I want to photograph fall… but where have the colors gone?

The Mamas & the Papas' California Dreaming boasts one of the most recognizable lyrical intros of all time. But it wouldn't have struck nearly the same chord if Mama Cass and co had sung: “All the leaves are gone,” that's for sure.

And that's what fall's felt a little like for me this year. I swear the leaves barely had a chance to turn their auburn colors before they were gone.

Fall is my favorite season for many reasons: it's the beginning of the end for the hayfever season (thank goodness!), Halloween is the perfect excuse to sit by a roaring fire and lose yourself in a classic Gothic horror novel, and the festive season is just around the corner.

But what I look forward to most, of course, is the season's dazzling array of reds, oranges and yellows, and its seemingly endless photographic potential.

There really is nothing quite like wrapping up warm and heading out to photograph dazzling displays of russet browns, golden yellows and vibrant oranges. I'm particularly fond of importing a dull RAW file into the best photo editing software and using color-editing tools to gradually ignite those fiery autumnal hues.

The increasingly shorter days make getting up for sunrise or staying out for sunset much more sociable, too, and the unpredictable weather is capable of producing some of the most incredibly dark and brooding skies.

Perhaps I've been reading too many of those aforementioned Gothic horrors, but dramatic skies over rugged landscapes like Dartmoor (à la The Hound of the Baskervilles) are what comes to mind when I think of quintessential UK landscapes. And in the US, well, is there a more dazzling display of fall colors than the states of New England?

But capturing fall at its best is no mean feat, because it's an unpredictable season that changes year upon year and depending on where in the world you are. There's no set date for when the leaves reach their peak and, even when they do, a violent overnight storm can play havoc with the golden treasure trove.

To complicate matters even more, the further north you go, the sooner the leaves tend to turn. So, just because New Hampshire or the Lake District's full autumnal display is splashed across social media, it doesn't necessarily mean that a trip to Louisiana or the New Forest will reap similarly stunning results.

I'm based in the south of the UK, and 2024 has been a very difficult fall to predict. In fact it's been a very unpredictable year, period. A press release from The National Trust predicted: "autumn likely to be 'a mixed bag' thanks to a 'soggy' year as most trees hold on tight to their leaves".

It turns out that while trees retaining their canopies can produce top-notch displays, they're more susceptible to wind damage: "tree crowns remaining at 'full sail' also increases the threat of damage caused by autumn storms".

I always think of autumn a bit like a ripening pear. One minute it's rock solid, the next it's mush, and somewhere in-between you have a small window that's the perfect, juicy consistency. This can present something of a problem for photographers, particularly if you intend on traveling further afield to capture peak fall.

Thankfully, we've got a wealth of online information available to us. And nothing beats keeping an eye on social media to see what fall delights other photographers are capturing. If you're lucky enough to live somewhere with easy access to beautiful landscapes then it's worth getting out as much as possible to better your chances of capturing the season at its peak.

And if you've missed out, hey, it's never too early to prepare for next fall…

Is fall your favorite season, too? You might be interested in the best tripods and the best lenses for landscapes.