Tag Archives: Fall Foliage Photographs

How To Make Your Pictures Pop Out!

19 Friday May 2017

Posted by in Fall Foliage, Ontario in the Fall

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This is a Canadian Birth Tree which I photographed in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.  I tried to focus my camera on the peeling layers to bring attention to it.  By doing this, the peeling bark has more depth and gives almost a 3 dimensional effect.  My wife feels the bark is “popping out” in this depth effect.  This is why there are parts of the tree which are not in focused.

If I had used a tripod, I could have shot this tree all in focus by decreasing the aperture.   Consequently the exposure would be longer which would make it difficult to hand hold the camera.  Therefore a tripod would be needed for this type of shot.  By decreasing the aperture, it would also give a greater depth but more of the tree would be in focus.

Seek to create depth in your photographs by focusing on objects which pop up at you.

Diversity with the end of Fall Foliage & Winter Approaching

24 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by in Fall Foliage, Rocky Mountains

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I took this photograph since I loved the different multi layers from the top down.

Wonderful view of the snow capped Colorado Rocky Mountains from the Trapper’s Run trail in Vail, Colorado.  The Fall Foliage had ended with the bare Aspen Trees on the mountainside.  But there are a few evergreen trees in spots.

Look for diversity as you compose your photograph.

 

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Aspen Stick Trees

10 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by in Colorado Fall Foliage, Fall Foliage, Rocky Mountains

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kw6a1663-copyThese trees were shot as we hiked on Trapper’s Run in Vail, Colorado.  We went hiking in the afternoon and enjoyed shooting these photographs of the Aspen Tree Forest.  We were disappointed that we missed the fall foliage.  But seeing the bare trees allowed us to focus more on the straightness of the tree trunks and the density of the forest.

This photograph was taken in the late afternoon.  The light for outdoor photography is usually better in the early morning or late afternoon.  The color temperature of sunlight is warmer giving more orange tones.  The sunlight has more dimension since the sun is lower on the horizon creating longer shadows.

My goal was to shoot photographs in the late afternoon.  We were also fortunate that the clouds cleared so I could photograph with the pretty blue sky.

We  loved the white tree bark with the contrasting blue sky and dark ground.  Everyone should experience the quiet and stillness of the Aspen Forest.

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How I shot at Sunset on Booth Creek Trail?

07 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by in Colorado Fall Foliage, Fall Foliage, Rocky Mountains

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kw6a2254-copyWe enjoyed a wonderful hike at Booth Creek Trail in Vail, Colorado.  Make sure to go earlier or you may not find a place to park the car.  The parking lot is small and street parking is not available.  The parking lot is not large.  The best strategy is to wait until hikers return and move the car.  There is a 3 hour limit for parking in the lot.

It is a steep trail with rocks.  You need to walk a brisk pace or you will not complete the hike within the 3 hour limit.

We took longer since we were shooting various pictures and enjoyed the scenery.  This was taken in the 3rd week of October.  Even though we missed the peak of fall foliage, we still enjoyed the scenery.

This shot was taken at sunset on our way back close to the end of the hike.  I took a bracket of 3 different exposures.  When you shoot with the sun behind, this makes the exposure tricky.  Maybe you are like my wife who did not understand what I was saying about taking the bracket with 3 different exposures – this is photography lingo.  In other words, I took 3 pictures using 3 different exposure settings to see which would give me the best photograph.  I wanted to get the long shadows with the right light.  I tried to frame the sun to partially block it with the tree so sun rays would be seen.  If I did not do this, then you would just see brightness without seeing the rays of the sun.

 

Beautiful Late Afternoon Light in the Mountains of Vail, Colorado

02 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by in Colorado Fall Foliage, Rocky Mountains

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kw6a2270-copyWonderful hike on the Booth Creek Trail late afternoon on Tuesday, October 25, 2016.  The afternoon shadows and reflections of the sky cast a cool blue light on the white trunks of the Aspen trees in the foreground while the sunlight illuminated the bare Aspen trees on the mountain side in the background.  This juxtaposition of light was very striking as I witnessed it and had to take some photographs of it.

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The Cold Aftermath of Fall Foliage

31 Monday Oct 2016

Posted by in Colorado Fall Foliage, Fall Foliage, Rocky Mountains

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kw6a1696-copyI photographed this the week of October 16 at Trapper’s Run in Vail, Colorado.  We were fortunate the sun came out.  It snowed during the previous night.  We missed the fall foliage by 2 to 3 weeks.

At first I was disappointed I missed seeing the peak of fall foliage with these Aspen trees.   But then I became enamored with the bare look.  I love the feathered look of the these trees.  I also love the closeness of all the trees in this forest area.

I used a EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens which caused the trees to look a little curved in this image.

During this trip, I learned there is always beauty in nature which needs to be discovered and appreciated.

