I was born in a small town near Venice and since I moved to Milan to study I felt the lack of countryside, especially during fall when all the trees are dressed with lovely colors and if you don't live near a park you have no chance to witness the wonders of this season! Fortunately when I watch out of my window I can see a little garden with a wonderful big tree that amazes me every year with its colors, but I never found a nice idea for an artistic photo. Until some days ago..
I was still in my warm bed and the cold sound of water hitting the gutter again and again after the rainy night woke me up, slowly I crawled out of my bed in the total darkness of my room and before grabbing my glasses I pulled up the shutter and after the initial blindness in the morning daylight I saw something ravishing: there was a flame in the garden, a big yellow bokeh-y fire that stood out against the dull colors of the surrounding buildings. I stood there some seconds to photograph this scene with my mind until I decided to grab my glasses and my camera and make that moment last forever.
I mounted on my Canon 5D mark II my "new" forty years old Helios 40-2 85mm lens, because in this situation I wanted a "noisy" bokeh rather than a silky smooth blur. I set it wide open at f/1.5 and I switched the live view on to have an instant preview of the bokeh, trying to imitate what I saw without my glasses, I took four horizontal shots to capture the whole tree and to make sure the leaves had all the same bokeh since this lens has a different behavior moving from centre to the edges.
In the raw conversion I added a little contrast adjusting curves and I desaturated it just a tad because the colors were too punchy on the screen. I imported the four shots in photoshop to stitch them using the automatic function but I manually modified the layer masks because I wasn't pleased with the bokeh the automatic algorithm chose in some shots. I corrected the slight keystone effect, due to the position I shot from, highlighted by the building in the background and I saved the image! That's it: I had a nice forty megapixel image and a happy smile all day long! The next step will be a nice big print!
Photo title: Fire in Wonderland
Camera: Canon 5d mark II
Lens: Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5 (M42 mount)
Shutter Speed 1/3200 s
ISO: 500
-Alberto Feltrin
I took this photo of the northern part of Lake Shore Drive, Chicago in between storms. They had been passing through all day and I happened to look out the window as another storm was approaching. I love the fact that even in a city as big as Chicago, the vibrance of Fall can still be seen. Photo was taken with my iPhone 4s and then I used iPhoto to fiddle with the contrast.
-Aadil Ahmed
Shot with a Canon EOS 550D, lens EFS18-55mm, shutter speed 1/640. ISO 1250, f6.3.
Taken at the island Rhodes in Greece, i tried to capture the transition from a summer leaf to a winter one,
as always though fall comes really slow here.
-Alexandros Margomenos
I took this photo during the first week of October while walking around the forest behind my house. I loved how you can see the progression of colors between the tree in the center and the yellow leaves from the adjacent trees. I made some adjustments to the photo to really bring out the contrast between leaves.
Camera: Canon T3i, ISO 800, 55mm, f/9, shutter speed: 1/100
-Andrew Cooper
Equipment:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-S3
28mm Wide Mega O.I.S Lens (the one on the camera, not an extra one)
ISO200
Vivid Setting
Regular Camera shot settings
AWB -2/3
Story:
Korea has 4 distinct, verging on extreme, seasons. Winter is icy cold yet blindingly bright. Spring is angelic with the awakening of the famous Cherry Blossoms. Summer is gloriously lush, yet excruciatingly humid. And Fall? Well, they don't call it 'Korea on Fire' for nothing. I moved to Korea to work for a year and my colleagues invited me along for a hiking tour of Jecheon, the town I was living in, so naturally, I jumped at the occasion to explore and learn more about the culture.
During the hike we were all so caught up in admiring the stunning fall foliage that some of us separated. It was then, as I was wandering around, that I spotted some peculiar creatures nestled amongst a leaf on a tree. Contrasting against the earthy colours, they were striking and unmissable. My colleagues had no clue as to what they were when I showed them my photos and It wasn't until later that I found out they were Rainbow Beetles.
I'm an amateur photographer, at best, albeit a passionate one! So I only had with me my compact camera, a Panasonic Lumix. I did my best to capture the vibrancy of the Rainbow Beetles against the magical fall colours.
