The side-lighting also brings out some colors well as it highlights the greens surrounding the couple and the red color of that famous bridge in the background… oh yes, the Golden Gate Bridge! 😉īelow, the golden hour light beautifully creates a soft golden backlight glow around the couple, which really helps them stand out beautifully against the darker trees in the background. The image below was taken during the golden hour, but with side-lighting, which highlights the face of the bride-to-be as she gazes out at the ocean. I love the beautiful halo of rim light around these couples! And when it comes to creating photographs on a sunny day, the difference this makes is absolutely astonishing! Without delving into further scientific detail, the end result is a golden hour with a much softer, warmer light where the shadows are less dark and the highlights are less bright. And since shorter wavelength blue light is scattered more than longer wavelength red light, the sky near sunset can appear a brilliant blue and the Sun itself will look redder.
As the light coming directly from the Sun passes through the atmosphere, much of this light is scattered. Indirect sunlight is sunlight that has been scattered by the atmosphere, essentially bouncing around a little and taking the long, indirect path to us and lighting up the sky in the process. At the same time, there is more indirect light from the sky reaching the Earth’s surface as well, creating a nice soft “fill” light. The reason the light is so much better at the very beginning and end of the day is because during the golden hour, the sun is really low in the sky, forcing the sunlight to pass through more of the Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the surface, greatly lowering the intensity of the direct light. Why is the light better during the golden hour? Diffuse sunlight was coming through the trees and subtly illuminating the sister’s hair. This image below was captured towards the end of the family session during the golden hour. Here in Snoqualmie, WA, sunrise is as early as 5:09 am in the summer, so we generally just focus on the golden hour that happens just before sunset, when everyone is more inclined to have their photographs taken.
It is marked by redder, softer sunlight when compared to other times of day when the Sun is higher in the sky. Why can’t we just get those awesome warm, dreamy, sun flare photographs any time of day? What’s so special about the golden hour? Why is the golden hour the best time of day for photographs and why (in contrast) is the light at midday so terrible for photographs?įirst of all, the golden hour actually happens twice per day – the hour immediately after sunrise and the hour immediately before sunset. Instead, we’ll want to schedule your portraits as close as possible to the golden hour! And while creating great images in this light is certainly not impossible (I’ll show you some examples of how it can be done), we’ll generally want to avoid putting any really important outdoor photographs for your wedding or family session anywhere near midday if at all possible. Yes, midday Sun with its hard shadows and very high contrast presents the worst outdoor light one can encounter for portraits. We’ve all seen it – that dreamy, soft, warm, golden light that can literally transform a scene into something absolutely breathtaking… It’s affectionately known by photographers as “the golden hour” – the last hour of daylight before the sunset and it is, without question, the best light of the day for outdoor portrait photography.īut before we we get too excited, we have to remember that such short-lived beauty comes at a great price… the rest of the sunny day, particularly closer to midday is actually some of the worst lighting imaginable for portrait photography.
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