Tai Tong Red Leaves in Late Autumn

Tai Tong Red Leaves in Late Autumn

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Tai Tong Red Leaves in Late Autumn

The winter is here and it’s time for red leaves appreciation
Photographing red leaves is a hit lately, and you don’t have to go overseas to do that as you can also find beautiful red leaves forest in the countryside of Hong Kong. For example, Tai Tong in Yuen Long with densely grown sweet gum trees is a popular red leaves appreciation location around this time every year.

We can take bus K66 at Long Ping West Rail Station to Kiu Hing Road. Then turn to Tai Tong Shan Road and take a 45-minute walk passing a barbecue site to reach the pavilion – our destination this time where red leaves are densely grown. On the return journey, take the same route back and take bus K66 back to Long Ping West Rail Station.
The junction to enter Tai Tong Shan Road from Kiu Hing Road
Walk past the barbecue area
Alternatively, you can take taxi directly to Tai Tong Shan Road and get off in front of the gate (the furthest you can reach by taxi). This can save you about 20-minute walk uphill
There is a general perception that red leaves equals to maple leaves, but in fact it is not. In Hong Kong, there are different species of red leaf trees which have their own distinctive shape and hue, such as leaves of sweet gum trees in Tai Tong which look similar to maple leaves, sabino leaves in Tsing Yi Park in the shape of feather, and sea almond trees in Hong Kong Central Library which resemble the shape of olive.
Getting close to the sweet gum tree forest
The pavilion among the trees on the right side of the photo is our destination this time. It is where the sweet gum trees are densely planted
The good thing about photographing red leaves in Tai Tong is that the leaves here are dense and the trees are low-growing. One single lens such as EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM is sufficient enough for shooting, with its tele-end doing a good job in capturing close-up shots of leaves. Portraits with stunning red leaves background can also be easily done. However, since this place has become a very popular location and attracted many people to come during weekends or holidays, it limits the ways to frame a shot without having the crowd being captured. Those who want to do some serious photography are advised to come on a weekday or in the morning.

To take pictures of leaves showing beautiful vein patterns and a translucent touch of color, we recommend shooting into the light and increase the exposure compensation by 1.5 stops:
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As shown in the histogram on the upper right corner, this photo is accurately exposed theoretically but the leaves look dull and unattractive
Increasing the exposure by 1.5 stops makes the leaves look more translucent and shows clearer vein patterns, although the histogram indicates over-exposure and even some areas of solid white
Besides, we can increase the saturation levels of red and orange by choosing Color→Saturation to create more vivid colors
The final photo
The place is crowded with visitors on weekends and holidays
Green leaves turn red when the temperature falls. However, with weather becoming unpredictable in recent years, it’s hard to tell what is the best time to go for red leaves blossom. Last year the leaves in Tai Tong turned red in November and December, but we have to wait till late December this year for the leaves to turn red. Luckily there are a large number of people sharing their red leaves photos over the internet, so you can simply check on the web before going!
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