close iframe icon
mattpayne avatar
mattpayne
The perfect start of autumn
Banner

The perfect start of autumn



behind the lens badge

I absolutely live for Colorado's fall colors. I had not planned to shoot any this year since I live in Portland Oregon; however, I was able to tack on a ni...
Read more

I absolutely live for Colorado's fall colors. I had not planned to shoot any this year since I live in Portland Oregon; however, I was able to tack on a nice day into the mountains of Colorado this past week and just had an absolute blast shooting in this aspen grove near the ghost town of St. Elmo near Mount Princeton.
Read less
cameraNIKON D800

settings Aperture f/22 ISO 100 Shutter 1/5 Focal Length 140/10 

upload_dateSep, 2015

Views

2199

Likes

Awards

Contest Finalist in Flares In Nature Photo Contest
People's Choice in Mountain Forests Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
JoaoAscenso Jadey71 Forrest_Imagery Walkabout4life MAVEBO EvanKor robyn44blue +40
Peer Award
IonNedelcu Jujumee lloydv chrisbelesis kzini michaelsteely gloria085 +37
Absolute Masterpiece
Tanya333 larryollivier sylviawesttaylor Gslphoto pennyb151 grandmaof7 CloaknDagger +17
Outstanding Creativity
Steve--photography-- Down2Earthtravelinspirer Pa3ciaG LizC mcampi GarrilSmith aerobuyer4u +10
Top Choice
sxsvexen angiebaer notatthisaddress Uniboo andreasulini evapollick Capture-Life +7
Magnificent Capture
Ricardo_MGF Clodeline timbrown_2748 TracyDeptuck CBLawson bobrick othompsonski +4
All Star
Maadhatter ReneeBlake NaturalEyePhotography lcygren GordonKoh eegush kenkast2 +3
Superior Skill
keithhobson Tim_Haynes danroil
Genius
BtBates KatieMcKinneyPhotography

Top Ranks

Fall 2017 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Fall 2017 Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The First Light Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Flares In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Flares In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
View more
Your Point Of View Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 2
Fall 2016 Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Fall 2016 Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
The Light Through The Trees Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Light Through The Trees Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
The Light Through The Trees Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Natural Clusters Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Natural Clusters Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 1
In Front Of The Sun Photo ContestTop 10 rank
In Front Of The Sun Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Beautiful Trees Photo ContestTop 30 rank
Divine Forests Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Divine Forests Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Divine Forests Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Changing Of Seasons Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Changing Of Seasons Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
The Changing Of Seasons Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Sunny Landscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Sunny Landscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Geometry In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Lines In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Lines In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Lines In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Covers Photo Contest Vol 24Top 10 rank
Covers Photo Contest Vol 24Top 10 rank week 1
Wood In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Wood In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Off The Ground Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Off The Ground Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1

Categories

7 Comments |
JulieFuller
 
JulieFuller September 08, 2015
This is beautiful! Love the gold against the blue.
AlgisKemezys PRO+
 
AlgisKemezys September 20, 2015
It does not get much better than this...
Frank1390
 
Frank1390 September 20, 2015
Great work. Thanks for sharing.
dwboyd PRO
 
dwboyd November 25, 2015
Pure bliss to gaze at! Incredible talent!
NaturalEyePhotography
 
NaturalEyePhotography August 02, 2016
Wow!!!!
grandmaof7 PRO
 
grandmaof7 February 09, 2017
This picture is awesome!! A++
Luptak
 
Luptak April 27, 2017
Wonderful shot.

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#colorado #autumn #fall #aspen #sunrise #sunstar
See all

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photograph from the forest floor containing a huge grove of aspen trees located in central Colorado near the ghost town of Saint Elmo.

Time

I shot this photo just after sunrise after the sun crested the hillside to the east of my location. When I stumbled upon the location, I was immediately taken aback by the amazing light that was touching the tips of the trees, providing an awesome contrast between the blue sky and the golden leaves.

Lighting

The key to photographs of fall colors is to ensure that the light is being diffused through the leaves from a side angle, either early or late in the day. This provides the best light by which to photograph changing fall colors, in my opinion. To achieve the sunstar I ensured that my f-stop was at f/22.

Equipment

For this photograph I utilized my Nikon D800, Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 lens with the attached fotodiox filter kit and circular polarizer. The camera was attached to my Feisol 3442 carbon fiber tripod.

Inspiration

It is pretty easy to be inspired be the incredible natural wonders found in the Colorado wilderness, especially in autumn. I recall being totally enamored by the color contrast and beauty of the trees and leaves.

Editing

I shoot all of my photographs in RAW format, so post-processing is a necessary step. For this photograph, I tweaked the curves in Photoshop to ensure that the contrast between colors was differentiated the way in which I wanted them to be based on my vision for the final product.

In my camera bag

Nikon D800 and the Nikon trinity. I also like to use the Nikon shutter cable release for my night photography and tripod work.

Feedback

For views of the forest like this one, it is important to utilize a wide-angle lens and to get really low to the ground with the lens pointed almost straight up, which creates those awesome leading lines that everyone appreciates in these types of compositions. I also recommend photographing the sun using live view to see the actual sunstar created by the lens, and to shoot at f/16, f/18, or f/22 for the maximum depth of field and impact from the sunstar.

See more amazing photos, follow mattpayne

User photo
It’s your time to shine! ☀️

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Already a member? Log In

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, and acknowledge you've read our Privacy Policy Notice.