Autumn Glory

Last year Autumnwatch visited and aired from New Hampshire, America, to show off the fantastic display of colour that the deciduous trees were providing. Here at FSC Preston Montford we have been exploring the beauty of the landscape on a smaller scale and trying to capture some of those autumnal changes with our young visitors.

Early in October, the Growing Confidence project ran a ‘Landscape through a lens’ day, focussing on observing the landscape and improving photography skills. It was led by Sara Lanyon, an award-winning environmental educator, and Mike Ashton, an artist, photographer and graphic designer. Mike began the day by talking about composition – the way the elements in a scene are arranged within the frame – and how there are different guidelines to help you to achieve a more attractive picture.

One such guideline is the ‘Rule of Thirds’. This is the idea that you divide the frame into a grid of nine equal rectangles and place an interesting element on one or more of the lines or where the lines intersect. In the example below, the berry has been placed on the first vertical line (the photographer was going for the intersection but miss-judged it slightly).

Credit: Charlotte Timerick

Another guideline is using paths, walls, etc, to guide the viewer through the picture and to focus their attention on important elements of the photo; this is called ‘leading lines’. Leading lines do not need to be straight.

Texture and certain colour combinations can work well too. The latter is often over-looked as a composition tool for getting the best out of your photos.

The blue-green of the lichen contrasts well with the pink of the rock. Credit: CharlotteTimerick

After the brief photography lesson, the team headed out to Corbet Wood and Grinshill to put the guidelines, and their various cameras (smartphones, compact camera and DSLR), to the test. The results were fantastic, and it was interesting to see what different people noticed in the landscape. Sara’s challenge of photographing certain elements of the landscape certainly helped to hone the team’s observation skills, as they tried to spy them out.

 

 
 
 

Photo credit: Vicky Brown

Have you been noticing the little changes near you? Why not have a go at capturing them and uploading them onto Instagram or Twitter with the tag #wildphotochallenge – that way we can see them too. Not a Social Media fan? That’s okay, spread the joy by showing friends, family and work colleagues instead. Happy Autumn watching!

Our tutor team love watching the Beech tree outside the Education Office slowly change colour and loose it’s leaves. Credit: Charlotte Timerick

To find out more about the Growing Confidence Project and how to get involved, please go to https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/opportunities-for-16-25-year-olds/growing-confidence/.