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October 4, 2022

Town, country or coast, capture the best autumn has to offer. We speak to three photographers for their practical advice on shooting Autumn landscapes and capturing amazing colour

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Liam Pearson

Liam is self-taught and loves wandering around London and the English countryside with his camera. Having created his social media sites 18 months ago to showcase his photography, he is rapidly gaining recognition. See his website here and @lundonlens.

I bought my first DSLR back in 2015 and took photography up as a hobby. I’d spend hours on YouTube getting to know my camera and soon became hooked. I then started shooting for London Fashion Week, capturing street style fashion portraits, and it wasn’t long before my work was published in magazines and online. Another passion of mine growing up was history and geography and I soon began to incorporate this into my photography.

Being that autumn is my favourite season, I love to capture historical buildings and scenes across the country during the fall. There’s something magical about the colours and light at this time of the year. I really enjoy being on my own and exploring is my meditation. Even if traditional landscape photography isn’t your forte or, if like me, you live in a built-up area, don’t let that stop you from documenting what this wonderful season has to offer.

Textures

I love to find buildings with textures. Bricks, thatched roofs or stonewalls have more character than a generic glass office block. Try capturing buildings in morning or evening sun as the light will shine horizontally across them and highlight the textures. Even having the shadow of trees dappling a boring-looking building will make a difference.

Be respectful

When taking photos of cottages, or any type of building for that matter, you must remember that these are people’s houses and businesses. Don’t stand around for ages shooting frame after frame and fiddling with your camera. Try to get your settings right before you shoot the subject, then go in and get a few shots and go. Sometimes whilst I’ve been out in villages I’ve got speaking to the owners whilst they were in their gardens and they happily let me capture their home. Some love it, some not so much, so always just be careful and have respect.

Trees and foliage

For me autumn is all about the trees. Their colour and silhouettes are nature’s models to photograph. For me, it’s best to frame a shot with foliage, get down low and into angles that are uncomfortable, in order to achieve something unique. Having the sunlight behind the trees, especially on misty mornings, will give you those amazing rays, bursting through the trees.

The early bird

Early mornings in the autumn are far more civilised than summer with the sun rising much later. With the morning light low in the sky and dew giving scenes that extra dimension compared to the middle of the day, it’s a fantastic time to shoot. Being an early bird also makes it easier to get around in built-up areas as there are fewer people and fewer cars on the streets, which typically create unwanted distractions in your pictures.

Explore by foot

When I’m in London I hardly ever use public transport unless to go further afield, instead I’m always walking. The number of hidden alleyways, buildings and houses I’ve found by just getting lost or walking is amazing. Try going a different route to the shops or perhaps get off a stop earlier if using public transport and walk the rest of the way, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Keep shooting

Be prepared to take lots of shots throughout the day. I often take 400-500 images in a morning-afternoon walk and only ten might be good enough. Scenes change rapidly, from the weather and light, to people or cars appearing in the frame. Sometimes it only takes a couple of seconds for all the elements to come together to create that special shot you’ve been waiting for, too slow and you miss it!

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Benjamin Graham

Dedicated thalassophile, devoted campervan man and enthusiastic tutor, Benjamin was overall winner of UK Landscape POTY in 2017. He lectures, is a group leader with Light & Land and teaches photography at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation near Chichester. See his website here.

In my experience, the majority of landscape togs spend most of their contemplation time in the summer (with its dastardly 3am starts and 11pm finishes…) pining not just for the colours of fall but also for the more civilised shooting times the season offers. As I write this in mid-September, the sunrise is 06.45 and sunset 19.10. So, whether you typically shoot the beach or the beech, those are for sure rather more civilised hours.

And, much as I adore the coast all year round, the autumnal countryside is a super-compelling reason to leave the seaside behind for some alternative views. Autumn presents the most ephemeral period of amber, ochre and gold; and is a season in which, before we head out into the mist, our thoughts once more turn to neoprene gloves, woolly hats and Gore-Tex underpants… Or maybe that’s just me that last one.

3:2 aspect ratio

You can use the 3:2 aspect ratio in the vertical format with your woodland shots. While typically suited more to a horizontal orientation, this aspect ratio, natively common to a lot of digital cameras, usually tends to seem uncomfortably tall in ‘portrait’ shots. In woodland, however, with its repeated vertical forms it seems to work a treat, implying height and emphasising parallel lines.

Look up

A counter-point to the previous woodland tip, use the converging verticals of the trees thrusting into a twilight sky to your advantage and shoot a diagonally-dynamic, gazing-straight-up shot.

