Foliage Archives - SIGMA Blog

The Call of Fall Foliage

I recently returned from a few days on the road chasing fall colors around Colorado. One of the great aspects about mini adventures like this is the panoply of people I meet out there. Of course, there are the requisite landscape shooters to be found at every overlook, but somewhat surprising were all the other photographers. Wedding, architectural, food, portrait, action sports (yours truly) and everyone that wields a camera was to be found extending tripods on cold mornings or late afternoons looking for autumn magic.

I love the old fence lines found in Colorado’s cattle country. Here I wet my tripod in a low position and looked up to the aspens and sun. I used two stops split ND filter to help blend the light of the sky and trees with the shadow of the fence.
SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art – 1/160, F10, ISO 400

What is it that we adore so much about fall? And for my part, what else can be written about the love affair that so many outdoor photographers have with this vibrant season. Well, I’ll take a shot at it. But first let’s talk about what you’ll need!

A Sigma polarizing filter is crucial to bringing out the best in your fall photos. Notice how much more “pop” there is in the first image!
SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art – 1/125, F8, ISO 200

Inspiration

When it hits you you’ll know it! The desire to get outside for a few days and make some images can be overwhelming this time of year. And once inspired, nothing can stop you.

The versatility of a zoom like the SIGMA 100-400mm DG OS HSM Contemporary lens is great when working on a composition. I loved the nature of this scene with the backlit aspens framed against the dark background of the shadowed aspen boles. Here, I could not decide how I wanted to put this image together so I shot the first at 143mm and the second much tighter at 315mm.

A Plan

Where are you going to go? Be sure to check the fall color map and then back up that info with on the ground reports. There are plenty of blogs and social media resources that provide updates on how the foliage is coming along. Be sure to have a plan B too. This year in Colorado, for example, some areas have completely turned and leaves have hit the ground while other areas have only just started their march to golden glory.

Dramatic light is key for fall photos. This aspen grove had yet to go full yellow but the dark skies and rainbow bring a little life to the scene. I used a polarizing filter to help make the rainbow pop.
SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art – 1/200, F9, ISO 400, tripod mounted.

This is the same stand of trees as the shot with the rainbow but with a completely different look. A sharp band of light had broken through the clouds behind me and lit a small section of this impressive cliff face.

Gear

Capturing the beauty is made easier, sharper and more colorful using the best gear you can. My kit served me incredibly well and looked like this:

24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art
I bet half my fall landscapes are taken with this amazing lens. Its ability to go from wide angle to short tele make it incredibly pragmatic and for this reason is practically welded to my camera.

100-400mm DG OS HSM Contemporary
Pulling in distant peaks or singling out compelling bits of the landscape is what this lens is all about. Be sure to keep this light, sharp powerful telephoto zoom in your pack at all times as its guaranteed to give you some superb shots.

For sheer versatility, those two lenses alone handle almost anything I run into.

Cloudless skies might make for easy camping but they also make for boring sunsets. Luckily a few clouds drifted in just in time to light things up a bit. I used both a polarizing filer and a two-stop split ND filter to enhance the color and bring balance to the sky and foreground.
SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art – 1/3, F7.1, ISO 400

I also have with me one or two prime lenses which yield stunning results. I often use primes to shoot in a more whimsical way capturing the feeling, tone or mood of a place. But of course, they are rock solid for more typical landscapes as well. I also shoot heavily with the 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM Art and 70-200mm F2.8 EX (now upgraded to the Sports version). And my 150-600mm DG OS HSM Sports isn’t in the truck with me just for catching wildlife!

Getting off the main path and exploring the backroads almost makes for fun discoveries like this sinuous path through the aspens.
SIGMA 100-400mm DG OS HSM Contemporary – 1/400, F8, ISO 400 with polarizing filter.

Detail of stand of aspens shot at 51mm.
SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art – 1/160, F7.1, ISO 400

A few other vital pieces of gear include a tripod, polarizing filter and a split ND Filter. Polarizing filters are a huge boon to fall photographers for their ability to cut through the haze and bring out the blue sky with sharp contrast. I keep this on most of the day but remove the polarizer when shooting into the sun or with the sun at my back.

