Chicago photographer Barry Butler shares tips for capturing the city’s fall colors

You can see some of the color out there right now from our camera at 2800 North Lakeshore Drive. Chicago area kind of peaking right now, at least right there in the metro area. Fall colors looking great. Joining me... To talk about these beautiful autumn scenes is the man who knows more about taking pictures of the city than anybody else in Chicagoland, our good friend Barry Butler. Thanks for coming in here, Barry. We always are happy to have you in here. All right, we've been out taking pictures of fall foliage already. What do you think of the show so far this year? You've been doing this for a number of years. Are we ahead of schedule, behind schedule? It feels like we're behind, but I've had some really good shots even in the second week of November. Okay. It has felt, I think maybe Maybe the drought conditions have something to do with it earlier in the year. That's obviously our beautiful skyline there from the air. I took that shot from a helicopter. Barry is really tall. That's how he was able to get that shot. Well, that one with the guy on the bench, that is the second week of November. Okay, wow. So have some faith here. Their seasons collide, both winter and autumn. That's amazing, right, when we get both seasons at the same time. And one of the things I love, the fact that the city has been extending the time for Buckingham Fountain to be rolling. It was rolling the other day, so maybe this weekend you can get out there and take some shots. Maybe. One of the things that I like that you do so well, Barry, is you change your perspective. For example, that shot that you had of the leaves in the snow. You weren't standing up there directly over that. You got down, didn't you? I'm on my belly. I don't like that. Dude, my knees are as old as I am, so I know what that's like to get down there. Well, it's funny. I wear pants with knee pads in them right these days because I've messed myself up so many ways, you know, so yeah. And there's that shot right there. So this might be a tip for folks who are out there taking pictures is maybe change your perspective, right? Yeah. Well, move. Sometimes, even if you just move 10 feet, you get a completely different composition. So sometimes we kind of get... Set in our ways for one shot and then you realize that, well, if I move a little bit or go down or try to finally get a little bit higher, that's the way to do it. And how much of what you do involves planning where you're going to take the shot? That's a big part of it, isn't it? Yeah. Well, the big part is you have to go out and see where the colors are. Okay. That's great. At this time of the year, it's so crazy with the weather. I mean, look at the last few days, we had nothing but overcast skies and rain, so kind of tough. And when I went out there this morning, got out there early, drove around and like, okay, where we've got some color and Millennium Park was it. Okay, and I love this shot right here. What I love best here is you've got a frame, the leaves with the buildings in the background. So is that a nice technique for our shutterbugs to employ? Of course, I always want to have the skyline or something that says Chicago in the background or in the foreground. But some people just love to take photos of the leaves themselves. How did you get this shot? Is this a drone? Yeah, this is a drone over at Maggie Daley Park. That probably is on fire right now, too. Yeah, that's just, that is a perspective, you know, the lines of the pathways there really make that work. How much time do you spend editing your pictures? Is that a big part of your workflow? You've done a great job, obviously. About 20 seconds each. But you're not, you do a little bit of editing, don't you? Yeah, yeah, well, you have to process them, right? I mean, so you have to just make sure that the color balance, white balance is good. And if there's, you know, some overexposure, try to adjust for that. But that's about it, because I don't have time to mess around. Some people love doing that, but I don't have time for that. There we are at the Baha'i Temple there. That was a beautiful shot. How did you get this one? That was a drone. There's Hyde Park. This is an area where people forget about in Chicago. There are some amazing colors in Hyde Park, whether it's the University of Chicago or some of the buildings. That almost looks like, I don't know, Harry Potter-ish, if you ask me. It does. It does. That could be Croatia or something there. I mean, where did you get that on your European trip, Barry? That's fabulous. And then look at the purple colors. I saw you posted that one. That's magnificent. Yeah. I was high-fiving myself after that one. Okay. There's the Museum of Science and Industry, another area. I was trying to get the Obama Center the past few days, the colors really weren't working for me, but maybe this week it'll be a good time to do that. Do you do anything with a smartphone or is everything done with your Nikon? And obviously your drone. Yeah, so helicopters, drone, rooftops, on the ground, whatever it takes, a 300-foot ladder, whatever it's going to take to get the shot, I'm going to find a way. I mean, for example, that one of Sears Tower, that's right off the Roosevelt Bridge. And contrary to what people think, I do go outside the city. There's Winnetka right there. And I love that little ferret whale at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Yeah, that's beautiful. So I was finally able to get that in with the colors behind it. The next thing I want to know is when you're out there, Yeah. do you ever worry about traffic? Are you kind of, you know? Getting in the way, where am I parking the car? How hard is it from just a kind of logistical standpoint to get some of these shots? Yeah, that's the other part you have to plan, too, and time and traffic and so on and so forth. Fortunately, if you do it right around sunrise, you're not going to have too many issues. So if you get out to Lincoln Park early in the morning. Plenty of parking, and that's probably the place that I would go this weekend. Lincoln Park is where you go. All right, then the next question for you here is, do you shoot anything midday hours, or are you doing everything kind of golden hour? Yeah, I like to have that side light because it gives that three-dimension. Mm-hmm. Certainly, if you like shooting in the middle of the day, go ahead. It's just very abrasive to me. Okay. Do we need any expensive filters or anything, or do we just go out there? No, use a color polarizer, maybe. Okay. That'd be about it. That'd be about it. And then... Print your pictures. Yes. Print them. Yes. It's more than the seven inches that you have on your phone, right? Make that thing nice and big and color up your room. Barry, you sell any of your stuff? And if so, what's your website to get something? BarryButlerPhotography.com. Barry Butler Photography. I might have a few photos on there. There are just a few thousand winners there. Great hero shots. Barry Butler, we appreciate you coming in.