It wasn't until later, when an American friend stumbled across my photo, that they suggested I enter in for the Gizmodo Shooting Challenge. Whilst I don't own a DSLR, I enjoy taking photos in the moment as I love to capture and preserve things in a natural way.
-Angela Hwang
I was with a couple of my buddies on a trip with my band for a music gig South Lake Tahoe on the California side. We had some free time and stopped by to see the lake since one of the guys had never seen it "in real life". I had my iPhone 5 for all of a week or so, and decided to take some quick pics... I couldn't believe the quality that came from the phone... Well I was impressed... The very next day Lake Tahoe had a pretty big storm come in and cover everything with snow... This is probably the last day these trees looked this way...
-Anthony Lee
"Nikon D5100 with Sigma 10-20mm, F/10, 1/6 sec, ISO 500
An early misty morning in Maine. Following an old rock wall led me to this tree, standing alone, brilliantly, in among the tall and somber pines.
-Brenda Mugleston
Canon T2I, 55mm lense, just starting in photography so I'm not exactly sure what settings I was using.
I took this photo while with my grandma in Pierce, Nebraska. We noticed the trees were turning around the area so we decided to find the most unique trees. This one just happened to be in the park just as the sun was setting.
-Brice Stubben
I drive by this road almost on a daily basis and always wondered what I would look like in the fall and so I waited until a couple of weeks ago until the trees were at their fullest and the result is very satifying..
Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Sigma 18-200
Aperture 11.0
Focal Lenght 18mm
ISO 100
HDR post processing
Number of shots: 3 (-2, 0, +3)
-Bryan Hernandez
Believe it or not this picture was captured with my iPhone 4s. I'm a pretty good Photoshopper so I just brought the picture in there, made a few edits and viola. The trees were just so perfectly orange and beautiful this day so I made everything but the trees black and white so they would stand out even more. I can't remember the exact name of where we were but I think it was in the Bear Creek area of Colorado.
The story: I recently moved from Cleveland to Denver and my friends (from college in Cleveland) came to visit for the weekend. I had never been to a mountain before so when they came we made it a point to do some hiking, that's them in the left of the picture. It was an incredibly beautiful day, literally the perfect Fall day. As we were coming back from our hike I noticed the sun hitting this patch of trees at the perfect angle. I could not stop taking pictures. I have like 10 more pictures I wanted to submit to this contest. This sounds ridiculous, I know, but it was actually pretty magical. There were dogs playing, photographers everywhere, people playing frisbee, just about everything you would expect to see in a movie on a perfect Fall day. It was a great way to start my new life in Colorado.
-Bryan Patton
Was leaving a friends Greenhouse, during the Storm and the ground was littered with about a zillion brilliantly colored leaves...
So... click... click... Clickety Click... ripped off a hundred or more shots, with my Sony RX100...
Of all the shots... for no definable reason... I like this one the best. The Settings were...
f:3.2 - 1/100 sec. - ISO 125 - Focal length 10mm. - Zeiss 1:8 lens... the RX100 is a mirrorless 20.1Mp camera with a 1 inch sensor and about the size of a deck of cards. This shot, is pretty much straight out of the camera... Post, was minor Brightness & Contrast adjustment.
-Charlie Carroll
I shot this with Hipstamatic for my iPhone, which according to the EXIF data shot at f2.4 for 1/2000 of a second (ish).
There's not much of a story here except to say that iPhone photography has really rekindled my love of photography, especially during autumn when there are so many transient moments that you simply can't consider going back later with your camera. So it was a really fun month, being able to stop and capture passing moments of light and color like this.
-Chris Blakeley
Apple Orchard near Sterling, MA
Date captured: October 17, 2012
Camera: Canon S100 on a tripod with a Nodal Ninja Mark III panoramic tripod head (ISO 100, Aperture f8)
Technique: HDR Panorama (9 shots; 3 views wide x 3 exposures per view (-2 ev, 0 ev, +2 ev))
Software:
HDR/Tonemapping: Photomatix Pro 4.1.2
Panoramic Stitching: PTGui 9.1.2
Cropping/Sweetening: Photoshop CS5
Backstory:
Recently, I rediscovered the landscape work of Maxfield Parrish, one of the most popular painter/illustrators of the 20th century. I was a huge fan of Parrish when I was in college and now recognize the tremendous influence of his work on my own. In an attempt to honor that influence, I embarked on a week-long photo expedition to his beloved New England during the annual fall foliage spectacle. This collection represents my best efforts at capturing the magical landscape moments that inspired Parrish and which continue to thrill "leaf peepers" from around the world.