With the wind blowing and leaves flying I wanted to make an image with a strong connection to the details of fall. I used a Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art to help me achieve my goal. I shot about 20 of these images but chose this one as my favorite because of the single sharp leaf against the cloud.
SIGMA 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art – 1/4000, F2, ISO 250 with polarizing filter.

A two-stop slit ND filter is great for balancing sunlit peaks with forests gone to shade. You can also shoot multiple exposures for later processing but I prefer to get it right in camera.

Overcast days are a great time to shoot fall colors as shadows recede and leaves seem to luminesce on their own. I found this singe orange aspen in some mine tailings just begging to be photographed.
SIGMA 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Sports – 1/1000, F3.2, ISO 400

Using these filters means slowing down your exposure. To compensate be sure to use your tripod. This way you can use your camera’s lower ISO settings giving you the ultimate image quality. If you are using a DSLR be sure to use your mirror lockup function to keep mirror slap out of the equation. A good quality tripod can be a joy to use and will undoubtedly lead to stronger compositions and sharper images.

Later in the season fall colors will take hold in the desert southwest. If your schedule keeps you from shooting now don’t fret. Head to places like Zion, Grand Staircase Escalante, or Capitol Reef in late October or early November for a unique twist to the season.
SIGMA 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM Art – 1/160, F8, ISO 400

At the beginning of this I told you I would give you my take on what makes fall such an enticing time to shoot. I believe the brevity of the season encapsulates life in general… it’s gone before you know it.

IF you can time a trip to coincide with some weather all the better. Snow on the peaks makes for far more impactful images than a straight blue sky. Six-shot stitched panorama.
SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art – 1/320, F7.1, ISO 400

Remnants of an agrarian past are found all along our countries backroads and make for great subjects. SIGMA 70-200mm F2.8 EX – 1/600, F7.1, ISO 640

The last light of day reflects off the rocks into the forest below. I would prefer clouds at sunset and snow on the peaks but on this nigh it was not to be. In lieu of those elements I zoomed in to concentrate on the color.
SIGMA 100-400mm DG OS HSM Contemporary – 1/6, F8, ISO 200

SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Art – 70mm, 1/30, F8, ISO 200

Peak Fall Foliage Photography Tips

Over the last week and half or so the aspens around my hometown of Breckenridge, CO have been morphing from summer’s emerald green to a variety of hues from light to deep yellow, orange, rust and even some red now and again. The fleeting nature of fall makes it one of my favorites times of the year and certainly for nature photographers it can be a wildly productive season.

Aspen litter the ground in uniform color. When looking directly into the sun like this its best to remove your polarizing filter, if you’ve got one attached. Stopping down to F/14 gives the great starburst effect and limitless depth of field. Sigma 12-24 f4 on Canon 5DMKIII 1/30 sec. f/14 ISO 250

Fall in the Rockies is full swing with the highest elevations peaking over the next week. But the annual color explosion is far from over so procrastinating photographers fear not! The lower elveations, and for landscape shooters better destiantions, of Crested Butte, Telluride, Durango and the like are still over a week away from peaking. And if you miss fall in the mountains, have no fear, as the color spills down the Colorado plateau and into the nearby deserts. And on the east coast, I hear the fall foliage party is just getting started in the northern and higher altitude zones. Whenever fall color peaks in your neck of the woods, the basics of composition and color remain the same.

