Ultimate Guide To Autumn

James Abbott reveals the secrets to capturing amazing images during the most eye-catching season of the year

- James Abbott

Atmospheric mist, warm colours in the landscape, golden hours that aren’t too early or too late, and one of the most exciting events in the wildlife photography calendar – the deer rut. These make autumn one of, if not the most, interesting seasons for outdoor photographers. The landscape is awash with amazing photographic opportunities – you simply need to know when and where to look for them, and locations can be as simple as your local park or as spectacular as the Lake District or the Scottish Highlands.

The photography skills you’ll need to draw upon are generally the same as at other times of the year, but the difficulty in shooting autumn comes from the fact that seasons change at slightly different times in different parts of countries: in the UK, for example, it’s typically earlier in the north and a little later in the south. Plus, peak autumn may not occur at exactly the same time from year to year, so you have to remain flexible when the season begins to change.

To shoot at the perfect time you’ll need to pay close attention to the changing color of foliage, and if the location is far away you may need to search for local webcams you can monitor to check for the onset of the season. Or even better, if you know a local you can ask them to tell you when autumn is about to reach its peak – it’s often possible to estimate this a week or two before it happens. Here we’ll dive into the best ways to capture this magical, if all-too-brief, season.

FOCUS ON LANDSCAPES IN TRANSITION

Autumn’s bold colours and dramatic weather conditions combine to create sublime results