I use LifePixel. You can see lots of information on how different infrared filter types will render the scene. LifePixel also has lots of tutorials on how to process your infrared images as well. I am an affiliate of LifePixel and using the link will earn me a few dollars, but I don’t recommend gear or companies that I don’t use and like.

Infrared renders blue skies deep grey to black while allowing chlorophyll in the leaves to show white with wonderful contrast.

Early morning on the Delores river looking upstream.

Thoughts

It’s a grand time to get out and exercise your compositional and color skills. Fall color can be a blast with the changing the landscape right before our eyes. Adding infrared will increase the number of keepers you can capture adding to your creativity. Here are a couple links to other infrared photography stories. Infrared and mid-day photography. How to get started in infrared photography.

Yours in Creative Photography,

Bob

• Posted on October 9, 2024