Side light and backlight combine to make this stand of skinny aspens glow like a shimmering pot of gold. Sigma 100-400 C lens. 1/400 sec. f/7.1 ISO 250 at 400mm

To capture fall in its finest I have been using a kit consisting of my Sigma 12-24 f4 A, 24-70, f2.8 A and my 100-400 C and 70-200 f2.8 lenses.. I will also use a polarizing filter on my medium and telephoto lenses. While the 12-24 does not accept a polarizing filter I would probably not use one on it anyway, as they tend not to work well on super wide angle lenses due to the very wide field of view. For added depth of field I tend to shoot between f8 and f16 and to get the best out of my sensor I shoot at low ISO’s rarely going over 400. This means slow shutter speeds will be used and a tripod is a must.
Continue reading Peak Fall Foliage Photography Tips

Adirondack landscapes with Sigma lenses

By John DiGiacomo

This year while photographing fall foliage in New York’s Adirondack State Park, I added two versatile Sigma lenses to my arsenal: The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG Art lens and the Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 II DG lens.
This image was taken along the East Branch of the Au Sable River in the Hamlet of Jay, using the Sigma 12-24mm lens mounted on a Nikon D810. I had noticed a modest clearing in the clouds working itself towards the river, so I switched to the 12-24mm and positioned myself to capture both interesting foreground and middle ground elements while the sky itself (background) was developing a show of its own. My tripod mounted camera was placed approximately 12 inches from the foreground rocks, at an angle that allowed me to include enough of the cascading water to make for an interesting middle ground. I decided to set the focal length to 12mm (122 degree angle of view) to include as much sky as possible. An aperture of f22 provided depth of field, while a shutter speed of 1/8th of a second allowed me to hold detail in the cascading water. A circular polarizing filter at set at maximum strength removed glare from the foreground rocks, while enhancing the skies texture. Lastly, a split ND filter was used to hold detail in the clouds.

Continue reading Adirondack landscapes with Sigma lenses

Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM | A in the field

By Stan Trzoniec
As an outdoor writer / photographer working for close to a dozen monthly publications and books, I’m always looking for new equipment to do my job better. One of the newer items to cross my path is this incredible Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM “Art” lens for my full frame Nikon D3 series to D4s pro cameras. With New England my beat, I recently used it in the beginning and during this extra colorful fall season. A week in Vermont proved the lens is exceptional with reference to clarity, sharpness and color rivaling that of the high priced optics.

1. On a placid lake in New Hampshire the fog from the neighboring mountain helped bring this photo to life. 1/50th of a second, f/ 3.5 ISO 100 @ 35mm.

Continue reading Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM | A in the field

Chasing Fall Color with the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art Lens

If you ask most photographers to previsualize their dreams for a fall foliage photo outing, you’d be very likely to hear of entire hillsides bursting into crimson and golden tones in unison, as great early or late-day directional sunlight infused the scene with depth, dimension and a magical sense of the season with a sky filled with perfect cotton candy clouds.

Fall foliage peaks at different times in different places. Close-Focusing in on sunlit details of leaves with a fast aperture zoom lens like the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | A lens can make for dramatic shots showing the details of the season. Here we’re inches from the greens and golds on these maple leaves lit my the midday sun, as a tree just a few feet away gives great background blur elements. 1/1600 F2.8 ISO 100 on a Canon Rebel T3i.

And every now and again, with the right combination of planning and luck, those storybook conditions may be encountered and captured. But then again, there’s also the reality that trees turn at different times, that the light that’s magical one moment is flat and dull the next, and that you’ve really got be somewhere else and if you don’t make a photo now, it won’t be made at all.

The sunlight behind this single maple leaf instantly tells you it is fall. And the focus is so shallow at F2.8 at 35mm that only the very points of the leaves is in perfectly crisp focus. It’s the story of autumn told with a single leaf. 1/800 F2.8 ISO 400 on a Canon Reb T3i.

And in these situations, rather than the typical ultrawide lens for sweeping landscapes, the perfect lens for creating a feel of Fall by focusing on small seasonal details is a super-fast zoom lens like the brand-new Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art lens. The close focusing and shallow depth of field offer a great way to really explore the nuances of small bunches of leaves and other typical autumnal symbols in a way that’s fresh and new. Instead of the unlimited depth of field so typical of ultrawide landscapes, this lens allows for getting up close and personal with leaves in mid-transformation, complemented by beautiful background blur. Continue reading Chasing Fall Color with the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art Lens