Fall is photogenic. Cool weather and cozy clothing make friends and family naturally gravitate to one another whether or not they’re striking a pose. And brilliant, warm light washing over the saturated color of leaves and fields creates the perfect backdrop for any composition. Take advantage of all that natural beauty and capture this autumn on film. Set out to create a fall-themed book using Mixbook’s Shades of Autumn, Natural Textures or Our Story template. With a little extra time spent behind the lens, you might even luck into the perfect shot to use for your holiday greeting card in the process.

September Sight-Seeing Start by making a list of all the prettiest places close to where you live, then plan visits during peak leaf-peeping season. You might choose a few hikes with breathtaking views of leaves changing color. If you time it right, you can snap a lot of gorgeous shots over the course of a few weeks when the colors are brightest in your area. Do your best to plan walks in the early morning or the late afternoon when the light is low on the horizon, which is ideal for photographs. Luckily since the days are getting shorter, that might not mean getting up too terribly early or staying out too late to get the perfect light.

Autumn Nature Walks Set out for a series of nature walks where you search for gorgeous leaves, acorns, seedpods and other natural objects along the way. Remember to take pictures close up and pulled back for visually interesting composition in your photo book. Intricate detail of a single leaf displayed next to a landscape image of an expanse of fire-red trees will look breathtaking in your custom book. Remember that close-ups (macro photography) look great when the object that your photographing is held in someone’s hand – and landscape shots are beautiful with the tiny silhouette of a loved-one off in the distance. Dress subjects – especially children – in brilliant hues inspired by your setting to create a beautifully balanced composition.

Harvest Festival Plan to go apple picking! Try to find a local tree farm that lets you come and pick a bushel or two to take home. Some farms even let you take part in the process of pressing apple cider. And if the farm has lots of varieties on the property, you may even get to participate in an apple tasting of all the different types so you can decide once and for all if you like Pink Ladies or Gold Rush the best. With the apples you take home, make apple pie from scratch, or whip up a batch of chutney and can it, taking lots of in-process photos along the way. If there are any harvest festivals near you, make a day of it and snap lots of pics of kids running through hay bale mazes and hamming it up with scarecrows.

Farmers’ Markets Make a date to hit the local farmers’ market one weekend, snapping pics of all the amazing and otherworldly heirloom pumpkins, gourds, strawflowers and mums. Don’t forget to get a pic of the whole family sipping mulled cider together in recently unearthed mittens and scarves. And, by all means, if there are good old-fashioned caramel apples, make an event out of that time-tested autumn ritual.

Fall Favorites Here’s a list of some of my other favorite things about fall that are perfect for capturing on film and including in a custom autumn-themed photo book: