Autumn deepens steadily into mid-November. It’s become the season to enjoy the changing colors and falling leaves.
So naturally, my feet led me to Shinjuku Gyoen. I headed there carrying my LUMIX G9 Pro II and Leica DG 12-60mm, Leica DG 50-200mm lenses.
While there are many trees that turn color in autumn and eventually shed their leaves, such as maples and ginkgos, I particularly love the complex yet subdued hues of the cherry trees’ autumn foliage and falling leaves.
The luxury of having this cherry blossom garden all to myself at this time of year, after drawing such crowds during spring’s flower season.
It’s quiet. Only the sound of my own footsteps echoes as I walk over the soft carpet of undergrowth and fallen leaves.
And speaking of autumn at Shinjuku Gyoen, another scene of fallen leaves is this row of plane trees.
No need for long explanations. Every angle you shoot here makes for a picture-perfect scene.
You can use the tree-lined path as a backdrop, shot slightly telephoto to enhance its density with compression effect, like the photo above.
Or go wide-angle with a vertical composition to emphasize the trees’ height.
You could also emphasize perspective using fallen leaves and the bench’s crossbar.
The sunlight fading and deepening the leaves’ hues is lovely; the sun returning to capture the crisp air against a blue sky in front lighting is lovely; and the slightly backlit shots blending human silhouettes into contemplative moods are lovely. It was a plane tree avenue where I could have stayed for hours enjoying snapping photos.
While I had fully accomplished the purpose of my visit to Shinjuku Gyoen that day, I decided to enjoy the autumn roses in the rose garden beside the plane tree avenue as a bonus. Those photos will be in the next article.
