Shooting at Golden Hour
(originally published in Lunar Conceptual Photography Magazine, Issue 3: Autumn)
Golden hour is one of those buzzwords you often hear regarding natural light photography and cinematography. It can feel overused or basic – the pumpkin spice of natural light photography, if you will – but, like most basic techniques, there are excellent reasons photographers can utilize golden hour in their photography.
Golden hour is that moment in time an hour after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is falling below the horizon line. As the sun sets or rises, light rays are required to travel further through the atmosphere to reach you and your subject. This extra distance the sun's rays travel causes the light to be more diffused than if it were directly overhead.
Diffused light (or soft light) results in a smaller difference between highlights or shadows – a perfect lighting scenario when it comes to portraiture. Softer light is desirable whenever shooting portraits because it means no harsh shadows or blown-out highlights wreaking havoc on your subject's profile. Though I tend to shy away from any hard-and-fast rules in regards to photography – after all, the situation and the mood you're trying to achieve should always dictate your choice in lighting. It's often agreed that the harsh overhead lighting you get from the sun being directly overhead during the midday is not desirable for portraiture. Hard overhead or direct light can create unwanted and unflattering shadows on your subject's face.
The sun radiates all visible light. Whenever you combine all visible colors, you end up with white, which is why sunlight is called white light. At golden hour, the sun's rays must travel further and at an angle in which most blue light is eliminated, resulting in more golden-red lighting. This warm, gold glow has a psychological effect on us. We tend to associate this type of lighting with a romantic emotion or a heightened sense of reality.
Perhaps contrary to other photographers, some of my biggest influences come from my favorite filmmakers and cinematographers. Roger Deakins' work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford or anything made by Terrence Malick (Days of Heaven and The Tree of Life are two of my personal favorites on just an imagery level) are great examples of how emotionally impactful golden hour can be. The pink-orange sunsets and wide-sweeping landscapes permeating these movie masterpieces provide the viewer with something interesting to look at and set a pensive mood. These films are also great examples of using golden hour, especially in landscape or architectural photography.
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” Warner Bros.
Another great reason to shoot at golden hour is if you want to achieve sun flares or silhouettes. If you place your subject in front of the setting or rising sun and set your exposure for the horizon, you can accomplish these beautifully dramatic effects. Again, plan accordingly. To lose your subject in shadow is excellent for silhouettes but might not be desirable if you are trying to achieve a sun flare. Additional lighting may be required for your subject.
When shooting at golden hour, you must always have a plan. The time of golden hour will change based on the time of year and your location on the planet. It is best to have some sort of golden hour calculator or app. There are tons of options available online or in the app store, a personal favorite of mine being GoldenHourOne for iOs. This app will tell you the time and duration of golden hour as well as the sky and light index.
As a photographer, you should practice the shaping of light. To shape light, you will need the right tools - one of which, for example, is a reflector or fill light if you intend to backlight (face away from the sun) your subject. Or, a silk diffuser can be used if you want to front light your subject (facing the sun). If you backlight your subject, they will be cast in darkness, which can be great for mood, but be mindful of it. If you do not want your subject to be entirely lost in shadow, then you are going to need to bring some sort of secondary or fill light, which is where a reflector can work nicely. If you are going to have your subject face the sun, then you may still want a diffuser for the light falling on your subject's face. Though the light is softer at golden hour, it is still sunlight and may require further softening.
Lens choice is also key when planning your shoot. I tend to use my 50mm f/1.8--also known as the nifty fifty. Lens choice is going to obviously be dictated by the effect you're trying to achieve. That being said, 50 mm to 85 mm is my preferred range for shooting portraiture. You will want something with a wide aperture for better low light capability, creating bokeh, and achieve a beautiful shallow depth of field.
If the warm glow of golden hour is still a bit too harsh or not the color palette you are going for, then wait just a bit longer. The fifteen to twenty minutes before sunrise or after sunset is known as blue hour or the magic hour. This name is a bit misleading, of course, because depending on the time of year, you really will only have about fifteen to twenty minutes to utilize this time of day for natural light photography. Like its name suggests, blue hour will create a cooler color palette and is excellent for those moody photoshoots.
Golden hour is a beautiful tool that every photographer should know how to utilize. It does not have to be the only time of day you plan your photoshoots for, but it can create a mood or atmosphere that is not readily achievable at other times. Like pumpkin spice, you just have to know when and where to use golden hour.
