Fall Backlighting

September 8th, 2009

Fall is a great time of year to try new creative ideas. The colors of the trees open up many possibilities that aren’t there the rest of the year. A good example of this is back lighting. Bright sunlight shining through the canopy of the trees creates a great contrast between the gold leaves and the branches of the tree. Many interesting compositions can be found within one tree. When you add in a whole grove the possibilities become endless.

This image was shot at Humbolt Park in Milwaukee, WI. After shooting many interesting landscapes in the park I began to look upward into the canopy of the trees. Using a wide angle lens I was able to pull in a large part of the canopy. Exposure on a back lit shot can be tricky sometimes. For this image I set the exposure for the sky and then underexposed 3 tenths of a stop more to make sure my highlights didn’t get blown out and my shadows stayed nice and dark. I really like the black branches silhouetted against the bright gold leaves with the blue sky shining through. I placed the sun is behind the main trunk and put it at the bottom of the image to create the nice gradient in the sky.

This year while you’re out shooting fall colors, remember to look up every now and then. You never know when a great image will be just above your head.

Technical Details:
Canon Digital Rebel XTI

EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
ISO 100
f/6.3 @ 1/400 sec.
Exposure Bias -0.3 stops
Tripod Mounted

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