Professional photographer Michael Shainblum has released a comprehensive video tutorial demonstrating the art of capturing autumn's vibrant colors in the Utah mountains. The detailed guide focuses on finding compositional order within the chaotic beauty of fall foliage, emphasizing patterns, textures, and the delicate relationship between color and natural light rather than traditional sweeping landscape vistas.
Shainblum begins his photographic journey using a Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS telephoto lens to isolate distant hillsides bursting with seasonal color. His technique involves zooming in on the natural variation of greens, yellows, oranges, and reds to create painterly abstractions that transform ordinary mountain slopes into artistic compositions. He maintains consistent camera settings between f/8 and f/11, focusing at infinity to ensure sharp detail across the entire frame while observing how shifting patterns of light and wind continuously alter the visual landscape.
The photographer's approach emphasizes patience over pursuit, demonstrating how waiting for optimal lighting conditions can transform mundane hillsides into layered studies of color and form. Shainblum incorporates sage brush as a contrasting element and explores how darker pine trees create visual breaks within fields of bright autumn foliage. His methodology involves slow, deliberate observation rather than frantically chasing changing light conditions, allowing natural elements to evolve organically within his compositions.
Moving closer to the tree line, Shainblum shifts his focus to texture and intimate details, using his telephoto lens to isolate the vertical rhythm created by aspen tree trunks and highlight the interplay between warm and cool color tones. He emphasizes the transformative power of diffused light, particularly during incoming storm systems, explaining how harsh direct sunlight flattens leaf colors while overcast conditions reveal their full depth and tonal range. As weather conditions deteriorate and rain begins, he adjusts his ISO settings upward and maintains shutter speeds fast enough to preserve sharp details despite wind gusts affecting the foliage.
The tutorial takes a dramatic turn as storm conditions intensify, prompting Shainblum to switch to a Sony 28mm f/2 wide-angle lens to capture the sweeping atmospheric drama developing above the mountain hills. When a rainbow forms across a grove of aspen and pine trees, he creates a panoramic image by stitching together five vertical photographs using Adobe Lightroom, resulting in a composition that feels both expansive and intimately detailed. His genuine excitement at witnessing the scene's rapid evolution demonstrates the spontaneous rewards available to patient photographers, even as rain begins affecting his equipment and camera settings.
Throughout the challenging weather conditions, Shainblum carefully balances technical considerations with creative vision, preserving highlight detail in bright sky areas while maintaining the vivid yellow tones of the autumn trees. His approach perfectly illustrates the essential balance between patient preparation and spontaneous reaction that defines successful landscape photography. The complete video tutorial provides viewers with practical, real-world techniques for managing creativity alongside technical control during unpredictable outdoor shooting conditions.
