What does "Golden Hour" refer to?

Moogle Pepper

I was reading and looking through Joshhuntnm's thread about shooting in "golden hour." And was wondering what does that actually mean?

gus

Moogle Pepper wrote:

I was reading and looking through Joshhuntnm's thread about shooting in "golden hour." And was wondering what does that actually mean?

Photographing early in the morning or late in the afternoon to reduce shadows & give a rich colour.

SloYerRoll

Generally, dawn provides warm light, but there's a bit more blue in it. This is due to less dust in the air from the previous evening. (lack of traffic, construction etc.)

Dusk usually provides a bit more warm light since all the pollutants and environmental variables that reflect light are in the air from the human race making a general ruckus of things.

colourbox

Many car ads are photographed in the Golden Hour, because the twilight produces long, sleek highlights along the car's body and bring out its form.

windoze

Moogle Pepper wrote:

I was reading and looking through Joshhuntnm's thread about shooting in "golden hour." And was wondering what does that actually mean?

I just happen to be reading on vacation, Jeff Wignall's book: EXPOSURE.

During this time, the light is soft, yellow and intensely pretty. The light is also gentler during these times which means shadows are less black and highlights are less frequently burned out making contrast more manageable. Besides shooting with a tripod, it is shooting during these times that can make a noticeable improvement in one's images.

Troy

Moogle Pepper

So early in the morning or late in the afternoon (6-7 pm EST) is the best time to shoot? Because of softness and prettyness of colors.

windoze

Moogle Pepper wrote:

So early in the morning or late in the afternoon (6-7 pm EST) is the best time to shoot? Because of softness and prettyness of colors.

the 1st hour or two after "sunrise" and the last hour or so before "sunset".

Im currently in Virginia, and right before sunset the buildings on the property take on an added depth to their personality in the golden light. You just need to be on guard for "glare" on bright surfaces that can still fool "unsuspected" metering systems....


Troy

ziggy53

Moogle Pepper wrote:

So early in the morning or late in the afternoon (6-7 pm EST) is the best time to shoot? Because of softness and prettyness of colors.

In addition to the excellent comments by others do watch WB during this period as the WB shifts to the red, but you may not want to compensate completely if your wish is to capture the rich yellows and reds. Shooting RAW let's you defer the color balance decisions until later, as usual.

Harryb

around 6 PM


a bit after sunrise

joshhuntnm

Harryb wrote:

around 6 PM


a bit after sunrise

yeah, my golden hour didn't look quite that good! those are great!