Red Blaze

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had the loan of a friend’s northern getaway retreat. It was the last of summer – three glorious days of sun and warmth – and it was the absolute peak colour in the forest all around us. Photographically speaking, you would think those would be prime conditions to gather the low hanging fruit. But in my short time as a photographer, I have found taking pictures of the fall colours very challenging – they always seem to come out like post cards or a calendar page. There is nothing wrong with post cards or calendars but making those kinds of images isn’t what photography is about for me. Originally, I thought I’d just ignore the colours and work more intimately with other things that interest me. And I did. But the colours … I felt I had to at least try to find ways of translating the splendour all around me without being clichéd. This is one attempt.

A technical note: I shoot with a Fujifilm Xt-2 and, when I’m shooting outdoors, generally set it to the Velvia film simulation mode. The original Velvia film was introduced by Fuji back in 1990 and supplanted Kodachrome 25 as the go to film for high definition, richness, brightness and colour accuracy. I’m told that the simulated version on Fujifilm cameras does a pretty nice job of replicating the film but in the case of this series of fall colour images, I found it got a bit over the top and I chose to reduce the saturation. I wanted to retain the brightness and saturated feel of what I experienced as I made the pictures in the field, but I didn’t want the colours to be so intense as to feel pushed and unnatural. The birch trees in this picture did have a grey-blue cast, which is somewhat amplified by the Velvia simulation. But I decided, I liked how it felt – a nice compliment to the dominant reds and greens.
I would like to get some feedback both on the colour palette I’ve settled on here and the extent to which I’ve succeeded in avoiding autumnal cliché.

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Kerry, you’ve got a fine wash of red surrounded by some good greens and yellows. The comp. looks good. I do think all of the colors are a bit too saturated. The saturation also shows in the magenta cast of the tree trunks.

Kerry, I will definitely reduce the magenta on the tree trunks but other than that this is a fine fine image. I think the composition is spot on and very well seen. Like Mark, I adore how the red leaves are sandwiched by the greens. There is almost a diagonal movement from the ULC to LRC. It feels very intimate and personal.

@Mark_Seaver, @Adhika_Lie: Thank you both for your input. I kind of liked the magenta in the tree trunks but I think you’re both right, it’s not consistent with the general realism of the picture as a whole. I’ve posted a rework where I’ve lowered the saturation just a tad but mostly altered the hue/saturation of the trunks and branches. I agree, it works better overall.

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I’ll agree with the others and really like your repost. I usually love a mix of warm and cool colors in an image but feel that doesn’t extend to blue tree trunks. LOL. Comp is great IMHO.

Just wanted to add I didn’t think Velvia was ever known for it’s color accuaracy. To me it was over the top in it’s contrast and saturation. That’s what I loved about it.

Not cliched at all Kerry. A superb composition with the reds being sandwiched between the greens. The second post is much better though as I was immediately drawn to the blue cast in the trunks and branches which made me think that the colors may have been pushed a little too far by either Fuji or your post processing. The edit on the second looks very natural even though the reds and the greens look almost identical to the original post.
I agree with you about the difficulty of shooting fall colors. I find it as difficult as shooting forest scenes. This was well seen and captured. I agree with @Michael_Lowe about Velvia not being known for its color accuracy. Very saturated and contrasty but as Michael said, that’s why most love it.

Sorry to be late to the party. Very much like the repost. Only recommendation would be to further lift the shadows in the LLC as the darkness serves as a trap for my eye, kinda limiting my exploration of the frame.

The siren call of autumn color is hard to resist, isn’t it ?

It’s hard not to do it even when you know it can be a trap. To me the trick is to avoid just showing a wall of color. While it looks great in person, it rarely translates well to photographs. I think your use of shadow areas and the tree trunks and branches helped you to avoid falling into that trap. These elements create some depth and texture in the image , which adds visual interest beyond just the fall color. I am also a big fan of contrasting green leaves against fall color, whenever possible. So that helps this image too. Overall I think you elevated this image above being just another postcard shot, nicely done on your part.