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In Search of Fall Foliage

29 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by in Colorado Fall Foliage, Fall Foliage, Leaves

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nn5a6562-copyWe went hiking at Matthews/Winters Park near Denver, Colorado looking for fall foliage.  We walked towards William Frederick Hayden Park on Green Mountain and traveled off on a trail up the mountain with a gulch.  It was a wonderful sunny fall day, and I was looking for a changing tree.  These leaves are in the process of changing to the fall colors.  Down towards Denver, it was still warm during the day but cool in the evenings and early mornings.  I love the shadows and the varying colors of green, yellow and a little orange.

Up towards Vail, Colorado, the fall foliage scenery is gone, and the Aspen trees are bare.  So we went down towards Denver in search of leaves.

I will be showing more photographs of the unique aftermath of fall foliage in the Rocky Mountain Range.  Even though, we missed the peak of the fall foliage in Vail, we still saw the beauty of the barren Aspen forests.  We learned there is still beauty in all stages of the seasons.  Stay tune to see my next series of photographs.

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Evergreen Shadows

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by in Fall Foliage, Hawaii, Leaves, Ontario Fall Foliage 2014, Ontario in the Fall

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This is a Maple Sugar Leaf backlit.  I love the evergreen tree branch shadow behind the leaf.  It is like 2 images within one leaf.  When I  am taking photographs, I examine all the scenery in detail to see the different nuances.

Shadows are interesting.  They can give a unique perspective to your pictures.  Next time you are taking a hike or just enjoying nature, look at the shadows. Your pictures will have a different dimension if you capture the shadows too.  See if you can capture the contrast of the lighting, color and the shadow darkness in your image.

How to take Better Photos in the Fall?

07 Friday Oct 2016

Posted by in Leaves, Ontario Fall Foliage 2014, Ontario in the Fall

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img_1880-copy-1This photograph was taken 2 years ago in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.  It is a border town between Ontario, Canada and Michigan.  I never saw such a beautiful display of autumn than during that one week we visited.  Being from California, we do not see the full array of autumn colors.

I love autumn because of the vibrant colors during the changing of the leaves.  No other time during the year can we see such bright and vibrant colors.  The scenery comes alive with autumn.

As a photographer, this is the best time to shoot outdoors and capture the bright colors.

This is a sugar maple leaf photographed during the peak fall season.  The leaf was backlit with the sunlight coming from behind which made the colors more vivid.  I positioned myself so the sun came behind the leaf to draw out the colors.  Positioning is important to get the true colors to show in your photo.

I took the photograph with my Canon EOS 70D camera using EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens.  This is a very sharp lens which produces excellent bokeh effect in the background.

What is bokeh?  Bokeh is the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photograph rendered by a particular lens.

Hope you can appreciate Autumn like I do.  Try to take photographs with this type of backlit positioning to improve your Fall photos to show off the bright colors of the season.

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Why untouchedtcphotos?

10 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by in Leaves, Ontario Fall Foliage 2014, Ontario in the Fall

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1702 – Fall Foliage, Close-up Detailed View of Veins in a Maple Leaf with the Shadow of a Fly.

1702 – Fall Foliage, Close-up Detailed View of Veins in a Maple Leaf with the Shadow of a Fly.

1487 – Fall Foliage, Background Back-Lit Yellow Maple Leaves.

1487 – Fall Foliage, Background Back-Lit Yellow Maple Leaves.

1411 – Fall Foliage, Back-Lit Flaming Red Maple Leaf Photographed in Northern Ontario, Canada.

1411 – Fall Foliage, Back-Lit Flaming Red Maple Leaf Photographed in Northern Ontario, Canada.

Not sure if anyone ever wondered why I am using “untouchedtcphotos” and what I am about?

I started this blog of my photography back in 2012.  It started with photographs taken from my first trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Canada.  This was my first encounter with a real Fall Foliage.  I got so excited with the array of colors and the various trees and plants.  I could have spent much more time photographing the landscape if I had the time.  We were visiting my mother-in-law’s family, and they were so happy and hospitable to take me to sights they never showed my wife (she is not as much as a nature buff as I am).  After this visit, I could not wait to plan another visit.

So with all these photographs, somehow we decided to display on a blog not knowing what to do with a blog.

I am an old school photographer who has learned how to do “photoshop” on my images.  I do love to see other people’s photographs with the “different” colors and appreciate their art in their pictures.

See this article about Kerry Washington’s objection to her “photoshopped” image —

Good Morning America/Yahoo Article – Kerry Washington Speaks Out about her Photoshopped Ad

I know at times when I photograph, I want the ideal lighting to give me the photograph I want.  I need to either wait for that moment which may never come or settle for the natural lighting that is available at that time.  It would be so easy to settle and say – well I can just photoshop to lighten the image.

Thus this is how “untouchedtcphotos” came into being.  I want to show real images of things I love.  I want to be a photographer who is seeking to take quality images.  I do not want to be a photographer who takes photographs with the idea I can photoshop the picture to make it better or to fix it.  That is just my opinion.