The Best Fall Colors I've Photographed Yet | Large Format Photography

Spectacular fall colors in southern Utah -
Utah is usually a great time in the fall season for photographers, but this year was something special. In this episode I photograph five different subjects on 4x5 large format film, using FujiFilm Velvia 50, Kodak Portra 160, and Ektar 100.
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:04 Setting up composition 1
05:14 Light table review 1
05:46 Edited image 1
06:08 Setting up composition 2
10:19 Light table review 2
10:53 Edited image 2
11:23 Setting up composition 3
13:59 Light table review 3
14:58 Edited image 3
16:08 Setting up composition 4
19:30 Light table review 4
19:58 Edited image 4
20:41 Bonus image 5
21:13 Edited image 5
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[@rockymountainmike3133]

I shot composition 2 this year as well. Great minds, I guess.

[@tim31415]

I've whiled away many an hour waiting for a break in the wind. Enjoy that 135mm lens. My Graflex came with a 127mm Kodak and that gets a lot of use. Great shots again!

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Tim, I've been finding that 135mm range to be quite useful most of the time!

[@ESKAYRY]

BEAUTY

[@dev9184]

bonus image is insane!!

[@ytuberization]

Wonderful images and the process is nicely presented. Wish you always good light in 2024!

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks so much and all the best in the new year!

[@brianbeattyphotography]

Great work Chris. Really like that fall progression scene at 15:15. Cool concept and well done.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks so much Brian!

[@jaydigshistory36]

I love the blue in that Canyon shot near the end. It was so cool(no pun intended) against the fall colors. Happy New Year Chris! Enjoy!

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Jay! Agreed, sometimes the blue cast can give it an almost 3D feel. All the best in 2024!

[@RYANPARKPHOTOGRAPHY]

always relaxing, and love your works! thanks for sharing.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Cheers Ryan, thanks as always!

[@2252269]

Wish you Happy New Year! Thanks for your videos of 2023 and I am absolutely looking forward to seeing this year's projects. Whenever you publish a new video it is a great day for me as it delivers inspiration to keep on doing my photo projects. Lately, the majority of my work is on film. Much appreciated.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks so much for the kind words, and happy new year to you as well! Best of luck in 2024 with those projects!

[@podhoncisty]

Beautiful 😍😍😍

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thank you!

[@carbonejack]

Wonderful images, as always.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Jack!

[@mattanderson354]

Another amazing video. The last two images were my favorite. Well shot!

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Matt!

[@patrickguilfoyle8884]

Wow Chris, it appears you were there @ peak fall colors! Great images & video. Well done. Keep up the great work. Happy New Year!!

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Patrick, happy new year to you also!

[@jw0001]

Nice colors and compositions. Thanks for sharing

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@philipculbertson55]

Great to see a new video Chris. Really enjoyed it. The Wedge of color gradiation was nice. I definitely thought this year's shot was better. I was recently watching a video on Andy Mumfords channel and saw you walk through the scene.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Philip! That was quite a fun trip with Andy, we were hanging out for about a week and I’ll certainly have some video of my own coming up from there!

[@robdixon5016]

Great stuff. Those 4x5s must look incredible on a light table.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Rob, they sure do! Sometimes it's hard to communicate just how good they look

[@andrewfindlayphoto]

Great video Chris. I really enjoyed it. The photos were all good in there own way. The velvia look really takes me back to the old days. The last one was reminded me of the time I shot a rock pillar in Cathedral Caven in the Lake District, with an exposure of 26 minutes which I had to recalculate constantly as the clouds moved and the sun set. Surprisingly it was perfect. Keep up the 'Influencing' 😊

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Andrew! That's what I should have been doing, adjusting exposure as the light was changing, but I wasn't paying enough attention in the moment 😅

[@kenblair2538]

Great body of work Chris. I tend to favor warm, punchy fall colors. Your Velvia images are super. I wouldn't fret over those rocks in the last image, as my eye goes to the colorful leafs . Thanks. KB.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks so much Ken!

[@chriscard6544]

I prefer your velvia, happy new year

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Chris, all the best in 2024!

[@giovannigio6217]

Amazing video, now I guess it's time for a winter oriented video somewhere.

[@MichaelAlanNYC]

That last image was a nice surprise

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Michael!

[@tonysantophotography]

Beautiful images Chris! That 300mm lens is awesome. I use it a lot for portraits with my 8x10. I’m not crazy about the f/9 aperture though 😂.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Tony, haha I hear ya there. Although it replaced my f/5.6 copal 3 and it's definitely been worth the weight savings!

[@jimrookphotos]

You really nailed the compositions this day, Chris. So many considerations as well with light, warmth, color variations and the reflected blue sky affect. I did like the warmth of the Ektar photo a bit better than the Velvia. In that last shot, glad you shot that 300 NIkon f/9. It and the 135 are my favorite two lenses. A little long in required exposures but oh the sharpness and detail. Overall, a great Zion trip for you. Someday, if I think I can stand being around the crowds, I may yet give it a try. Oh, and Happy New Year; hope it's a very satisfying one for you.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Jim! Agreed, the 135mm has been super useful and I think this 300mm is going to be a really fun lens as I experiment with it more. I hear ya about the crowds, some days can be tough but overall I think it's still worth a visit. Some of my favorite highlights are the people I run into in the park!