Keep watch for mist and fog

Use a weather forecast app to look for low or, better still, zero wind and for humidity levels of over 97%; this should get you some of that elusive dawn fog that does wonders for mystifying both woodland and urban environments. Also, for woodland, if you can, get out before the first violent gales of the season that can, in a matter of hours, strip the vulnerable amber foliage from the branches.

Use long lenses

We’re talking 100mm to 200mm, or longer to isolate patterns and details (those are ‘full’ 35mm frame suggestions; your mileage may vary). While there are exceptions, wider angles tend to include too much sky that can cause bright distractions in your woodland shots. If you’re down the beach in the autumn, a wide angle will be just dandy though.

Research and reccy

Like all landscaping, you can get lucky now and again but there’s no substitute for studying the weather and doing a location reccy beforehand. Explore places in broad daylight so, when you return in the dark for that early shoot or towards the end of the day to watch the sun go down, you can find your parking spot and know your way to your shooting position.

Shoot wide open

Experiment with shallow depth of field in the woods. The blurry background will help give the image a sense of mystery and depth and will isolate foreground trees and foliage.

Get creative with your autumn landscapes

Try panoramas, intentional camera movement (ICMs) or multiple exposures of trees overlaid with leaves or texture images. Give your gear a wiggle. Vertical movement tends to work in the woods, horizontal at the beach. But there are no general rules. Just have a play.

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Jeremy Walker

Multi award-winning Jeremy has built a solid reputation as one of the UK’s leading landscape photographers. A former Nikon Ambassador, he is currently a LEE Filters Master and Zeiss Ambassador. Visit his website here or @jeremywalkerphotography

The season of ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’ as Keats wrote, is well and truly upon us. I love crisp, misty autumnal mornings. In fact, I love autumn; it is my favourite time of year for shooting landscapes. The early morning excursions in pursuit of an elusive veil of mist or woodland shrouded in a cloak of foggy secrecy certainly get the photographer’s pulse racing. Crisp carpets of autumnal colour, nature’s finest details etched with a heavy frost and sunbeams dancing across a forest floor are all there for the taking, as long as of course you don’t mind an early start and a bit of cold discomfort.

Pine forests 

We all think of autumn as being about deciduous trees and forest floors covered in autumnal colour but pine forests and mist or fog go well together. Yes, you do not get the foliage colour but you do get strong shapes and patterns formed by the trees, especially as the mist lingers and wafts through the forest. Pine trees are also good for shooting early morning golden beams of sunlight as they pierce the forest canopy.

Waterfalls and rivers

Think about introducing some blur and motion to an autumnal image to help add some mood and atmosphere. An exposure of a second or two achieved with a LEE Filters Pro Glass Neutral Density filter will be enough to gently blur a fast-flowing river for that little something extra. Working near fast-flowing water can be a bit dodgy at the best of times but in autumn there is an increased chance the rocks will be damp or even icy so extra care should be taken.

Use a long lens

Landscapes are not just about big views and wideangle lenses. Isolating a single component of a landscape such as an autumnal tree or taking a small section out of a much grander view can often work well on a long lens. A longer lens will also compress the perspective and give the image a slightly different look and feel to it which is perfect for looking into distant layers such as mist, trees and hedgerows. Of course, we do not all have access to super-long telephotos but the longer end of a 70-200 zoom will do a very good job.

Shoot into the light

Don’t be afraid to shoot into the light. Backlighting can really emphasise colour, shape, shadows and texture. If you are shooting a woodland scene on a bright crisp day, try to partially hide the sun behind a branch or dense foliage. This will help to reduce the chances of flare and knock the exposure of the sun back slightly. Look for foliage that has already started to turn yellow or golden but is not too thick or dense – backlighting will make the leaves glow.

Indoor still-life

As an alternative to the big outdoors why not try to convey the feeling of autumn as a still life? Not everyone can rush out to shoot a misty morning or traipse around a foggy forest. No need for specialist lighting kit as window lighting will work. If the light is too harsh try placing tracing paper over the window to soften the quality of the light. For props, the supermarkets will have autumnal fruit and veg.

Mist and fog

Find locations that attract mist and keep returning as it will be different every time. Low-lying, damp locations near rivers or sheltered valleys are a good starting point but you will start to get a feel for a location if you visit often enough. Check the Ordnance Survey maps for your area and walk the paths. Once you have found your spot try to shoot into the light. Mist is at its best backlit, glowing and beaming.

Set the shot up on location

If you have found a great location and all the elements aren’t quite working for you, give Mother Nature a helping hand. If you have a wonderfully textured log background and need the right leaf in the right place, why not move things into position? When frost is forecast you will not be able to move anything in the morning as you will damage the delicate frosted structures so you will need to set up your composition the night before.

