It’s Time To Start Checklists For Getting “Fall Color” Photographs That Others Will Miss (Right Outside Their Own Doors)

If other news outlets are any indication, this is actually late to be discussing plans for making photographs of seasonal changes to leaves here in Michigan. Click on Detroit ran a piece three weeks ago that anticipated the first signs of change in this area would appear next Monday. Detroit Free Press came out even earlier — with an interactive map for those looking to predict peaks. [1,2,3]

What this means in terms of lead times depends on what you’re looking to accomplish.

Opportunities for summertime images are fading fast. Crisp scenes of dried leaves on the ground, bare tree limbs scratching at contrasting skys will be the norm from well-before Halloween through first snowfalls. “Fall color” is the period in between, with periods between targeted based on your interest in degree of transition.

For months now, many Saline High School have been vying for slots with professional photographers in outside settings with just the right outdoor backdrops in this time. During discussion with us before 2018 seasonal foliage had emerged in the first place, Ann Schockley of Baker’s Nook observed that fall in Michigan is the most popular time of year for outdoor weddings based on how trees are presented. [4,5,6,7]

Some photographs benefit from subtlety here, with falling leaves and ground cover giving only slight indication of surrendering summer. They break up otherwise uninterrupted expanses of rich green, produce firey-looking tips on trees visible only at the extremety of their reaches. Other images are better suited to thick carpets of leaves that have just come to cover all signs of the ground, still pristine. Sometimes blown about, other times more evenly distributed.

Michigan is often cited as an ideal state for such photography, with aforementioned discussions frequently including suggested destinations for finding the best of it. But we’ll argue that places right here in Saline can compete with almost any of that.

For those interested in nature, the City of Saline has twelve official parks. Wilderness Park is ideal for tradionally rustic trails and minimal intrusion by man. Mill Pond Park provides great opportunities for visualizing color changes in juxtoposition to their reflections broad expanses of still water. [8,9,10]

Historic sites often look better suited to their past time periods this time of year. Railroad tracks can be safely photographed around the Depot Station. This isn’t limited to places canopeed by overhead cover, either. Seemingly situated out in the open, our Weber-Blaess one-room school house affords leaf-appointed imagery that’s often in constant change from late September to early November. [11,12,13]

On the hand, some of the most pedestrian areas come alive with interest in fall color surrounds. Michigan Avenue — downtown, Eastgate, and west — opens up as trees surrender their cover. Again, timing is everything when looking for the ideal moment between unobstructed and bare.

Finally, don’t overlook serendipity to be found during neighborhood walks. You’d be surprised how often this time of year presents great opportunities for image making right outside your own home.

References

• Top left: Photographed on October 25, 2015 at 2:28pm using Panasonic Lumix LX100 camera with 10.9-34mm DC Vario-Summilux f/1.7-2.8 lens, set to f/16 at 1/10-second and ISO 400 (tripod-mount).
• Top center: Photographed on October 28, 2015 at 1:21pm using Leica X2 camera with 24mm Elmarit f/2.8 lens, KIWI LA-49X2s adaptor tube, set to f/8 at 1/125 and ISO 100 (hand-held).
• Top right: Photographed on November 2, 2015 at 5:44pm using Leica X2 camera with 24mm Elmarit f/2.8 lens, KIWI LA-49X2s adaptor tube, set to f/8 at 1/250 and ISO 100 (hand-held).
• Bottom left: Photographed on November 2, 2015 at 9:16am using Leica X2 camera with 24mm Elmarit f/2.8 lens, KIWI LA-49X2s adaptor tube, set to f/8 at 1/125 and ISO 200 (hand-held).
• Bottom center: Photographed on November 5, 2015 at 8:21am using Leica Q camera with 28mm Summilux f/1.7 lens, set to f/8 at 1/30-second and ISO 100 (hand-held).
• Bottom right: Photographed on October 31, 2015 at 9:45am using Nikon D7000 camera with Tokina 35mm AT-X Pro DX Macro f/2.8 lens

1. “When fall colors will peak in Michigan in 2018” Mark Torregrossa (September 4, 2018) mLive.
2. “Here’s when Michigan’s fall colors will peak this year” Ken Haddad (August 29, 2018) Click On Detroit.
3. “Week by week: Here’s when Michigan’s fall colors will peak in 2018” Elissa Robinson (August 27, 2018) Detroit Free Press.
4. “The Class of 2019 Is Coming Up Next: Who Needs Professional Senior Portraits?” Dell Deaton (May 13, 2018) Saline Journal.
5. Kat Foley Photography (home page).
6. Heidi McClelland (home page).
7. Baker’s Nook (home page).
8. “Saline’s Parks” Saline.
9. “Wilderness Park” Saline.
10. “Mill Pond Park” Saline.
11. “The Dangers of Taking Photos on Train Tracks” Jim Avila, Gitika Kaul, and Serena Marshall (October 17, 2015) ABC News.
12. “Saline Depot Museum” Saline Area Historical Society.
13. “Weber Blaess” Saline Area Historical Society. https://www.salinehistory.org/weber-blass