[@epoe74]

Wow all of them are wonderful but that intense red at the end I think is my favorite, what intensity and detail an amazing place. Congrats, curious about the backpack?

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thank you! The backpack is a LowePro ProTactic 450, version 1. Last year I did a video about my whole large format field kit, not much has changed since then other than a couple new lenses: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJ2oaGdom9-XeK8si=sLd6_MI-mqN_nHei

[@paulhimle]

Yes, yes the dark side, "let the hate flow through you"!🤣

[@danncorbit3623]

On the three triangles picture, I actually preferred the prior image. Now, I agree that this year's image does the three triangles concept better. But the older image had both red and green in the central triangle, and the complementary colors made it pop for me. I am bonkers over stark colors, which is why I like the final image best. I call it 'the burning bush' because it's so flaming bright. For me that one is a slack-jawed, buggy-eyed jaw-dropper. ;-)

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Dann, while shooting I sure thought that the colors were better this year but when comparing the film sheet from last year it was indeed harder to say which was the better showing. Oh well, sometimes it's an improvement, other times maybe not so much. I like 'burning bush', might have to borrow that 😀

[@berthaduniverse]

Hey CD, nice work here. I forget how fractions of a stop can really affect "slide" film. I literally have not touched it since the early 80's.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Paul, it's definitely a finicky thing!

[@user-lq3sw2fn9v]

I haven’t seen you update your channel for a long time.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Apologies for that! Sometimes life just gets in the way 😣

[@andyvan5692]

at 15:02 the light table 2 image from 2022 looks better exposed, a suggestion, how about doing the 2022 shot (film, filters, exposure) but dodge (over develop) the top, to keep the bottom right, as that has better tones (zone 8-9 instead of zone10), and hasn't washed out the river, the water in it, or the nice slate colour of the rocks, which I think ADD to the composition. Otherwise it may be better to just go for a 150 mm lens, and go tight into the centre slice, forgetting the foreground, or using rise/fall to minimise it, or an ND grad?, to balance the shot?

[@customerbf]

Love your videos. A big picture question: after returning to a place over and over what have you learned about your photography/yourself/the place. Do you think you still enjoy or find wonder as you did the first time?

[@ChrisDarnell]

That's a great question, I think returning year over year has helped me learn from previous trips for sure, particularly metering mistakes and when to use filters. I also think I've learned to be more creative and to look for different kinds of compositions, but revisiting images I've already shot has been fun as well. Sitting with the images for a while and learning what worked/didn't work is a great exercise and it's nice to be able to return and iterate on the lessons learned. As far as that sense of enjoyment and wonder - I can't say it's exactly the same as the first time but it's definitely still there. I find it takes me a couple visits at any new location to start producing work I'm really proud of, partly because of that feedback loop, but also because some places are just so overwhelming. On the flip side of that I do think it's important to keep learning by visiting new locations, and at some point after visiting a location enough times I will probably feel like my work is done there, but I don't feel that is the case in Zion just yet.

[@throughmylens3530]

Love the images! I noticed you had a portable GPS unit,what model do you use. Thankd Denny

[@ChrisDarnell]

Hi Denny, mine is a Garmin InReach, the original model (not version 2). So far it’s served me well, although I’ve been fortunate I haven’t needed the emergency features yet!

[@andyvan5692]

great nature shots, PS: you have gone through the lenses as you got them, but do you use filters?, and what system, as there are 6-8 systems out there, but many of them top out at 85 mm dia. filter threads[Nisi\Wine Country camera\Lee, to name a few], so no use for LF lenses, at least most of them, discounting the "center filters" of coarse, which are a specialised item for each wide lens. I shoot cars, boats, Architecture, and as such encounter a lot of reflective objects, including being around water, so need an idea where to, and what to look into.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Hey Andy, my filter kit is the Lee 100mm foundation kit (the older one), and I just use adapter rings to fit it to each of my lenses. Of the lenses I own, the largest thread is 82mm on my Nikon 90mm f/4.5, I've had no issues with that using this kit and the wide angle ring adapter for the holder. I also have a 75mm f/5.6, which has a 67mm thread, and that one has been fine as well. At one time I think Lee was making ring adapters up to 95mm, I don't know what lens(es) you're trying to find filters for, but if you need to go larger than that you could take a look at the 150mm kit from Kase Filters

[@philipjackson4200]

You seem to use very small apertures like f/32 a lot. How do you avoid image softening due to diffraction?

[@outsourced-fd7vf]

Where you at my dude?

[@ChrisDarnell]

I’m still here! Working on a few new videos that’ll be out before you know it

[@outsourced-fd7vf]

@@ChrisDarnell Right on Chris! Makes me really happy to know you're okay and about to drop some hot fire. Can't wait for the new vids and I hope you're doing well!

[@thomaspopple2291]

I'll be honest, I don't like the idea of manipulating a natural scene. And if you are going to do it, don't tell us. I know you want to be honest but in the end it's nobody's business how you get your images. But knowing that shot with the leaf was manipulated makes me immediately dismiss it. Sorry.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks for the feedback Thomas, no need to apologize!

[@AbdonPhirathon]

Maybe think about why you would want to dismiss it, instead of appreciating the decisions the photographer took to achieve the final image. One thing is to be put off by manipulating journalistic work to misrepresent a scene, but a leaf? Get a grip.