Capture the beauty of maple tree

九月十月間我去了一趟加拿大的多倫多，正值那裡楓葉轉紅的日子，本該是拍攝楓葉的好時節，可惜我帶同兩狗同行，照顧他們之餘已無能力拍照，所以沒有可見人的作品；但手頭剛有一本 11月12月的DIGI Photo雜誌，談的正是拍楓葉的事，雖說他的範例照片不甚了了，技巧也是老生常談，也不妨拿來分享。 工具方面，他提議你要有腳架，中長鏡加廣角鏡，外閃，CPL濾鏡及快門繩/遙控。 採光： 側順光最好，可以保有影像細節與層次，逆光運用得宜時可以拍出透明的質感，所以他提議的拍攝時間是早上7時到9時半及下午2時到4時半左右。 天氣： 他認為陽光好的日子可以有較艷麗的結果，也有藍天白雲作背景，因此要配合CPL使用，令天更藍，也減少葉面反光以增加楓葉的艷麗，但陰天也可以拍出另一番風味，雨天也可以把水點的效果，總之，天氣沒有選擇，不拍是損失。 曝光：盡量用RAW拍攝以便日後微調，他說只要1/3eV到1eV的加減，已經有戲劇性的變化。為了令風中微光之下仍然可以拍出清晰的效果，最好用高ISO及上腳架，有時亦要加外閃補光。 焦段：日本擁有楓林及楓葉大道，可以用廣角表現；要拍特寫時，當然要用中長焦，這時要考慮背景的顏色，不要選與楓葉同樣紅的背景。視角方便，可以考慮用大片藍天做背景，這時當然要加CPL及補光。	I have been to Toronto at the turn of Sept this year and was fortunate to see the beauty of maple leaves turning red.  However, my pictures on these leaves are nothing outstanding.  After returning Hong Kong, I see an article in the Nov+Dec issue of DIGI Photo telling us the methods we should employ in taking pictures of maple tree.  Although their sample pictures are just ordinary and the methods described should be known to us already, I think it is still worth to summarize it here. For the equipment to take with you, it suggested you should have tripod, tele and wide angle lenses, external flash, CPL and remote. As the best light is side light which would not flatten the leaves, the best time suggested for taking pictures of maple trees are from 7 to 9:30 in the morning and from 2 to 4:30 in the afternoon.  When you can manage the backlight, you can show the texture of the leaves. Sunny days would promise more colorful and saturate picture.  And you can add blue sky and white clouds as background.  Thus, use CPL to darden the blue sky for a even saturated result and CPL also cuts the reflection of the leaves to show its colors.  If it rains, you may try to shot the raindrops on the top of the leaves.  Thus, don't withdraw when you think weather is not promising.  Shot is also better than not shot. Try to take your pictures at RAW mode as it enables you to adjust its exposure later more easily.  A change of 1/3 eV to 1eV would make a dramatic change to the photo.  In order to deal with the wind, you should use high ISO and sometimes use flash to adjust the brightness of the trees/leaves. When you want to take the whole forest of maple tree, you have no choice but using wide angle lens.  When you try to take a closeup shot of a leaf on the top of a tree, you cannot do without a tele lens.  Try to make the leaf stand out from the background by choosing background other than red.  Can adjust your point of view so that the blue sky is used as background.  In this case, don't forget to add CPL and use flash to light up the leaf.
下面是幾張我在加拿大拍的楓照： The following are some pictures I took in Toronto:
不要忘記地面上也是一片楓葉地氊﹝我的太太及兩隻狗狗成了背景﹞	Don't forget the leaves on the ground (the leaves are so beautiful that my wife and my dogs get not noticed).
即將變紅的楓葉近攝，用藍天做背景，但未有加CPL	A closeup view of maple leaf.  Blue sky is used as background but no CPL.
天氣不佳，也不是不拍的借口	Don't give up when weather seems not promising
不是季節也不是罷影的借口，找個對比就可以拍了	Don't give up when it is still not the right moment.  You can show the contrast.
不必只影一片紅，要有多種不同的顏色才使畫面豐富，這也是沒有用CPL的呢	A mix of different colors is better than just color red.
紅葉不多時，找點別的興趣	When red leaves are too rare, you can concentrate on other things.