Looking Up: Finding Autumn in the Details

When most people think about photographing fall colors, they probably picture sweeping mountain landscapes, colorful hillsides, or a winding trail surrounded by trees dressed in their autumn best.

And don't get me wrong, I love photographing those scenes.

But sometimes, the best photograph isn't what's directly in front of you.

Sometimes, you just need to look up.

I remember reading somewhere that photographers can become so focused on what's ahead of them that they forget to look at the world from different angles.

That advice stuck with me.

Whenever I'm out exploring, I try to keep my head on a swivel, so to speak. You never know what you might discover by turning around, looking down, or simply looking toward the sky.

And when autumn arrives, looking up can be particularly rewarding.

Autumn's Embrace

During a fall photography trip to Little River Canyon in northeastern Alabama, I was doing what I usually do: exploring the area and photographing the changing colors.

Little River Canyon is one of my favorite places to visit, especially during autumn. The canyon offers some spectacular landscapes, but there's plenty worth photographing beyond the overlooks.

At one point, I turned my attention toward the trees above me.

What caught my eye wasn't a particular tree or an unusual formation. It was simply the collection of colors overhead.

Brilliant oranges, deep reds, and golden yellows filled the canopy, with patches of blue sky showing through the branches.

The colors seemed to overlap and blend together, creating a natural patchwork of autumn.

That became Autumn's Embrace.

There wasn't anything particularly complicated about capturing this photograph. I saw something beautiful, found a composition I liked, and photographed it.

Sometimes, that's all there is to it.

Golden Focus

On that same trip, I captured another photograph that approached the fall colors a little differently.

Rather than filling the frame with an entire canopy of colorful leaves, I focused on a smaller collection of leaves hanging among the branches.

Behind them, the surrounding autumn foliage became a soft mixture of gold, orange, and green, with little patches of blue sky scattered throughout.

The result was Golden Focus.

What I enjoy about this photograph is the contrast between the leaves in focus and the colors behind them.

The background is still very much part of the scene, but it doesn't compete for attention.

It's a reminder that you don't always need a grand landscape to capture the beauty of a season.

Sometimes, a few leaves are enough.

Crimson Canopy at Lake Nicol

A different autumn outing brought me to Lake Nicol, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

While exploring the area, I noticed something that immediately caught my attention.

Red.

And I mean a really vibrant red.

Surrounded by pine trees and their greenish-brown needles was a single tree displaying some of the brightest red autumn foliage you could imagine.

It stood out from everything around it.

There wasn't some elaborate composition I had been planning or a particular photograph I was hoping to capture.

The colors simply caught my eye.

And when nature gives you something that striking, sometimes you just have to photograph it.

The resulting photograph, Crimson Canopy at Lake Nicol, is almost entirely about that brilliant red foliage.

It's one of those scenes that reminds me why I enjoy autumn photography so much.

You can walk through an area filled with trees that are still green or beginning to turn brown, and suddenly one tree seems determined to put on its own show.

A Different Perspective

These three photographs were taken at different times and in different locations, but they share something in common.

They're all about the colors we associate with autumn.

The oranges, yellows, reds, and golds that make this time of year so special.

And they're all photographs I might have missed if I'd been concentrating only on the scenery directly ahead of me.

That's something I try to remember whenever I head out with my camera.

You might set out looking for a waterfall, a mountain overlook, or a particular landscape. But that doesn't mean the photograph you came for will be the only one worth taking.

Sometimes, you turn around and discover something unexpected.

Other times, you look up.

And that's where you find your photograph.

Taking a Moment

There's something else I hope these photographs accomplish.

It's the same thing I hope people experience when looking at any of my photography.

A little peace.

We live in a busy, sometimes chaotic world. Between work, responsibilities, and everything else demanding our attention, it's easy to forget to slow down and appreciate what's around us.

But nature has a way of reminding us.

Whether it's standing beside a waterfall, watching the sun rise over the mountains, or simply looking up through a canopy of colorful autumn leaves, there are moments when everything else can wait.

You don't have to be a photographer to appreciate them.

Sometimes, all you need to do is stop, look around, and take a moment to breathe.

And maybe, every once in a while, remember to look up.

Available as Fine Art

Autumn's Embrace, Golden Focus, and Crimson Canopy at Lake Nicol are part of my Autumn in the Wild Collection at Bama Price Photography.

Explore the collection and discover more photographs celebrating the beauty of autumn in Alabama.