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Let's Gear Up to Shot Wonderful Portraits in Autumn
Autumn Behind the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 FE
Autumn is probably the most favourite season for photographers to take photos, and that statement is very true for me. The colours are changing from greens to shades of reds and yellows, it’s basically a splash of colour heaven. So, with all these changes, it’s time to gear up and take our camera outside and start shooting. Since I love the Autumn season very much, this is an article not only to showcase the amazing image quality the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 FE can do but to give some useful tips when shooting in the Autumn season using this very lens.
TIP 1. Subject Placement Maximises the Bokeh Effect
First of all, this lens can produce such beautiful bokeh, so naturally, you are gonna want to use this in your images, but how do you maximise its bokeh and use it fully to make your subject stand out? It’s all about subject placement! If possible, always place your models with a long distant background, with this, this lens will definitely blast your image with bokeh-goodness. You can use this trick for close-ups and full-body shots, it always works!
TIP 2.
Fast Aperture f/1.8 and
Fast Shutter Speed Capture
All Movements of Children
Next, with its fast aperture f1.8, you are sure to get those movements to freeze in time! And since we’re talking about the autumn season, what better shots could you do than leaves tossing photos? This is a classic pose for all ages, it’s fun to do and the little kids definitely enjoy this the most, plus with some helping hand from their parents makes up all the fun. When shooting this type of photo, make sure your shutter speed is at least 1/250th of a second and set your camera to high-speed shooting. When we do this, normally, we would count to three before they throw the leaves and we press the shutter. So, if you are counting 1-2-3 shoot, you should start pressing the shutter button at count 2, this is to make sure that you capture all movements from the beginning, easily!
TIP 3.
Incorporate the Autumn
Season into Your Shots
Now, this is the season of withering leaves on tree branches, so make sure to incorporate this into your shots. But how do you do this?
Well, there are two ways that you can do, at least for me, there are two ways. The first one is finding low-hanging branches, low enough for your models to stand next to. What this creates is it really shows your audience the essence of autumn. And you can use this as your natural framing to have your models stand out in your image. The second one is composite. This is adding the tree branches and leaves on editing if you can’t find low-hanging branches and your models are too short to stand next to them. What you should do is take photos of the leaves and tree branches separately on the same shoot to use for your composite. Why the same day? This is because to make sure that the lights are the same and the lens you’re using is also the same one, this is to make sure that the image quality, bokeh and colour are all uniformed.
TIP 4. Consider Autumn Colours
When Thinking about What to Wear
And one last thing, plan the outfit properly and consider autumn colours when doing so!
With all those information, you are set to create story-telling autumn portraits using Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 FE, definitely the perfect lens for this season!