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(All photos in this post are edited with presets from the Warm & Organic Millennium Collection and photographed by Rebecca from BeckStar Imagery)
Without a doubt, my favorite time of year to shoot is in the early Fall. It's the perfect time for family sessions and mini-sessions, too. I love capturing all the beautiful colors in this short window mother nature gives us.
Today, I'm excited to share some helpful Fall photo tips for making this a successful season for your photography business.
Here are a few ways to make the most of your Autumn photo sessions:
Fall is the perfect time of year to shoot outdoors. When the leaves are in full color, just before they fall off the trees, they offer a gorgeous backdrop for any type of photography.
To boost the contrast and Fall colors, even more, try attaching a polarizing filter to your lens. Polarizing filters will subtly increase the contrast of your image in-camera and save you from having to add contrast in post-processing.
| Fall Photography Sessions | Aperture | Shutter Speed | ISO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall portraits | f/2.8–f/4 Aperture | 1/250+ Shutter Speed | 100–400 ISO |
| Landscapes | f/8–f/11 Aperture | Variable Shutter Speed | 100 ISO |
| Kids running through leaves | f/2.8–f/4 Aperture | 1/500+ Shutter Speed | 200–800 ISO |
(Before & after using Warm & Organic Millennium Presets)
If you are photographing individual or family portraits, suggest that your clients wear solid colors. If they insist on patterned clothing, make sure the pattern is very basic. Nature already has so much color in Autumn that heavily patterned clothing can look extremely busy against a backdrop of bright Fall colors.
Also, pay attention to the color of the leaves versus the color of your subject's clothes. Try to get your client to dress in colors that are complementary to red, yellow, and orange. These include shades of blue and green; of course, the classic black, white, and gray combo is always a winner!
We've created editable Canva templates for your fall photography sessions. This bundle includes what-to-wear templates you can customize for your clients.
(Before & after using Warm & Organic Millennium Presets)
In the fall, you may deal with sunny or completely cloudy days. Here are some tips for shooting in both situations!
For sunny days, try shooting when the light is soft – either in the morning or early evening. Shooting at Golden hour is ideal. This time of day will decrease the harsh shadows on your subject and illuminate the leaves on the trees, creating a stained-glass effect with all the colors. Click here for more information on taking photos in the harsh mid-day sun.
If the sky is cloudy, you may find that the scenery looks a bit gloomy. Don’t fret, though!
A tiny pop of flash will increase the contrast and saturation of the colors of the leaves and illuminate your subject. Don’t overdo the flash – a little bit goes a long way. The goal is to avoid creating shadows with your flash, so you will, most likely, need to set your flash close to its lowest setting or use a flash diffuser. Here is an excellent cheat sheet for lighting.
(Before & after using Warm & Organic Millennium Presets)
Fall is the perfect time to take advantage of shooting with a wide aperture to create some dreamy, blurry background bokeh that will make viewers swoon! A wide aperture (for example, between f/2.8 and f/4.5) will blur the leaves while maintaining perfect focus on your subject.
On the other hand, you can try experimenting with a narrow aperture (f/8 and higher) to get more of the leaves in focus. This can create some interesting shots, but you MAY find the increased focus on the leaves makes the colors too busy and pulls focus away from your subject.
(Before & after using Warm & Organic Millennium Presets)
Depending on where you live (and many other factors, including weather, lighting, etc.), you may find your images need additional post-processing to achieve a beautiful Fall look. Or you may just want to enhance the warm red & orange leaves that can only be found for a short time every year.
You can certainly play with the many Lightroom sliders to enhance various Fall colors. However, my absolute favorite way to edit Fall photos is with the Warm & Organic Millennium Preset Collection (for both Lightroom desktop & mobile) and the Bold & Vibrant Lightroom Adjustment Brushes (Lightroom desktop only).
These beautiful presets & brushes will quickly transform and infuse your images with warm, vibrant colors, golden hues, and rich color enhancements that are perfect for a Fall look. Often these enhancements are completed in one click, but as with all presets, sometimes you may need to make some minor adjustments to exposure and white balance settings in Lightroom, depending on your camera and shooting conditions.
