Spectacular colors and the departure of summer crowds make fall a great time to take your camera to America�s national parks, according to AAA. To help shutterbugs pick the best park for their autumn getaway, AAA has teamed with a renowned nature photographer to recommend some top destinations. �After Labor Day the seasons begin to shift and the crowds clear out of many national parks, creating some of the best photography conditions of the year,� said Tim Fitzharris, author of AAA National Parks Photography. �Wide open spaces seem a little wider and the unhurried pace allows photographers of all skill levels to linger for just the right shot.�

Fitzharris recommends photographers make parks� visitor centers their first stops upon arrival to get detailed maps, weather conditions and local expertise.

�Staff at the visitor center have intimate knowledge of the park and are an invaluable resource for photographers,� said Fitzharris. �They can tell you where wildflowers are blooming, elk are rutting, and waterfalls are surging.�

AAA can help plan national park trips with discounted national park passes for AAA members, the best online directions to national parks at AAAmaps.com, more than 1,000 travel agency locations, detailed hotel ratings and discounts at aaa.com, and more.

AAA National Parks Photography captures some of Fitzharris�s favorite national park photos from more than three decades of nature photography and more than two dozen books. His top national park picks for fall photography include:

-Acadia (Maine) � �Fall is the best time for an expedition. The crowds of summer have diminished and fall foliage, which usually reaches its peak of color in mid-October, decorates the rugged topography with bronze to sapphire accents.�

-Badlands (South Dakota) � �September offers the most pleasant shooting conditions with fair skies and temperatures much moderated from the sweltering levels of August.�

-Grand Teton (Wyoming) � �In fall, aspens and cottonwoods ignite the landscape with glinting tints of bronze and gold (peak color arrives the last week of September).�

Great Smoky Mountains (North Carolina/Tennessee) � �In autumn there is a torrent of fall color, ranging from brown and purple through scarlet and bronze and lemon-yellow. Mountain tops are cloaked in the evergreen pigments of spruce and fir, lower slopes and valleys are brushed with the warm hues of maple, oak, beech, birch, hickory, yellow-poplar, basswood, sweet gum, and magnolia.�

-Mount Rainier (Washington) � Although summer is ideal for shooting this area, the �parking lots become jammed with vehicles, especially on weekends. September is the next best month when the waning wildflower show is invigorated by colorful displays of autumn foliage and crowds have dissipated.�

-Rocky Mountain (Colorado) � In fall, �the park�s aspen groves put on a world-class exhibition of glowing gold and glinting bronze, setting entire mountainsides aflame. The peak of color usually occurs in mid-September. Rocky Mountain is one of the premier locations on the continent to photograph elk during the autumn rut.�

-Shenandoah (Virginia) � �Autumn color is gorgeous and normally most intense between October 10 and 25. This is the best time for a photographic visit, normally a delightful period of crisp temperatures and blue skies.�

-Yellowstone (Wyoming/Idaho/Montana) � �During September and October you will discover beautiful autumn color along water courses and lakesides, landscapes twinkling with occasional snow and frost, low-lying areas hung with mist, wildlife in peak condition in preparation for winter�s approach, and the drama of the elk rut when massive bulls bugle challenges in forest clearings and open meadows.�

-Yosemite (California) � �In autumn, oaks, maples, dogwoods, alders, and cottonwoods add splashes of color to the evergreen forests of the valley, usually in staggered presentations most concentrated from about mid-October into early November.�

AAA National Parks Photography is available at AAA club offices, online at www.aaa.com/barnesandnoble and at bookstores. It sells for $24.95 US/$37.95 CDN. National Park Passes are available at AAA�s more than 1,000 retail offices across the U.S. and Canada and online at aaa.com for $48 (member rate, normally $50).

As North America�s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides its more than 47 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully-tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.

# # # Media Contact: Justin McNaull e-mail: jmcnaull@national.aaa.com phone: +1 (202) 942 2079