---
title: Behind the Shot with Aaron Reed
description: Behind the Shot with Aaron Reed Every year during autumn I pay a visit to the beautiful Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon and this year was no exception. My wife […]
---

[Really Right Stuff Light & Shadow](https://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/light-and-shadow)

# [Behind the Shot with Aaron Reed](https://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/light-and-shadow/bts-aaronreed2)

 Written by [Really Right Stuff](https://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/light-and-shadow/author/really-right-stuff) | Oct 30, 2013 4:30:46 AM

## Behind the Shot with Aaron Reed

<https://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Colorfall-Aaron-Reed.jpg>

“Colorfall” by Aaron Reed

**Photographer:**   
Aaron Reed   
Portland, OR   
[AaronReedPhotography.com](http://www.aaronreedphotography.com)

 

**Camera:**   
Canon 5D Mark III   
Tamron 24-70mm/f2.8 VC   
B+W Circular Polarizer

 

RRS Gear:   
[TVC-23](https://reallyrightstuff.com/tvc/) Versa Tripod   
[BH-40 LR](https://reallyrightstuff.com/bh-40-ball-head/) Ballhead   
B5D3-LA Plate

 

**Settings:**   
42mm   
ISO 400   
f/2.8   
1/25 sec

 

Every year during autumn I pay a visit to the beautiful Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon and this year was no exception. My wife Lisa and I arrived to find the garden at the height of fall color and got in line with the other 20+ photographers waiting for the front gate to open at 8am. Because I have photographed the garden many times before and images captured here are some of my most successful fine art images, I set out to create images different from those I had created and seen in the past.

The tree you see here is not “the” famous Japanese maple that you may have seen images of previously, but a smaller yet equally beautiful tree located on a hillside in the back of the garden. When I saw the leaves that were scattering the ground around the tree I knew I wanted to incorporate them into my image in a way that would evoke emotion without competing with the tree itself.

I dropped the legs of my RRS [TVC-23](https://reallyrightstuff.com/tvc/) Versa all the way to the ground and rotated my camera vertically using my [BH-40 LR](http://reallyrightstuff.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=BH-40-LR&type=3&eq=&desc=BH-40-LR%3a-Mid-sized-ballhead-with-LR&key=it) ballhead & L-plate combo allowing my camera to rest just a few inches above the ground. I chose an aperture of f/2.8 and manually focused on the center of the tree and took the shot. Knowing that this approach may leave the tree itself a bit soft, I also took a second image at f/16 and during post I blended in the top 1/3 of the f/16 frame with the f/2.8 frame to create the image you see here. The fog in the background created just enough contrast to achieve the mood I had hoped for.

 

[Aaron Reed](https://www.facebook.com/aaron.reed.184) is a fine art photographer based in the Pacific Northwest.   
Copyright ©2013 Aaron Reed. All rights reserved.

 

[View full post](https://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/light-and-shadow/bts-aaronreed2)

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