There’s nothing I love quite so much as autumn. There’s something about that first moment that you step outside, when you can feel something different – something crisp, and full of promises in the air, that really speaks to my soul. The smell of it, the burnished colour of the leaves, the watery, golden light. F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that “life begins all over again when it gets crisp in the Fall”, and I, for one, am completely and utterly with him there.
From a photography point of view, too, this time of year offers up so many possibilities. With the foliage on the turn and the light shifting from punchy summer sunshine to something watercolour and transient, autumn transforms your photoshoots into something unique and beautiful.
A confession? I’m also a sucker for chestnut horses. My first pony, Dolly, was a Welsh Cob cross with a coat like a fresh conker, and despite what they say about chestnut mares, to my eyes she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Even now, getting a gleaming chestnut in front of my lens gets the cogs of inspiration whirring like nothing else can.
Luckily for me, my favourite season and my favourite colour of horse work together perfectly. Like chocolate and peanut butter, Yorkshire puds and gravy, tea and a biscuit, they’re so well-aligned that it’s almost like they were meant to be.
So if you’ve got a stunning chestnut booked into your autumn diary, promise me you’ll embrace that golden glow. Get bold, and brave, and play with that dappled, vibrant light shining through the last of the leaves. Let the hints of gilding in the horse’s coat come out to play. Let the images evoke sugar, pumpkin spice, and all things nice. Your clients will love them, and you’ll have so much fun taking them.
-Emily-