Brilliant autumn foliage is straight ahead, at least we hope so. Finding a gorgeous opportunity like Shaphan had overlooking Hightown, Virginia, is always fun. But what went into making this photo happen? Let’s take a closer look.
To capture the panorama, Shaphan began by shooting a series of four photographs that would later be stitched together in post. This meant using a level tripod, then shooting the series with each individual photograph overlapping the previous one by ⅓ or so.
Before the photos were stitched together, Shaphan made each photo high dynamic range, to bring out the brilliance in the foliage as well as to retain the detail in the clouds.
For this photo to come together, it took a vision, some effort, and a splash of creativity.
Shoot what catches your eye. Even if the year is less brilliant than sometimes, there is often a tree here or there that pops out. I liked the colors behind this bark texture when I saw them, so I stopped and took the shot.
A brilliant sugar maple nearby provided the leaves used to dress up this little waterfall.
So, if the leaves you find didn’t happen to land “just right,” pick them up and place them into your composition. After all, they are easier to train to “stay” than an excited puppy, so why not use them?
This photo is an example of a time when focus stacking was used, but we still missed getting the closest leaves and rocks in sharp focus.