Focal point

Autumn is all about colour, early morning mists and cold crisp frosty mornings. But your image can be about more than just trees and golden leaves. Have a focal point that is not necessarily about autumn. A church, castle or village that sits in an autumnal landscape can help convey a real sense of time and place. Have a focal point or subject that enhances and adds to the scene and makes the image more than just another autumnal landscape.

Micro autumn landscapes

Not everyone has immediate access to the countryside so try to shoot autumn in your back garden or yard. A simple macro lens of about 105mm is perfect for the casual close-up photographer. Look for simple subjects, plant details, leaf structure, frosted spider’s webs and dew drops on grass. Clean lines, shapes and textures work best. The look of your subject matter can often be helped with the use of a reflector – a sheet of white paper will do the trick.

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Further reading

Best UK locations for capturing Autumn landscapes

Get great autumn wildlife shots

Our best-ever landscape photography tips

Maroon Bells | Aspen, Colorado

The U.S Park Service has a hard time dealing with especially large tracts of natural beauty. It’s more than a little difficult to manage the hundreds of thousands of acres that fall within national parks like Kings Canyon or Yosemite, and they only constitute small fractions of the surrounding wilderness.

Take the Rocky Mountains, for example. The Rockies stretch from the upper reaches of New Mexico, through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, and British Columbia. Each peak and valley holds precious and stunning natural wonders found nowhere else on Earth, but creating a national park of that size would be simply impossible.

So, instead, Colorado has Rocky Mountain National Park, a microcosm of the sprawling range which offers tourists, climbers, and hikers a glimpse of the treasures hidden between and atop the labyrinthine peaks. Yet with all the pomp and glamor—and of course the name—of Rocky Mountain National Park, other protected lands in the range are overlooked. This a good thing from a conservational standpoint, but it also means a wealth of unseen scenery waiting for the curious and the dedicated.

King among these lesser-known tracts is the Maroon Bells Wilderness, 283 square miles of emerald valleys, crystalline lakes, dizzying passes, and some of the highest summits on the continent. Straddling Gunnison and White River National Forests and only ten miles from Aspen, it is one of the best-kept secrets of the Rockies.

Maroon Bells Geology

Like the rest of the Rockies, the mountains of the Maroon Bells Wilderness were formed by the subduction of a number of tectonic plates beneath North America between 80 and 55 million years ago. This literally crumpled the landscape, thrusting up a huge train of mountains spanning more than 3,000 miles.

When people talk about the Maroon Bells, they’re usually referring to the two highest peaks of the wilderness, which also happen to be the most picturesque. Maroon Peak (14,163 ft.) and North Maroon Peak (14,019 ft.) are two of Colorado’s famous “fourteeners” which stand side by side in the middle of the park. Both are composed of a unique variety of mudstone, a family of sedimentary rocks formed by the cementation of layers of mud or clay over eons. The specific type of stone present in the two peaks has a striking reddish-purple hue, hence their names. Mudstone is crumbly and fractures easily, making it challenging and dangerous to climb, but it’s also responsible for the unusual and eye-catching striations on their faces.

The wilderness also boasts a collection of jewellike alpine lakes, fed by glacial melt and rainwater and slowly draining, via small creeks and subterranean seepage into the larger rivers below. Each valley in the park is encircled by high and precipitous ridges, transforming each vale and glade in its own private sanctuary, its sapphire pools and verdant gardens of wildflowers bounded by formidable talus slopes and icy towers above.

Endless Aspen Trees

Photography opportunities around Maroon Bells and all throughout Colorado are absolutely endless. Especially in the Spring and the Fall, the endless hillsides full of Aspen trees provide beauty around every corner. Photographing trees is one of my favorite things to do and there are certainly no shortage of amazing trees all across the state.

Aspen trees are found across most of North America, from Canada all the way down to Mexico, so that’s not necessarily going to narrow down your options. Birch trees, however, are generally only found in the eastern United States and parts of Canada. So, if you’re out West, the golden leaves waving at you probably belong to an aspen.

Activities Around Maroon Bells

Maroon Bells offers all the staple recreational activities afforded elsewhere in the Rockies, with an added bonus of seclusion compared with some of the more popular areas nearby.

Hiking is the main attraction. The Maroon Bells Wilderness boasts an extensive network of trails providing access to all its major attractions and hidden gems. Difficulty ranges from the relaxing promenade around Maroon Lake to the challenging and comprehensive Four-Pass Loop. Because of the numerous steep mountain ridges in the park, many of the harder trails require fording passes as high as 12,500 feet. Even with the smaller size of the park, exploring it all is no easy feat.