-Dan Ambrosi
Camera Used Samsung S III Smartphone
ISO - 80
I was outback cleaning up the leaves before the snow hit and said "Hey I should take a picture and sent it into Gizmodo". I normally see everyone with Nikon D series or Canon gear I thought it would be interesting to send a new generation smartphone shot.
-Dan Gallegos
In the valley where we live, the trees had no inkling that fall was approaching. My wife and I headed out to the mountains of Snow Basin resort in Utah to see how the trees there were progressing. They were in full splendor providing limitless possibilities for the plethora of photographers that were dotting the landscape. The sun was low in the late afternoon rendering the foliage in mixed shadows. It was the quintessential essence of Fall. If only we could have spent more time there.
Nikon D40, AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED at 82mm, f/5.6, 1/125, ISO-200
-Darren Worley
Shot with Nikon D600 and Nikkor 28-200mm 3.5-5.6 lens, with lens at 28mm.
ISO 100, Aperture f7.1, Shutter Speed 1/200.
My wife and I just got back from a short vacation on November 6, and I wake up on the 7th to see this shooting challenge. What a coincidence I thought to myself! We had been at Yosemite National Park, and couldn'tbelieve all the beautiful fall colors. I always enjoy looking at the shooting challenges,but this is the first time I have submitted.
This shot was taken midday in the Yosemite Valley floor, in the shadow of El Capitan.
-Darren Spothelfer
Nikon D90
Nikkor 15mm 1:3.5 Lens
f/3.5 w/ ISO200 @640ish (i think)
DO THIS: If you go outside right now, lay under one of your beautiful Autum trees and close your eyes almost all the way and just let them lose focus as you lay there... this might be what you see. It's fucking magical.
So, I live in San Antonio, TX where "Fall" isn't really seen in the trees until late October or so... so does that disqualify me from entering a photo? Most of last year there were either dead leaves or NO leaves at all on our trees all year due to the drought. This year, although still hot as balls, we've had enough rain to make things green and keep them that way. So, I took this photo outside of my office, and freely admit that in the spirit of the season, I changed the white balance to make it look like "Fall" even though the leaves are actually beautifully, richly dark and vibrant green. Again should this disqualify me? This is Fall in San Antonio man, what are ya gonna do? With that out of the way, the thing here is the Bokeh. I've been shooting with this 15mm lens for about 9 months now, and it almost never leaves me camera.
-Dave Terry
Shot during a long walk through the woods in Sharon, MA on 10/21/2012; a beautiful fall day. I used a Nikon D7000 with a Tokina 11-16 zoom. My goal was to shoot at the wide (11mm) end that day to see if I could capture some interesting perspective. Towards the end of the walk I notice this lone small tree with a few remaining leaves surrounded by some large trees. I got down on the ground as low as possible and shot up through the small tree.
ISO 200, f/4, 1/200
-David Barron
I shot this while on a weekend getaway in Saugatuck Michigan in October. I live in Chicago so getting out into the wilderness in the heart of Autumn is a welcome treat every year. I was walking the dog and this shot jumped out at me. It was shot using a Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-200 lens @ 20mm. It was post processed in Photomatix Pro for HDR effect.
-David Guyon
I've took these photos yesterday. I took the photo with my Nikon D7000 with a 18-105mm lens.
I was taking pictures of some friends and while I was waiting I noticed 2 squirrels popping up all around me, but I didn't have time to take a shot.
A few minutes later I heard some sounds and I noticed a squirrel eating on a high branch. I walked around bit and took a few photos. This one is the best of the bunch.
-David Frenkel
I was a tourist in my own town Sunday, taking pictures from the Space Needle. It wasn't until I came home and looked at the shots that I realized how many trees are growing amidst the pavement, and how they're all turning. I cropped and made a few edits in Lightroom. Sony RX100. f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 125.
