Best Light for Autumn Photography? Overcast!

By Jim Zuckerman

(c) Jim Zuckerman

The beautiful autumn colors are coming very soon. You will be able to capture the rich, saturated colors in the leaves much better on overcast days when the light is soft and diffused.

I know this doesn’t make sense when you first think about it because bright colors are associated with direct sunlight. However, sunlight creates too much contrast, and the juxtaposition of dark shadows with bright highlights on each individual leaf means that the richness of the color is compromised.

Much better is to shoot when the sky is cloudy or even in a light rain. You can also get rich colors before the sun breaks the horizon in the morning or just after it sets in the late afternoon. Avoid direct sunlight and the images you take will be much better. The two examples you see above and below exemplify what I’m talking about.

(c) Jim Zuckerman

Jim Zuckerman is a top stock shooter who teaches BetterPhoto's digital photography school online, including this course: Techniques of Natural Light Photography

Comments

[Dr.F.Zaman]

thank you for posting a rich lesson on Autumn photography.............F.Zaman

[Nasiha]

your weekly posts on photography , helps me alot in knowing the basic and good skills in photography .... aUtumn photography is excelent..

[Anfal]

Thanks really helpful to know that ^_^