Climbing is another popular activity in the wilderness, as it is all across the Rockies. The majority of experienced climbers come to Maroon Bells for its eponymous peaks. A popular project across Colorado is to summit all the “fourteeners” in the state—all the peaks whose elevations surpass 14,000 feet. Of the fifty-eight fourteeners in Colorado, Maroon Peak holds 27th place, and North Maroon Peak claims 50th. This might seem to imply a significant difference in height, but one must remember the tallest fourteener in the state, Mount Elbert, is only 14,439 feet. Of course, other types of climbing besides summiting are also popular, and many visit the area to practice bouldering and other more technical forms of the sport.

The Maroon Bells Wilderness also offers ample opportunities for skiing during the winter months. Once the major roads into and around the park become impassable to cars, Maroon Creek Road becomes transformed into a Nordic-style ski slope for use by the public. This 6.2-mile stretch offers a 1400-foot change in elevation, a gentle grade easy and accessible for all skill-types. The only obstacle to be aware of is the equally popular snowmobile tours which share the road. Other opportunities for skiing and snowboarding are offered by the mountainous slopes of the park, but these must be reached by foot though miles of snow and ice, and may be leagues away from the nearest road or home—challenges only to be attempted by those with significant experience.

Other activities include camping for the purposes of sightseeing, backpacking, skiing, or climbing; mountain biking is allowed on some of the more level and popular trails; fishing is permitted in lakes and streams with a proper license; finally, stargazing and astrophotography is possible everywhere in the park, but best at the higher elevations and on clear nights.

Aspen, Colorado

Ten miles to the northeast of Maroon Bells stands Aspen, and any trip to one should necessarily include the other.

Aspen was founded as a silver-mining frontier town back in 1879. During its first three decades, the town boomed and could soon boast a hospital, police department, opera house, and even electricity. The settlement slumped when the productivity of the mines waned, but was revived in the 1930s as a skiing destination; an industry which still thrives today.

Aspen is known across the world for its snow sporting opportunities and facilities. Chief among these is the Aspen Snowmass, a massive winter sports complex and resort which has been home to the WInter X-Games since 2002. The four major divisions of the complex—Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and Snowmass, are major training grounds for amateur and professional skiers and snowboarders from all across the globe.

Beyond the snow, hiking and climbing are also popular in the peaks around Aspen, and the summer months see no fewer visitors than in winter. Another draw is, of course, the city itself. Aspen is home to dozens of local artists, from painters and potters to fine art photographers. Much of this art can be viewed and purchased from the array of excellent local galleries, celebrating the beauty and uniqueness of the surrounding landscape.

If you plan to visit the Maroon Bells, it’s more than likely Aspen will be your home-base. If so, consider taking in the sights and attractions of this alpine hamlet as well as the wilderness beyond.

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Despite its lower visitation than places like Rocky Mountain National Park, the Maroon Bells Wilderness suffers no shortage of adventure or scenery. Back in the 1950s, it proved worthy of the lens of Ansel Adams in his aptly named Maroon Bells, and has certainly lost none of its majesty since then. Whether passing through Aspen or even just crossing the Rockies in general, this secluded wild is well-worth the journey.

Oct. 29—The Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve will begin accepting the Japan Credit Bureau (JCB ) credit card for online reservations and in-person admission fees in November, according to city officials.

Starting Tuesday, Hanauma Bay’s advance online reservation system at will accept the JCB credit card for payment, along with Visa and Mastercard, for entries that begin on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the JCB credit card will also be accepted for in-person admission payments.

The nature preserve is regularly closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Concessions operating within the nature preserve will not accept the JCB credit card as they are not expanding their forms of acceptable payment.

The change was made in anticipation of Japanese tourists returning to Hawaii in coordination with Gov. David Ige’s office, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s office, and multiple city agencies including the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Prior to the pandemic, Hanauma Bay, which remains a popular tourist destination, drew an average of 3, 000 visitors a day.

In 2020, city officials temporarily closed the preserve for more than eight months due to pandemic-related restrictions, then reopened it in December, with a new reservation system that takes about half the number of daily visitors to strike a balance between conservation goals and public recreation.

The online payments are non-refundable, unless the nature preserve is closed due to unforeseen circumstances, officials said. The reservations are non-transferable, and a matching, valid photo ID is required prior to entry.

Reservations and payments can be made for up to 10 people at a time, consisting of no more than five children and /or five adults. Admission is free for keiki ages 12 and under and Hawaii residents with a valid photo ID.

Hawaii residents may also continue to access the nature preserve without a reservation for the first two hours of operation, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., Wednesdays through Sundays.

Visit the nature preserve’s official website at for more information.