-David Lee
Story: This picture was taken while driving through the forest area of Kettle morraine state forest near Milwaukee, WI with my Friend Manas. Fall sets in WI very early in October and I found that the Yellowish-Orange leaves would be a good submission. The curve in the Road gives a continous feeling to the viewer.
Equipment:
Nikon D7000
Aperture priority
f/8
18-135mm lens
24mm
ISO - 100
1/20 sec
hand held
-Deepak Sundar
Canon T2i, 100mm, f/5, ISO 100
Now that I've moved to California, it was quite challenging to find ANY signs of fall around (except for many brown trees). This is the closest I got.
-Diego Jimenez
This was shot at Valley Forge National Park today (Veteran's Day) using:
Canon EOS Rebel T31
Sigma 28-200 Lense
ISO 100, f/3.5, Focal length 28mm, no flash
I took this near the National Memorial Arch in Valley Forge park (http://www.nps.gov/vafo/historyculture/arch.htm). Fall leaves give me a wistful sense of the passing of summer. Juxtaposing this with the flag on Veteran's Day helps me to express my deep sorrow and thankfulness for the sacrifices of all of those who have defended our freedom.
-Don Fisher
Metadata: Canon EOS 550D, Lens EF-S18-135,1/640sec , f/18, ISO 800
Story: Walking down this beautiful street in Chicago, I noticed the design of the fence and the shadow that was cast by the sun angle at the time. It inspired me to take a shot of this fence with its shadow including a stunning backdrop of the yellow leaves of Fall on the trees and the empty walkway.
-Donovan Koh
This shot was taken right outside Cooper Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. My brother had to go there for a routine check up, and as we were pulling into the parking garage I spied this tree at the edge of the driveway. It was the best color I had seen on a tree all season. I took this shot with a Canon T2i with a Asahi Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4 manual focus lens, shot at f/1/4. The wind was blowing and the leaves refused to stay still, but I was able to fire off a few shots and this one was the best.
-Donovan Myers
Camera: Canon G11
Dont know ISO and such. Didnt really take the picture considering the ISO.
"While doing our Geography Lab, thought of taking a few pictures. Really i was trying to catch this guy on his Run. But..well, this came out. Conclusion: the lab was alright. Finding distance bearings is not as fun as you think"
-Fahim Khan
This was my best shot taken on October at a botanical garden during a warm autumn afternoon.
I love how the shadow of the trees makes the scene so cinematic, dramatic or taken from a theatre.
The main leaf is pretty well manual focused too with old but very sharp glass. I'm really amazed with the (untouched) colors captured!
Canon 550D
Yashica ML 50mm f/2 manual focus lens
f/4, 1/125 sec.
ISO-250
-Filipe Soares
Camera: Apple iPhone 5
Focal Length: 33mm (35mm equivalent)
ISO: 50
Exposure: f/2.4 1/401 sec.
On a beautiful fall morning, I was walking some property in Chattanooga, TN in order to evaluate its potential recreational use. Around the middle of the parcel I came across this striking tree-it appeared to be an oak-which had no low branches. The contrast of the yellowing leaves against the deep blue sky and the morning sun illuminating the bark, making it almost white in appearance, captured my attention. I was able to record the site on my iPhone, the only camera I had with me.
-Geff Adams
Fall in Saxony
Fall was in full swing and the wind was humming low through the trees. At last, nature was starting to show her true colors. The image was captured on a beautiful hiking trail in Saxony, Germany, at around 12 PM in mid-October. I was lucky, as this was one of the first pictures that I shot that day, before the rain came and the sun disappeared behind the clouds.
Captured with a D800 using a 16-35 F4 lens, at 16mm, 1/100, ISO 400 and f8, on October 10
-Daniel Ghetu
At just the right moment I was lucky enough to capture an almost perfect star from the rays through this Maple tree. The leaves were already changing color, providing some layers of the colors of fall
Canon 7D, ISO 100, f/25, 1/200sec
-Graham Kingma
Welcome to the "Grand Canyon of the East", the "Glen Iris" or more commonly known as Letchworth State Park in Upstate New York. This is the view from inspiration point of the Higher Falls and a bird. A Bird!
As for the picture and gear this was taken with a Nikon D5100 and the kit lens. Slight Level and Color Adjustments in PS as I more reacted to the scene (with a Bird!) than planned for.
-Harvey Taylor