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Peak Foliage is past in CT
How to get creative with Iconic images!
by Jeff "Foliage" Folger
Intersection of 169 and route 6 on 23 Oct in CT. Pretty church worth exploring
Intersection of 169 and route 6 on 23 Oct in CT. Different angle and perspective in looking at subject
Intersection of 169 and route 6 on 23 Oct in CT. Checking different angles and seeing what you find. This is good but can be better.
Intersection of 169 and route 6 on 23 Oct in CT. Shallow DOF so the leaves are sharp and the steeple is soft.
Greetings Foliage Peepers!
For those trying to figure out how many miles I'm traveling this season I did 440.2 yesterday in CT and I'm not sure if everyone is waiting until the last minute to put their guesses up in my foliage forum contest (Click here to go direct). I hope everyone jumps in before the cutoff on Halloween evening at midnight (The witching hour!)
Thursday I went out with travel writer Mike Blanding in search of color in Connecticut. We followed the Yankee foliage map that indicated peak foliage down 395 to route 6. As we got to the crossroads of 6 and 169 (scenic byway) we saw a huge maple mostly in color next to a beautiful white steeple church.
We got out and walked around and shot the profile and Mike asked what I do to get better pictures of standard shots of iconic landmarks. I had him follow me as I walked down to the corner then up the street, keeping my attention on the church and its surroundings.
There was a maple with a few red/orange leaves still on it. I saw a unique vantage point since I could see the church and steeple through the branches and still see the leaves on the tree. He shot it and showed me the result and we went over his settings on his camera.
First he was shooting in a program mode which doesn't allow for a lot of creativity on your part. It sets all the parameters and will help you get a well balanced shot. Now this works for most folks but if you want a different creative aspect on a shot you will have to read the camera book on the manual settings (if your camera has them). The one I use the most is the aperture priority (read your book to find it). This allows me to control the (DOF) depth of field).
DOF is deciding what or how much of your picture is in focus. A shallow DOF will blur everything in front and behind your subject. In the last picture on the right I used a shallow DOF so that the leaves are sharp and the steeple in the background is softly blurred. This way your attention is drawn to the leaves but your mind still sees the outline of the church and sky.
If you are shooting a portrait of people you want a greater DOF because you want the people sharp and in focus from the front row, all the way to the people in the back. This is why all those "other" settings are important to learn on your camera because it can do so much more when you master the other settings.
I would love to hear from you as to whether you and you can leave a comment here or drop me a note over in the foliage forum.
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