Chasing Colour: The Magic of Autumn Landscapes

As October 2024 fades, I find myself reflecting on the timeless workplace question: “What’s your favorite season?” My answer is always autumn.

Autumn. Fall. The season of harvest.

I can only assume autumn is known by this epithet mainly because it’s when many landscape photographers capture beautiful images.

‘An unbroken peace’

It may surprise you to hear that it’s not a love for pumpkins or unreasonably priced pumpkin-flavored coffee, nor am I a fan of Halloween.

My Halloween costume is the same every year: “Man pretending not to be home.” In all seriousness, what really draws me to autumn is something simpler—the vibrant colours.

‘Autumn’s embrace’

Half of the year’s seasons share a similar colour palette. Winter brings browns, with occasional whites and pale blues. Summer? It’s so green it could make the Hulk blush. Spring gets a pass with its pops of colour from new flowers.

But autumn? Autumn is a kaleidoscope—the yellows, reds, greens, and everything in between.

Light seems to partially pass through the leaves, backlighting them and making the differences in colours more pronounced. Forest canopies become works of art unto themselves. The final days and weeks of leaves that were lush green mere weeks ago now turn shades of brown, orange, and yellow, with a few hardier green leaves remaining, making the once-mundane cliff face below a far more appealing view. But this is only the beginning.

‘Autumnal face’

However, don’t get too distracted by the canopies above. It’s best to follow the advice of Auntie Mabel and Pippin the dog from Come Outside—look up, look down, look all around. But why? Well, I’ll show you.

‘Between the trees’

Sometimes the leaves from trees create a carpet of red leading down the scene to a beautiful waterfall.

The best part is, it’s not just the trees getting all fired up (which, thankfully, isn’t literal for the wood!). Many bushes and low-lying plants change, too. The shot below, Fiery Ferns, taken in early October this year, perfectly captures this transformation. The ferns have shifted from their usual green to vibrant shades of yellow and red.

‘Fiery ferns’

The yearly “great dying” of flora creates an explosion of colour everywhere.

In short, autumn makes for unforgettable photos.

Time and change.

Something I’ve come to realise over recent years in my landscape photography is that locations aren’t forever.

I could write a long stream of text… or I could just show you.

‘Between the Trees’ is an autumnal shot I took in 2022. This shot is my personal favourite (don’t tell the others, shhh).

I just love the rich red colour of the leaves, the green trunks, and the yellow, green, and orange leaves above, all surrounding a waterfall cascading over black rocks peppered with those red leaves.

Last weekend, I returned to Healey Dell for the first time in a while, hoping for some autumnal colours like before. It turned out the leaves hadn’t quite turned yet. Then I found… this:

I suppose the leaves are still on the floor… along with the branches and half the tree.

To be fair, a tree had fallen from above my position. In fact, the railing in front of this area was badly bent out of shape and temporarily replaced by that plastic tape they use to cordon things off.

This isn’t the first time a fallen tree has affected a previous location. I’ve encountered the same in Carr Woods and Cheesden Lumb Mill before, and I doubt it will be the last time nature of even humans affect a location.

But I suppose that’s just part of time passing. Nothing lasts forever. Even stars perish eventually.

However, as photographers, that’s why we shoot: we capture a moment in time, preserving it in pixels and ink—an instance that has never been before and will never be again.

Well, the plan to avoid writing a text wall didn’t quite work… ah well. Hopefully see you next month.

Introductions,

Welcome to JRA Photography Landscapes

Hello! I’m Jonathan Atkinson, and I’m thrilled to share my passion for landscape photography with you. My journey in photography began over a decade ago, dabbling in various forms from weddings to product shots. However, it was the allure of landscapes that captured my heart and soul.

I have mainly shot landscapes since 2013 when I was in my first year of college, studying Media Production and Studies. In high school, I made video essays in a news program format, but unfortunately, those videos were lost to years of hard-drive changes. R.I.P. school report on ethnic representations in crime dramas. As you can see in the screen grab below, pure cinema. shot with the same camera used for Loch Ness monster sightings.

A Journey Through Time.

My first intentional landscape shot was at Cheesden Lumb Mill, a place that’s close to my heart. Equipped with my Nikon D5100, I braved the cold March morning with my dad, find our way through the farmers field making our way to the location of the waterfall flowing from the remnants from a Victorian paper mill. This moment marked the beginning of my dedicated pursuit of landscape photography.

Cheesdon Lumb Mill

Fast forward to today, and I’m excited to showcase my growth and the beauty I’ve captured along the way. Each photograph tells a story, from the chill of my first shoot to the serene landscapes I now explore with ease.

A New Chapter,

People often say, “Do something you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” That’s precisely how I feel about my landscape work. Even as I write this on a Sunday evening, it feels like a joy rather than a chore. After years of balancing event photography with my day job, I’m now cutting away the events to be more immersed in landscape photography, and I couldn’t be happier.

behind the lens for "Golden Autumn in Healey Dell"

Looking Forward

I’m looking forward to adding more stunning images to my gallery and sharing my journey with you. This blog is the best place to stay updated with my latest work and future endeavors.

Thank you for joining me on this adventure. Feel free to explore my gallery, Check out my socials, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or comments.