As we move into the fall season, the shades of leaves are beginning to change from greens to more beautiful reds and yellows.
University of Arkansas horticulture professor Gary McDonald says that shorter days, longer and cooler nights are the reason for the change.
“So the plants are thinking, ‘Uh oh, winter’s coming, I need to get rid of these leaves, I need to hunker down for the winter time.’”
“So what happens is, there’s some hormonal changes that happen in the leaves and they stop basically producing chlorophyll. And so the chlorophyll starts to break down, the carotenoids are already there, that’s the orange pigment, they’re already in the leaf . So as the chlorophyll starts breaking down, then all of a sudden as that goes away those orange colors start coming out.”
Although the color changing process is already in full swing, the most brilliant colors will be seen closer to the end of October.
McDonald believes that watching the leaves change in Fayetteville is something truly unique.
“I think it was two years ago, University of Arkansas was ranked one of the top ten college campuses in the world for fall color. I don’t think a lot of our students know that, so I think that we’re very lucky to live at a place that really does have a beautiful campus and good fall color.”
So you found the perfect setting for a picture but how do you take that perfect shot?
Photographer Brenton Little says that it’s not the gear that matters, but the photographer.
He’s amassed a quarter of a million followers on Instagram and says that 95 percent of his photos were actually taken only on his iPhone.
Brenton credits his success to creativity and proper technique, not photography equipment.
“I’m more or less composing, or framing a situation. I don’t think about a photo, I don’t even consider myself a photographer…I’m like a designer that captures moments. I design moments with my eye and then I see it when I capture that.”
Weather condition is an important factor to consider when planning to photograph fall colors.
“I especially love a good foggy morning to just kind of create an atmosphere…It creates a little bit more of an atmosphere around the color and if it’s been raining or is humid in the air, it seems to make the colors even a little bit more saturated.”
Little also said that the best time of day to capture those fall leaves is during a time called golden hour, about an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset when the suns gives off light a little bit more warm in color than the rest of the day.
-Courtesy of UATV Reporter Matt Howell