We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. The changing fall foliage never fails to surprise and delight us. To photograph fall colors you need to know when the leaves are going to peak. Here are a couple of sites that will help near where I live.
- Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color?
- Why a maple leaf turns bright red?
- Where do the yellows and oranges come from?
Oxygen is a gas in the air that we need to breathe. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar is called photosynthesis. That means “putting together with light.” A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.
As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees “know” to begin getting ready for winter.
During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can’t see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.
Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.
Fall Photograph of Petit Jean Valley in Arkansas
Winding road from Petit Jean overlook in Arkansas
Fall Reflections along lake in Petit Jean Park in Arkansas
Colored Rock
- Colored Leaves with background desaturated
- Where are your favorite places to photograph fall colors?
