Golden hour is the period of the day just after sunrise and just before sunset. The sun is just above the horizon at this time, and it usually produces a golden glow as the sunlight passes by molecules and particles in the atmosphere that scatter the light. The outdoor photography genre completed during this time of day is called golden hour photography.
As sunlight passes through the atmosphere whilst the sun is low, it passes through a greater depth and thickness of particles proving for a great time of day for golden hour photography. The particles scatter the shorter wavelengths of blue and violet light more than the reds, leaving the sky with beautiful hues of yellow to red and magenta.
The golden hour period is perfect for landscape and portrait photography when the scene is bathed in warm tones with less contrast and lighter shadows. The warm colours of golden hour photography are usually unsurpassed in beauty because the warm tones enhance the colours without blowing-out the highlights of the scene.
TO LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY IS TO LOVE GOLDEN HOUR
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An hour is not an hour
The golden hour is not actually an hour long. Depending on where you are in the world actual golden hour can be as short as twenty to thirty minutes, so it is important to arrive at the shoot location at least an hour before sunset to allow enough time to compose the scene or subject. The right light can be lost in just a few minutes if clouds block out the sun or cause shadows to move over the scene so keeping an eye on the local weather forecast will help.
Sunlight and settings for golden hour photography
The golden sunlight can be used as back-lighting on a portrait subject to great effect. A reflector can be used to light the face of the subject to brighten the shadows. Another option is to use flash to fill-in the shadows. Some incredibly beautiful images can be created by using flash-fill in portrait photography sessions in golden hour, especially where fast shutter speeds are used in conjunction with TTL-enabled flash units. TTL is Through-The-Lens metering, and a TTL-enabled flash allows the photographer to use faster shutter speeds than is normally available with standard non-TTL flashes.
Standard manual flashes usually have a maximum shutter speed capability of 1/200 or 1/250 sec which limits the ability of the photographer to use fast shutter speeds to capture a dramatic sky whilst keeping the subject exposed equally with flash. TTL flash photography can be daunting to the uninitiated photographer but once mastered provides an extensive opportunity to create incredibly beautiful and almost-surreal photography portraits.
Softer light
The softer light of golden hour provides for many opportunities to compose and create beautiful landscape photography, but starting before sunset, then moving into golden hour and beyond into blue hour (the period after sunset as the gold and reds move into blue before full darkness) there is a great opportunity to capture a range of deep colours across the scene.
Post processing golden hour photography
Post-processing by raising the shadows and dropping down the highlights in areas of the photograph is common to balance the scene as there may be a large range between these. Shooting in RAW will give the largest span of dynamic range available for post-processing.
Build a unique portfolio that includes golden hour photos
Create a photography website portfolio of your work that includes golden hour photos. Upload your best photographs to build a beautiful portfolio, and create social accounts such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to show off your work.
Have fun with golden hour photography!
Golden hour photography. The best light for most outdoor photography genres is golden hour.
