As the leaves change and the kids get excited for Halloween, fall is a beautiful time for family photos. The colors will keep you warm all winter!
Use the intervalometer on your camera for leafy shots
An intervalometer trips the shutter on repeat (e.g. once every two seconds), and this is a fun method to capture fast-moving events like throwing leaves in the air when you’re not behind the camera to take the shot at exactly the right moment. It also keeps your hands free (unlike a single-shot remote).
Most recent camera models include an intervalometer setting built in. If not, you can pick them up cheap.
It’s not always that I recommend throwing stuff at your expensive camera, but falling leaves are the perfect opportunity to capture movement in your family photos.
Set up your intervalometer and pop the camera on a tripod. Have everyone sit under the tree, gather up a big handful of leaves and throw in time with the shutter going off. Repeat several times and then choose your favorite photo from those captured.
Look for photo opportunities on family outings
Need to pick up pumpkins for Halloween? Take the kids and the camera and capture the adventure.
You might like to get permission from the venue in advance, and offer to share the photos to them for use on their social media.
This is a great one for those Christmas tree shopping excursions, too!
As well as the scenery and setting, don’t forget to photograph the fun. This is making childhood memories at its finest.
Enhance the colors of the season
Once you get your photos off your camera and onto your computer, develop your images with the colors of the season in mind. Use the HSL (hue, saturation, luminosity) panel in Lightroom to shift aqua hues toward green, green hues toward yellow, and yellow hues toward orange.
The above is what I start with: have a play and once you’re happy with the results, sync your settings across the rest of your photos. Or, create your own preset to use the settings over and over.
For more ideas on capturing autumn colors, check out Sara’s tips here.
Some lovely ideas here, Jemma that can be translated for families Down Under. We don’t have ‘fall’ colours in Brisbane but we can maybe make do with any leaves, coloured or not, and right now we can sit under a flowering jacarandah and maybe toss its blossoms.