New York City - Fall Colors in Central Park

With all of my travels, it is frustrating that I do not get a chance to get out and shoot fall colors very often. While traveling to New York City a couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to get out and shoot for a couple of hours. I was hoping that Central Park would be at the height of color, but that was not the case. There were limited locations with fall color, but those small areas still proved to be beautiful!

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/200 sec, -.3 exposure comp, Lexar 1000x CF)

I saw this statue amongst the red and orange leaves, but wanted more in the photo. I moved to a location where I had a tree with green leaves in the foreground, and shot through those colors to create a dramatic contrast in colors. I photographed this at f/5.6 to make sure that the primary focus was on the statue, using the leaves as secondary subjects.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/320 sec, -.3 exposure comp, Lexar 1000x CF)

The light was trickling through the upper canopy of trees and hitting this branch. I walked by and noticed the awesome light on these leaves. It is times like this that I love being a photographer. If not for photography, I would probably have walked by this and never noticed this simple beauty.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/400 sec, -.3 exposure comp, Lexar 1000x CF)

More pretty fall colors... You will notice that I shot most of these images at -.3 exposure compensation. This is a great way to accentuate the colors in the trees and the sky. It is also a great way to protect your highlights to make sure that the bright areas of your photos are not blown out.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/320 sec, Lexar 1000x CF)

As I mentioned, there weren't that many trees showing fall colors, so the ones that has color were attracting a lot of attention. I was attracted not only to the color of the leaves, but also by the way that all the people were rim lit by the sun behind them.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/250 sec, Lexar 1000x CF)

It wasn't just the fall colors that attracted me. I saw this one plant and got in really close to show the repetitive patterns of the leaves. I just love finding natural beauty in small places.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 400, f5.6, 1/500 sec, Lexar 1000x CF)

OK, this might not qualify as natural beauty, but on the edge of the park, I came across this light post and had to shoot this photo. I really like the one white pigeon amongst the rest.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 100, f5.6, 1/125 sec, -.3 exposure comp, Lexar 1000x CF)

Back into the park again, I saw this old light that was side lit against the fall colors. This is a simple photo, but it is also a good example of how standing close to an object and shooting at the right aperture can draw the eye to the sharpest part of the photo.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/200 sec, Lexar 1000x CF)

And then as I continued to walk through the park, I came across this woman painting a Tupelo tree. It was not long before this, that I thought "I need a good subject to photograph in this surrounding" and here she was.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/160 sec, Lexar 1000x CF)

And of course, I went up to her and introduced myself and asked her about her painting. Her name is Patricia Melvin and she does amazing work which can be seen here.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/160 sec, Lexar 1000x CF)

I walked around and photographed her from different angles, making sure to include the scene and her interpretation of the surroundings. She also had some other bags of supplies which were blocking the wood easel. I politely asked if I could move them out of the frame to shoot this wide shot.

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/800 sec, Lexar 1000x CF)

I especially love this shot of her unfinished painting and her pallet. I showed this to my wife (also very artistic) when I got home and she said "wow - I love her pallet!!"

(Canon 5D Mark III, 28-300mm lens, ISO 500, f4.5, 1/320 sec, -0.3 exposure, Lexar 1000x CF)

And lastly, here is a photo showing mother nature's pallet. So awesome!