6 Photography Tips for Autumn + Winter 2015

Hey guys, still on break! I'm super excited for Thanksgiving, which is now only 3 days away, and I'm also really pumped because it's supposed to "snow" (you know, that weird cold white stuff that falls from the sky?) tonight, but I don't believe it'll even hit the ground because it hasn't actually snowed down here at this level in a few years.. so that's pretty sad. But on Sunday I got to go ice skating a couple of hours from here, and that was fun! I'm just hoping it'll snow in the mountains so that my family can go sledding. 

1. Not a lot of people know this, but Autumn and Winter are actually some of the best times of the year for photographers because it's usually cloudy without any actual direct light (at least where I live most of the time), which creates a really beautiful soft glow, allowing for amazing photos! See? 

2. Rain photography is actually really fun, because you can throw on a black and white filter and it'll look really gloomy and stuff, but you can also add in a pop of color in photoshop if you have something in the photo worthy of color (for example an umbrella- make the whole photo b&w, then go into photoshop and make it whatever color you like so that it stands out). 


3. Taking pictures of the water can be really cool, too! Reflections on a lake, river, ocean etc. can be turned around to your advantage, allowing for awesome photos of mountains or maybe sunsets reflecting- double the awesome. 

4. Christmas is the time for string lights, and string lights can be manipulated and made into awesome BOKEH PHOTOS! If you don't know what bokeh is (I don't even know how to pronounce it, haha), it's the shape of the lights in your photo that are out of focus. They can be just plain circles, or maybe hearts, or even stars- the possibilities are endless! Use the second photo as inspiration this holiday season and make something amazing. 

5. Use limited light to your advantage! When the sun sets, no matter where you are, it usually creates a really nice ombre effect, resulting in colorful photos. Maybe take a picture of the sky straight up, displaying all of the nice colors, with something in the center such as a bird or perhaps some tree tops? 

6. Last but definitely not least- sunglasses. No, you don't wear them while taking pictures... well, maybe you do. But that's not the point; you can make amazing ombre pictures with them by taking the photo through the lens of some ombre sunglasses that you are guaranteed to have on hand (and if you don't, pick up a cheap drug store pair, nothing fancy). I have yet to try this one out, but I'm super excited to!

Were these helpful to you in any way? I sure hope so, because these are custom to the Autumn & Winter seasons for the remainder of 2015 and beginning of 2016, and then I have a whole new set of photography trips planned out for Spring & Summer 2016. I can't wait!

xx Savannah