When is Golden Hour and why should you take pictures at this time?
When is Golden Hour?
Golden Hour is the last hour before sunset and the first hour after sunrise. Often called “Magic Hour” Golden Hour is a great time of day to take photos because the natural lighting allows you to take effortlessly stunning images. Learning to harness this hour is a skill anyone can use for photos.
Why do we shoot during Golden Hour?
Golden hour is a perfect time to take photos because the light is softer. During most other times of the day, the sunlight is beaming down causing overexposed images and washed-out skin tones. Since the sun is at a low angle in the sky it elongates the shadows making for more flattering portraits.
The light is warmer during this time of day creating a feeling of calmness and happiness in your photos. The light during this time also allows you to play around with sun flares and silhouettes.
Tips for shooting during golden hour
Plan your shoot
Make sure to check out the location you want to shoot at beforehand. Plan out the shots and poses you want to capture. Check out the work of others that have shot there before for inspiration. Golden Hour can move fast so it is best to get to your location early to give you time to set up and take some test shots.
Keep shooting
The light changes every minute and sometimes faster than you realize, so don’t stop taking photos! Stay the whole hour and shoot as much as you can and you can see the scene change in your finished photos. Especially if it is your first time shooting during golden hour you want to take a lot of photos to be able to learn from them.
Play with lens flares and silhouettes
Lens flares are usually avoided, but when captured purposefully, they can add a nice effect to your images. A flare is the reflection of bright light into the lens of a camera. This often works well during golden hour making images a little more interesting and inviting. You can capture a flare by changing the angle of your lens towards the sun. Another great effect you can capture during this time is silhouetting. Silhouettes are dark, underexposed subjects in front of a light. Shooting towards the sun with your subject backlit can create dramatic and mysterious images.
Be flexible
As we all know, things don’t always go as planned. When you’re not in control of the weather it is important to be flexible with your plans and adapt. Things can often change last minute not allowing you to get everything you planned for, but you can still do a lot either way. Keep an open mind and take what nature gives you, enjoy yourself and good things can come from it.
Conclusion
Shooting during Golden Hour can help make a big difference in the photos you take outdoors. Make sure to have fun when you go out and let the creativity flow capturing the golden lights of the sunrise and sunset. We would love to know how it goes. Leave a comment and let us know!