One of my friend recently requested me for the tips to capture fall colours in Canada. This is a post I wrote to help photographers who scout out good locations for fall color. Most of my recommendations are from a photographer point of view.
I am writing this blog to share the details about tracking the fall colours and the best times to view and capture with few photography tips.

Many Photographers over the years chased the colours diving joyously into leafy piles across canada. People usually ask, which is the best place and time to see the fall colours?
I want to share my top picks with brief details like where to go, when to go and how to capture the fall colours.  I will be proving the useful tips at the bottom of this page.

Before than please note that leaf colour change is dependent on 3 elements…

1. Weather

2. Elevation

3. Latitude

Weather is the most important and variable of the three, so it’s very hard to predict exactly when the leaves will be at their peak. You need a bit of luck to be in the right spot when a Cheetah chases and kills a deer in Africa.

My best recommended broad range is between the last two weeks of September and the first two or three weeks of October.
My Best Spot in Canada is : ” The Cabot Trail (Cape Breton Highlands National Park). 

 

1. The Cabot Trail: My first pick.

This is one of the world’s top scenic fall colour drives.  You can get more colours here than anywhere else in Canada. You get all sorts of red, orange with brilliant yellows of the aspen and tamaracks mixed with evergreens on the mountainsides with deep oranges, purples. The Cabot Trail, a scenic roadway that takes you around the greater part of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island, is one of the most famous drives in Canada. Many visitors to Cape Breton Island set aside an entire day – or two, three or four days – to see the sights along the Cabot Trail. Because there are so many scenic overlooks, cultural heritage sites and hiking trails on the Cabot Trail, spending some time planning your excursion will make your road trip much more enjoyable.

Best time:  First or second week of October

 

2. Algonquin Park, Ontario, My second Pick

The reason to pick this spot is the colours are guaranteed during a specific date range, traditionally.  It is reported for the past 35+ years that the earliest autumn leaf colour peak recorded was September 15, 1982, and the latest was October 9, 1996. The average peak of the Sugar Maple canopy in the western portion of the Highway 60 Corridor is September 27. The precise peak fall colour for the Sugar Maple canopy in Algonquin Park for 2014 was determined to be September 26. In order to observe the Sugar Maple canopy colour a trip in mid September to early October is a wise idea.

Best time: Mid October (including Thanksgiving).  Late October visit generally means the maples are well “past peak” or “bare”.

 

3. Montreal and Quebec: This is my third pick. There is no better place to observe this annual spectacle than the Laurentian Mountains, just a short drive north of Montreal. This elevated site, which is also a popular wintertime sports and ski centre, displays one of the most colourful vistas of fall foliage anywhere in Canada. Québec’s stunning autumn colours come from the variety of different tree species. The colours peak at the end of September and continue through to mid- to- late October. Visitors can celebrate the season at the annual Symphony of Colours Festival in the ski resort town of Mont-Tremblan. From sugar maples to birch trees, Quebec is littered with flora that changes brilliantly in the autumn months. The Laurentian Mountains and the resort town of Mont Tremblant are the best spots to hike, bike or just relax in the colourful setting. Prime viewing times are from late September to late October. (Fotolia)

Some of the favorite spots:

– Parc de la Mauricie (north of Trois-Rivière)
– Highway 155 along the St-Maurice river (drive a while and turn back)
– Parc de la rivière Jacques-Cartier (just north of Quebec City)
– Parc des Grands-Jardins (carpet of yellow aspen on the Mont du lac des Cygnes trail)
– Parc des Hautes-Gorges (yellow aspen and rugged cliffs)
– Cap Tourmente
– The Megantic region
– The Eastern Townships

Best time: Peek in Quebec is somewhere between september 25 and october 5th.

 

4. New Brunswick:  The Fundy Coastal Drive in New Brunswick is another “must see” Canadian fall foliage tour that delivers some of the most outstanding viewing available anywhere in the country. The route skirts the Bay Of Fundy, renowned as one of the great marine wonders. The wall of vibrant red and pumpkin orange is at its best during the first two weeks of October.

Best time: October first two weeks

 

5. Prince Edward Island: P.E.I. is alive with colour as the leaves change. Drive through the middle of the province on the Central Coastal Drive. Offering picturesque views of cliffs, beaches, sea and, of course, fall foliage, the 253 km route is a great way to explore P.E.I. in autumn. PEI forests have an exceptional range of colours in autumn. The warm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait give PEI a relatively moderate climate and help create one of the longest fall foliage periods in northeastern North America. In addition, PEI’s forests are bear-free and there are no deer or moose, ensuring a safe, hunter-free environment.

Best time: From mid-September to late October.

 

Other Worthy Spots: The Rocky Mountains, Alberta:   The Banff and Jasper National Parks, and the surrounding areas, are spectacular during fall when the forest leaves display a kaleidoscope of yellow, red and orange. Some of the best views can be seen from the Banff Gondola and the Jasper Tramway, both of which provide spectacular panoramic views. As always, Lake Louise is a great site for a photo opportunity and the hike from the lake up to nearby Lake Agnes provides some great foliage vantage points.

Best Time: September and October

 

My top  Tips:

1. Don’t travel in train for a Photo Trip ( Except the one recommended trip)
Best by Rail: Fall Foliage Romance by Rail, Toronto – Montreal – Quebec City – Halifax: Try to book the Via Rail’s special 6-night Fall Foliage vacation features some of Canada’s most dramatic and interesting cities like Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and Halifax.

2. Leaves often look best in sidelight or backlighting. Catch the “golden light” in the mornings and evening. Direct sunlight in the middle of the day gives overly harsh, high contrast images. The air is clearest in the morning and after rain, so these can be really good times to shoot, especially if you have any long distance shots which can get washed out by haze

3. Look for color contrasts, such as bright red trees against an evergreen background. Don’t be afraid to use a telephoto lens to pick out detail in the landscape as well as wideangle lenses when there is a lot of color

3. Always use a polarizer to reduce reflections off the leaves and boost colour saturation .

4.  Drive from West to East. Look for windy roads and countryside.  It’s all around but often hard to find an image where all the leaves are turning at the same time. Look for confined areas or areas with the same type of tree. And go out after the “season is done” to find those leaves scattered on rocks, lake shores and down a trail. They all tell a story of the endless march of time

5. Use this fall foliage report: http://www.ontarioparks.com/fallcolour

6. A great tool that can help you track seasonal changes like fall color is: Flickr. Although it’s known for being a great website for sharing your photos, it can also be a great scouting tool.

Here’s how:  If you go to the advanced search page, you’ll be able to search with words AND dates. So for example, you can search for photos that are tagged with “leaves wisconsin” AND were shot after October 3rd, 2011. This is tremendously useful because it allows you to visually see what the colors are like at a certain location, and that can help you decide if it’s worth a visit or not. Of course, not everyone tags their photos with the location’s name, but you can usually find a good daily supply of photos from any semi-popular nature preserve. ( Source:  STEVE BERARDI)
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