The calendar reveals the autumn season is here. The riot of colors we associate with fall may still be a few weeks away so I’m going to try to give you a few fall photo tips to create a layout that you’ll really enjoy so you can plan ahead!

Admittedly, I’m one of those people who love this time of year and all the hidden gems it holds. I love the fall. I love the cooler weather, the crisp air and chilly nights. I love the colors. I love the crunch of drying leaves as I walk through a park. I love to soak up the smells of the woods in fall, a burning bonfire or even fresh apple cider being pressed at the mill. I like to venture out to capture the season in the photos I take, but I also like to capture the feeling of the season too if I can. It brings life to the memories I try to preserve.

Apples and pumpkins and gourds fill roadside tables and displays. Rich colored mums dot the landscape. Everywhere you look, on a good year, bursts with color. There are of course years where the fall has been a series of drab browns and a bit lackluster. Even those years I think you can pull together a layout that stands out by the type of photos you take, what you choose to include on the final page.

Before we get to the examples let me say I use a Canon SX40 HS and it is a point and shoot camera. I organize and do basic edits (crops) to my photos using ACDSee16. I do not know my camera and all it is capable of doing as I probably should, so there’s no magic knowledge I have that you don’t. I’m an amateur photographer, and these tips reflect things I’ve tried and used in my scrapping that I hope will inspire you to try something new to you. I think you will be pleased with the results.

Fall Photo Tips

Include photos from three views

Far Away: will include the landscapes with sweeping vistas of multicolored trees.

Nearby: will include the things that are right before you like people, displays, old barns, fallen trees or covered bridges.

Close-ups: getting very close to the subject, frost on a leaf, dew clinging to a spider web, or gathered nuts. You can even get closer with a macro shot…very dramatic!

Include a New Point of View.

The angle or perspective you choose to shoot from either above or below your subject will change your finished photo. Shoot from above, on a bridge to get the reflection of the trees above you in the pond below. Get on the ground to shoot something low to the ground. Take photos looking directly up into the trees for a look at the leaves and the sun filtering through. Take several photos of the same thing from varying points and see which one you like best.

Include the unusual.

Look for something unusual. The unusual can include seed pods or dried plants, dried up cornstalks in the field or tied in a display, stacks of hay bales, gourds or an old cider press. I’m sure you’ll find more when you begin to look!

Include the Familiar.

I have a bench in park nearby that I try to shoot each year. I try different angles and spots to shoot from, and often different times of the fall, so surrounding foliage and colors will vary from year to year, or different times of the day and lighting will change but the bench remains the same.

One of my favorite trees to shoot is no longer standing. Some things change, but I have some beautiful photos to remember it. Capture the things that say “fall” to you. What do you look forward to each year? What would you miss if it was no longer there?

Include Something New.

Last year Mosaic Moments sponsored a Fall Scavenger Hunt and we had a list of things to look for and photograph and include in our layouts. It was a good way to consider things we might have normally passed by and look at them more carefully and creatively. Think about the color, texture and interest they would bring to your page. Here’s a list of items you may want to include in your fall photos:

__Wild Flowers __Dead tree __Pine cone __Berries __Vine __Stream or creek
__Moss __Pine tree __Seeds or seed pod __Eroded soil __Fern __Y-shaped twig
__Pine needles __Acorn or other nuts __Hole in a tree __multi-color fall leaves
__Small pebble __Unusual shaped leaf __Rocks with many colors/textures
__Different shades of green or brown __Dew on a flower or leaf __Fungus on a tree
__Caterpillar __Butterfly or moth __Snail __Feather __Lizard __Ladybug __Spider web __Birds nest __Deer __Frog __Hay Bales/Straw __Corn Stalks __Fall Fruits/veggies

The list is still available in the old brochure HERE if you would like it and print it out, just remember the contest is no longer current! We have a Pinterest board for the Scavenger Hunt too, HERE.

To see how these ideas pulled together you can view some of the layouts here:

Andrea  Candy  Heather  Julie

Include the Color.

You may think…well, that’s obvious…and it is, but as much as this season is about the vibrant colors of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns, there are fall blooming plants in blues and purples and bright yellows and greens too! Include them too!!

Then there are the years when the trees don’t get a chance to change, it’s too cold, too wet, too late. Then you will be very challenged to find the colors in the hidden spots rather than the sweeping vistas. Your page may include all the browns and greys of a more somber fall and still be a beautiful page. Concentrate on the details of little things like acorns or plants along the trails. Maybe even try turning the page into sepia tones or black and white.

 

Include the Dramatic.

Achieve the dramatic by cropping your photos. Take the ordinary photo and use a portion of it to create a different feel, more drama, accentuate a color or item. Strip away some of the ordinary to find the extraordinary. We often see the printed photo as being different than what we remember seeing in person. There’s too much sky, too much green, it looks ordinary, even boring. So when you are cutting your photos to fit the grid, don’t hesitate to cut away to reveal the dramatic scene you saw in the beginning!

From this:

to this:

And from this:

to this:

 

Include People.

I have family that live in Scotland and Canada that I rarely get to see. Every year I try to take photos of the kids to include in our Christmas Cards home for all to see how everyone is doing. So I love to shoot this photo in the fall when the color is at its peak. I don’t always make it and the photos aren’t always great, but it is tradition.

If your family is enjoying this fall outing with you, don’t forget to include them! Try some of the fall photo tips when you do. Find interesting things to fill the background. Try shooting from a different angle or on a bridge like I did with this photo. They liked it so much they want to do their photo here again this time with the new baby! It might turn out to be another family tradition!

…and finally…

Include Us!

We’d love to see what you have created! Tell us all about it and post your fall photo layouts on Journella’s Story Board   or on our Mosaic Moments Facebook page.

Some other Fall layouts you might enjoy that I have done as a part of the Design Team can be found on Journella.

This one:

can be found HERE

and this one:

can be found HERE

Now that you have all your Fall Photo Tips and you are ready to begin scrapping, be sure to check out these great Mosaic Moments Grid colors that I think are perfect for your fall layouts!

Paprika, Cocoa, Sage, Dark Spring Green, Deep Creamy Cocoa, Caramel, Butternut Squash, and our newest shade, Pumpkin.

For a limited time there is our September Trio of Pumpkin, Military Green, and Chocolate Milk Paper Tiles that will compliment any of your fall photos!

Don’t forget our Corner Tiles and our Jumbo Corner Tiles if you’d like to include a border something like this:

Have a great time enjoying fall!

Thanks for joining us!

Andrea Fisher