The woods were ablaze with autumn color last week as I set out for an overnight trip to the Appalachian Mountain Club's Zealand Falls Hut on the edge of the Pemigewasset Wilderness in the White Mountain National Forest.

Over the years, I have found the Zealand Valley to be one of the more reliable locations to find vibrant fall colors. The leaves of maple, beech and birch display red, yellow and orange hues as crisp days and cool nights signal the change of seasons. Those Trix cereal-colored leaves provide a bright contrast to the evergreen spruce and fir trees that share the forest.

The Zealand Valley is a favorite destination in any season, given the relative ease of the 2.8-mile Zealand Trail through the valley bottom, as well as the exertion needed to complete the last two-tenths mile of trail to the hut (making one feel that the destination has been “earned”) and the inspirational views of Carrigain Notch from the hut's porch.

Day-hike options from the hut are numerous, as well. As the 2011 book “Passport to AMC's High Huts in the White Mountains” notes: “Zealand Falls is an excellent base camp for day trips, offering perhaps the widest variety of easily accessible hikes of all huts in the system.”

When hiking in the Zealand Valley this time of year, you're amongst the trees, a part of the landscape, smack in the middle of the fall color.

While a hike to the hut was reason enough for this autumn jaunt, I was doubly motivated by another aspect of the hike — and that was to share the trip with Jerry Monkman of Portsmouth, a prolific and supremely talented landscape photographer who has captured sensational images of the White Mountains and other iconic New England locations for years.

Jerry is the author of the “AMC Guide to Outdoor Digital Photography,” published in 2011, and I was hoping time on the trail with him would yield tips on creating excellent imagery. Jerry didn't disappoint. I came away with a few new techniques to stash in my camera bag, so to speak.

Jerry is well-versed in composition and exposure and provides great tips on planning (or “previsualizing”) a shot, as well as suggestions on how to pick the details out of a landscape that will make a winning photo. He is a proponent of spending time in the environment and getting a feel for the place before picking up the camera, taking the time to sort out the shapes and textures and color around him.

We had to deal with persistent showers during our hike, but it was evident that fall foliage colors tend to “pop” when skies are overcast and sunlight is diffused.

Jerry acknowledges the benefits of overcast skies in his digital guide. “If you often shoot in forested areas as I do, then you will become very good friends with the diffuse light of overcast, foggy or drizzly days. The dappled light in a forest on a sunny day may be pleasant for a walk in the woods, but it can wreak havoc on a photograph by causing a blotchy mess of bright spots and dark shadows that confuse the viewer's eye. With clouds overhead, this contrast disappears, allowing you to capture all the subtle details in a scene that might otherwise be lost in dark shadows or blown-out highlights.”

I found water droplets clinging to colorful leaves an interesting subject and I took the chance to zoom in and isolate those tiny features of the forest that would be lost in an image of a grand landscape.

Fueled by a hearty breakfast cooked by the hut crew, we welcomed partly cloudy skies on our second day as we explored the effects of morning light on the forest landscape. (Jerry had actually shot quite a few photos prior to breakfast, taking advantage of “Golden Hour light,” which he notes in the book is “the warm, low-contrast light when the sun is low on the horizon, just after sunrise or before sunset.”)

He provided helpful tips (and does so in the book, as well) on some of the specifics unique to digital photography, such as how to read a histogram — the exposure graph that represents the tonal values in a given photograph.

Chapters in the book cover the steps in processing a digital image after the shot has been taken. Helpful case studies, designed to illustrate the various concepts in the book are also included.

His work has appeared in AMC publications as well as such periodicals as National Geographic Adventure, Outdoor Photographer, and National Wildlife. He and his wife Marcy are co-authors of eight books, including “Discover the White Mountains.”

Rob Burbank is the director of media and public affairs for the Appalachian Mountain Club in Pinkham Notch. His column appears monthly.