Perfect Fall Reflections (Montreal)

Even though Montreal does not have nicknames “windy city” or “windypeg” it is pretty much always breezy here. Since Montreal is an island surrounded by Sain Lawrance and Ottawa Rivers, the proximity of water contributes to the breeziness of air. It takes some luck and patience to capture perfect reflections in the water.

I always look for opportunities to capture perfect reflections during the “season of colors,” the fall.

This time the luck was on my side. I took the feature photo in the Lachine marina when all the boats, the yachts, the planes were already gone and I had ideal weather to capture the symmetry of the fall.

Shooting

At the time of shooting I did not have tripod with me, I shot handheld. I boosted the ISO to 200 and took a series of single shots because bracketing was not necessary.

Camera: Sony a6000
Lens: Sony 10-18
Focal Length: 18mm
Shooting Mode: Aperture Priority (A)
ISO: 200
Aperture: F/8
Shutter Speed: 1/50s
Bracketing: Single shot
Tripod: Handheld

Editing & Processing

It was single RAW processing workflow. 

Lightroom (95%)

With the help of the Crop Overlay tool, I changed the aspect ratio from 3×2 to 4×3 and made sure the horizon was straight. Next, I used Autumn preset from my Fall Colors Collection as the base for Lightroom Rapid Editing.

Then I used TOOLKIT to reduce Clarity and boost Contrast.

The Lightroom Preset Editing Formula: Autumn (1, 8, 14, 15, 32)

Photoshop (5%)

Cleaning (Stamp Tool).

Plugins: DeNoise (noise reduction), Topaz Detail (local contrast boost).

Total Time: 12min

The fall season offers a multitude of opportunities for capturing stunning foliage photos. By following these 12 ideas and tips, you can enhance your photography skills and capture the beauty of autumn in all its glory.

Before & After Transformation

Archiving: I save all my photos as JPEG (quality: 100%) at full resolution and with the help of the Lightroom plugin, I synchronized them with my portfolio on SmugMug for safekeeping, sharing, image hosting, and online sales.