Brown Photography
This is a time of year that many photographers put away their cameras. Landscapes look brown and drab nearly everywhere. There is little that is filled with color.
I can understand the disappointment in natural scenes for photography at this time of year. Yet, for some reason, I have always enjoyed photographing now. Even back when I lived in Minnesota, I loved getting out and photographing beyond the typical fall season, and before winter. Partly this is due to the seasonal conditions. I like the color temperatures and I enjoy the low light from a low sun. Plus, I often have the location to myself. Even at locations that are packed at other times of the year, I find that there is a gentle solitude that I quite like as I explore both with my eyes and my camera.
One of the biggest challenges at this time is brown. Brown can just be so very unattractive in a photograph. I think there are several things that can help you deal with brown:
- Browns look terrible when overexposed, so be careful of that.
- Light can make or break browns. Low light that skims across a brown so that its texture is revealed is a good way to work with light and browns.
- Backlight is excellent with browns and can even make them glow.
- Flat light that has no shadows or dimension is usually very difficult to work with for browns.
- Look for different browns. Red-browns look very different than tan browns and you can use color differences in browns to create very rich images. Dull gray-browns are difficult to photograph so they look good.
- Look for any contrasts. A dark tree trunk can anchor a composition, while backlit seed heads can create a glow to the image.
- With landscapes, use the blue sky as a pictorial element (not simply sky) that contrasts with the browns.
Close ups are often quite good in the fall. So many seeds look quite interesting up close, offering stunning photo opps, and there are lots of seeds in the fall.
November 11th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Hi Rob,
I had the same idea myself today. Just as I was heading out for a late afternoon hike in the woods I read this post. The light was wonderful and the blue sky was beautiful behind the trees. I got some decent shots.
Julie Brown
November 12th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Rob,
Just come to central Texas. We’re still several weeks away from our full autumn color and the weather is darn near perfect. One of the great things about shooting in Texas is that some part of the state is always in bloom.
Jeff
November 12th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Hi Rob
All of your blog entries are so interesting and informative – I really enjoy them and I look forward to seeing them. Your notes today about “Brown photography”
really hit home with me. Here in Eastern Pennsylvania I see the once-green corn stocks that are now brown and on a sunny day with the light shining just right, they actually glow. I tend to ramble so I will stop, but thanks so much – your blogs are really the best.
Denny Jump