As you can see from all the BEFORE and AFTER photos in this blog post, the Warm & Organic Millennium Preset Collection does an incredible job of enhancing and unifying the various tones and colors that occur naturally during the Fall.
(Before & after using Warm & Organic Millennium Presets)
And if you use Photoshop and want to add something extra special to your Fall images, check out the Falling Leaves Overlays and Photoshop Action Collection, which I use to add gorgeous leaf overlays to many of my Fall images. This unique collection includes over 100 leaf overlays authentically created from "real leaves," several beautiful Fall toning actions, and more.
The best time of day for fall photography is during the golden hour, which occurs shortly after sunrise and before sunset. During these times, the sun is lower in the sky, creating warm, soft light that enhances the rich reds, oranges, and yellows of autumn foliage. Overcast days can also be excellent for fall photography because the diffused light reduces harsh shadows and helps colors appear more saturated.
To make autumn colors look more vibrant, shoot during golden hour, slightly underexpose to preserve highlights, and use a polarizing filter to reduce glare on leaves. When editing, adjust white balance to add warmth, increase vibrance rather than saturation, and fine-tune the orange, yellow, and red color channels. Shooting in RAW format gives you the most flexibility to enhance fall colors in post-processing. If you're looking for presets, we'd highly recommend NATURA Evolution and Warm and Organic Millennium.
For fall photo sessions, clothing that complements the natural autumn palette works best. Consider earth tones such as mustard yellow, burgundy, rust, olive green, camel, cream, navy, and chocolate brown. Layered outfits, scarves, sweaters, and textured fabrics can add visual interest and seasonal appeal. Avoid neon colors, large logos, and overly busy patterns, which can distract from both the subjects and the beautiful fall scenery.
The best lens for fall portraits depends on the style of images you want to create. A 50mm lens is a versatile option that produces natural-looking portraits with beautiful background blur. An 85mm lens is ideal for flattering close-up portraits and creamy bokeh. For environmental portraits that showcase colorful foliage, a 35mm lens allows you to include more of the surrounding landscape while still keeping your subject as the focal point.
Yes, shooting RAW is highly recommended for autumn photography. RAW files retain significantly more image data than JPEGs, allowing you to recover highlights, lift shadows, and adjust color balance without sacrificing image quality. This extra flexibility is especially useful when editing vibrant fall foliage, where preserving detail and accurately reproducing seasonal colors can make a dramatic difference in the final image.
The ideal camera settings depend on your subject. For portraits, start with an aperture between f/2.8 and f/4 to create a soft background and make colorful leaves stand out. For landscapes, use a narrower aperture such as f/8 to f/11 to keep the entire scene sharp. Keep ISO as low as possible for maximum image quality, and adjust shutter speed to ensure sharp images, especially when photographing children, pets, or moving leaves.
To avoid harsh shadows, schedule your session during golden hour or on an overcast day. Position subjects so that the light falls evenly across their faces, and use a reflector to bounce light into shadowed areas if needed. Avoid photographing during midday when the sun is directly overhead and can create strong contrast and unflattering shadows.
Some of the best fall photography locations include parks, forests, mountain trails, tree-lined roads, apple orchards, pumpkin patches, and lakes with reflective water. Look for areas with a variety of colorful foliage and unobstructed views of the landscape. Scouting locations in advance can help you identify the best lighting conditions and peak autumn colors.
To preserve detail in fall leaves, expose carefully to avoid clipping highlights, especially in bright sunlight. A polarizing filter can help reduce reflections and reveal richer colors and textures. For close-up images, use a smaller aperture such as f/5.6 to f/8 to keep more of the leaf in focus while maintaining excellent sharpness.
Yes, Lightroom presets can help streamline your editing workflow and enhance the warm, rich tones associated with autumn photography. A quality fall preset can improve color balance, increase contrast, and bring out the reds, oranges, and yellows in foliage while maintaining natural-looking skin tones. Check out the AI Portrait Pro for fantastic options for enhancing your fall photos. As we mentioned above, Natura Evolution and Warm and Organic are amazing for fall.
Do you have any questions or comments about Fall Photography? Leave us a comment below - we would LOVE to hear from you! And PLEASE SHARE this post using the social sharing buttons (we really appreciate it)!
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