Photography

Photos: The Colors of Fall

As the days grow shorter and the nights become a bit chillier, animals are migrating and leaves are changing colors. Gathered below are some colorful early-autumn images from across the Northern Hemisphere.

By Alan Taylor

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A motorcyclist rides on a two-lane highway past trees with fall colors.
Charles Krupa / AP
A motorcyclist rolls past trees whose leaves are changing color with the advance of autumn, on September 24, 2025, in New London, New Hampshire.
A stag stands in silhouette in a park.
Michael Probst / AP
A stag is silhouetted as he stands in a forest of the Taunus region in Frankfurt, Germany, on October 1, 2025.
A combine harvester rules across a soybean field under low sunlight.
Michael Conroy / AP
Soybeans are harvested on the Warpup Farm in Warren, Indiana, on September 17, 2025.
A small mouse, seen through blades of grass
Silas Stein / DPA / Getty
A wood mouse, seen in a meadow near a lake in Rottweil, Germany, on September 27, 2025.
A close view of red autumn-colored leaves.
Hendrik Schmidt / DPA / Getty
Leaves glow, backlit by the autumn sun on September 23, 2025, in Zwickau, Germany.
A man pushes a wheelbarrow through a pumpkin patch, carrying two small boys and several pumpkins.
Danny Lawson / PA Images / Getty
Farmer Tom Spilman, along with his sons Freddie (left) and Olek (right), harvests some of the 150,000 pumpkins at Spilman's Pumpkin Farm in Sessay, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, ahead of the opening of Pumpkin Fest 2025 on September 24, 2025.
Four mallard ducks, in flight
Silas Stein / DPA / Getty
Mallards fly over a lake on September 27, 2025, near Rottweil, Germany.
A moose grazes in a frost-covered field.
RJ Sangosti / MediaNews Group / The Denver Post / Getty
A moose grazes in a frost-covered field as fall colors begin to emerge on Kenosha Pass, in Colorado, on September 17, 2025.
The northern lights form a shimmering green ribbon in the sky above autumn-colored trees.
Hasan Akbas / Anadolu / Getty
Northern lights appear in the sky over autumn trees in Anchorage, Alaska, on September 29, 2025.
An aerial view of a corn maze with shapes representing a tractor a farmer, and the sun.
Godofredo A. Vásquez / AP
The corn maze at Cool Patch Pumpkins, photographed on September 29, 2025, in Dixon, California.
A heron takes flight during a misty sunrise.
Toby Melville / Reuters
A heron takes flight during a misty early-autumn sunrise, in Richmond Park, London, England, on September 23, 2025.
Water droplets hang from flowers.
Thomas Warnack / DPA / Getty
Droplets hang from a flowering borage in Dürmentingen, Germany, on September 28, 2025.
A bear sits, mostly-submerged in a river, as a salmon leaps out of the water nearby.
Wolfgang Kaehler / LightRocket / Getty
A brown bear hunts for salmon in the river estuary in Windy Bay, Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada, on September 8, 2025.
A large pile of many gourds and pumpkins.
Michael Probst / AP
All kinds of pumpkins are displayed at a farm in Büttelborn, near Frankfurt, Germany, on September 23, 2025.
A close view of a bird with a long thin beak and long thin legs.
Alper Tuydes / Anadolu / Getty
A view of a black-winged stilt, a wetland species, during migration to its wintering areas with the arrival of autumn in Bursa, Turkey, on August 22, 2025.
A forklift is used to dump apples from a crate into a large bin full of apples.
Jan Woitas / DPA / Getty
Apples are poured out of a crate at the Mehlhorn winery in Langenbernsdorf, Germany, on September 22, 2025, following an abundant apple harvest.
An aerial view of a mist-covered mountain showing autumn colors in the tree leaves
Bei He / Xinhua / Getty
An aerial photo taken on September 29, 2025, shows the autumn scenery of the Arxan National Forest Park, in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Many clusters of grapes, and one ladybug
Jennifer Brückner / DPA / Getty
Harvested grapes for pinot blanc from the Kloster Pforta state winery lie in a vineyard for processing on September 29, 2025, in Naumburg, Germany.
Dozens of geese fly in formation.
Sergei Grits / AP
A flock of barnacle geese flies in the autumn sky over the village of Valkla, Estonia, on September 27, 2025.
A stag raises its head up and roars, surrounded by foliage.
Toby Melville / Reuters
A stag roars as the annual rutting season begins, during a foggy autumn morning in Richmond Park, London, England, on September 29, 2025.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.