When to go..
I’ve made several trips over the last few years to get just the perfect timing for fall colors in the mountains. Several factors determine the colors and the right time to go.
1. An extremely hot and dry summer means the colors won’t be as good, and the change will occur earlier and not last as long before the leaves fall.
2. Frost – If the colors have already changed, and you can get out quick enough after the first frost (1 or 2 days after), you may still get your shots, but you have a MUCH shorter window of opportunity as the leaves will not hang on the trees as long after the frost.
If the summer has been mild, and frost hasn’t hit, you have a much better chance of getting to several locations. Generally if the conditions were good, you’ll have about a week to 10 days to get some great shots.
Here in East Tennessee the season generally starts anywhere around the middle to the end of October. I generally head out around the beginning of the last week so I can get some of the ground cover of leaves as they’ve just started to fall.
Mountain Fire Road w/cover.
Where to shoot…
There are a lot of great places to shoot, including scenic highways, and sometimes even from or in town. Color is color, and doesn’t have to be a huge mountain vista to be gorgeous, so just get out and shoot.
I personally prefer heading directly into the mountains. I have the advantage of being less than an hour from some of the best ‘in the middle of nowhere’ mountain roads available.
Though I’ve pulled over and shot from a highway, or from the occasional parking lot,
From a parking lot.
I really like the old FIRE ROADS in the National Forest.
Here’s why….
I generally hunt for a shot at about 10-15 miles an hour with the window down to listen for wildlife and waterfalls. (try that on a highway). When I see something, I’m not wasting the next 10 minutes trying to find a parking spot, I just stop, put it in park and get out and shoot. This would cause a major traffic jam and get you arrested or killed on a regular road, but you can get away with it out here! Generally when I’m out shooting I MIGHT see ONE car all day. You also tend to get some of the best (natural) views from these roads.
View from fire road.
View from road 2.
Adding some of the foreground (peeking through the trees) can get you some pretty interesting shots.
Occasionally you’ll need to go ‘off road’ or up a path to find your shot.
Watch the side of the road closely for small walking paths that others have forged.
You’ll be surprised at what you can find.
View from a short path.
After walking up a short path, I discovered this gorgeous view.
There are literally hundreds of great shots from every road in the mountains. The shots here are all from ONE road. So get your batteries charged, load up the camera and tripod, fill up the tank, and go shoot!
Want to see more from this shoot (all taken from Turkeypen Road near Cisco, Ga.)?
Check out the rest of the photos HERE.
