Autumn Mountain Landscape: Panoramic Autumn Views

Mountain autumn is photography's "best of the best." Thanks to the short light-fueled window — the sweet spot for fall foliage is usually a single week November sunsets are the prize. The exact color display changes yearly; spring blooms, for example, are less distinctive from year to year.

The art of the little bar of mist

Autumn mountain photography turns a straightforward genre — landscape — into a blade of intangibles. Per definition, landscape shows the natural world. But landscape is more than a tableau of geography. The wilderness is a canvas from which an artist extracts color, contrast, and emotion, rendering one frame that propels the viewer into it. The camera in this video was pointed up to the mist of the autumnal fog. There is a tree with fiery red and orange leaves, because it's seen from so close, you can almost smell the damp. Mist is not smoke — rather, the result of a temperature difference between the atmosphere and the ground. This moisture would be invisible at any other time of year. It's also quite a risk: The ground might look as if it is dry — but it is not. The mist, the angle of the sun and the incredible mountain range, are all partially obscured by the light fog were chosen as the basic ingredients of the overall frame. The intense light of a sunrise or sunset gives an extra warm red glow to these leaves, almost white washes the gray mountains, but the darkness of the rocks has vanished. The direction of sunlight — how high it is, where it is coming from — affects the lighting on a landscape. The right kind of soft light is when it has been filtered through the mist or clouds, because this light can bring out the details of these autumn leaves.

Capturing a fleeting moment

Fewer vacationers mean fewer people know folklore like this: in autumn, the leaves of the trees turn red, orange, and yellow. The mist makes them look like they are on fire. It is so fleeting. This place could be quiet and deserted and covered in snow three weeks later. What makes this autumnal view of the mountain range so evocative? Like any other piece of art, but unlike most of photography, the images depend on timing. The same subject in the same place can be captured with completely different nuances. At its best, this type of photography can invoke deep emotion, like admiring a painting in a gallery.

The color palette of orange and red leaves

To an expert like Sam, the foliage was on the colors of the game. Color contrast is one of the principles of photography. This is the contrast between the colors of the yellow/green moss and the red of the leaves, the green of the trees and the red mountains. With autumn leaves in red, orange, and yellow, the color contrast can be very high in autumn scenery photography. The visuals were captured in a single week in November. But Sam feels the foliage season is only getting longer and the color is getting brighter and with the peak lasting more than a week. The standout unique trees because they are so different from all of the other trees. Each standout feature is called an accent. In this specific scene, the unique tree pops out because of its rich color in contrast to the misty mountain.

A timeless light play

Cue the golden hour where the sun is low in the sky. The mist and the soft light make the scene into an effect that appears to glow. Landscape photographers like Sam pay a lot of attention to the direction of the light. The intense light of a sunrise or sunset gives an extra warm red glow. The atmosphere is calm, stilted but epic. The scene is something that feels like doing nothing. This is a misty morning view. You get a very red glow in the sky but it's almost a white, snow blanket on the mountains and this intense contrast on the forest.

Emotionally charged vantage points

The final ingredient is Sam's knack for always finding an earthy, unobtrusive foreground that can be built upon. The foreground of this frame, rocky outcrop with vibrant green moss, is everything a foreground should be. The foreground is a very powerful compositional tool. It provides the viewer with a sense of depth, draws the attention of the viewer to the subject. The character of the rock is fairly harsh, with very rugged edges and cracks and sometimes even some reflections.

The haunted beauty of wooded silence

This is a great time of year to stand silent at a mountain's summit, or if you are fortunate, in the middle of a vivid forest, and feel you are the only one walking in such beauty. This very moment, you can even hear the colors.

Tread lightly, aim for the golden moments

Countless people will be entering the woods with a camera. The best advice for a first-timer? Aim for a moment when the sun is very low on the horizon. Later this week the snow will stop and the sun will peek through and make the intense glow on the leaves Some great autumn foliage shots can be captured at dawn and dusk.

• Early mornings: Some of the best autumn photos are taken as the sun rises. This is when the crisp, cool weather and calm mist is at its peak. With the sun light soft lights and they blend with the colors in a way that creates dreamy images.
• Trees: Keep a map. Know where the trees are. Keep track of the ones you find the most beautiful, whether it's for their color or their shape, keep track of them.
• Longer lens: This is not a landscape canvas. Once you've found your spot, experiment with how much of the scene you'll include in your photo.