Golden Hour Photos: Fun, Beauty and Art
Throughout my life as a photographer, few photographs give me as much satisfaction as the ones I can take during the famous golden hour. Defined by many as the “magic hour’, it takes place shortly after sunrise in the morning and before sunset in the afternoon. The orange, pink and yellow colors are predominant in the sky, mainly closer to the horizon, and they are more predominant if there are clouds.
Although I did take some golden hour photos with compact and bridge cameras, it wasn’t until I got my hands on my first Canon EOS camera (the Canon EOS Rebel T3) that I really started experimenting with this type of photography. Today, even a decent mobile phone camera can capture awesome golden hour photos, but none of them can emulate the quality of image provided by even a fifteen-year-old camera.
Regardless of the beauty of a place, it can look better or worse depending on the time you choose to take the photos. The most seemingly insignificant places can turn into magic photos, and the most interesting-looking places can become dull and flat if you shoot them at the wrong time. No matter how beautiful the sea is, a golden hour photo of it can make it look even better. No matter how boring a place may be, using the time to add character can turn a rather okay photo into a great picture worth printing.
Havana at Golden Hour
If there was one regret that I ever had with I Love Cuba Photo Tours —a regret that was possibly shared by many, including Yosel Vazquez himself— was the time our tours were set to take place. Since many of our clients were cruise ship passengers, sometimes we started at nine or ten in the morning. That deprived us from enjoying some golden hour shoots of Havana during our ACTIVITIES, although we did have occasional clients who wanted to start the activities right at sunrise or getting close to sunset.
My fortune of living in Havana allowed me to stay later in the city —most of the times walking around and shooting— and see some of the best dusk and dawn skies the city had to offer. Sometimes, I used the orange sky as the backdrop. Other times, I used the warm sunlight to capture pictures that provided some character to buildings and people.
In any case, the amount and quality of the light that hits buildings and people at that time makes up for compelling images that can in turn be printed at any time and of any size. Sometimes, the beauty of the photographs captured during golden hour is such that there is basically no need to edit the images, other than perhaps cropping.
From the silhouette of the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso, to narrow streets partially hit by the vanishing sunlight, to the famous Malecón, to the Sahara dust-riddled afternoons during Covid-19 lockdown, everything looked way better when faced with the light of dusk or dawn. One would assume that the view could get you tired, but reality is always different from assumption: looking at the beauty of a sunset in the sky will never be something boring. The spectacle is always a treat for anyone who knows how to appreciate beauty.
Orange Skies in Mexico and the United States
It is more than obvious that my stage in Mexico left one of the biggest marks on me in terms of golden hour photography. The sky that I was able to capture in San Miguel de Allende was without question one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.
The architecture in San Miguel de Allende is definitely complicit to the sky, creating the perfect combination for postcard-like images, whether taken with a DSLR or with a phone. It became almost mandatory for me to hunt down clouds during late afternoons and try to capture the beauty of those skies, regardless of what the horizon had to bring.
From church silhouettes to valleys, to more recent man-made structures, I pursued the different elements I figured I could use to make my photos more meaningful. Sometimes, the landscape was so beautiful that I barely had to do any editing. Nevertheless, I do believe that this applies to most photographs captured during golden hour.
Upon my arrival in the United States, the first publication I made on Instagram involved golden hour. Out for the first time after my camera was sent to me from Mexico, I had the opportunity of looking at a US flag, waving against the yellowy orange sky. It was a little poetic, given my trepidant journey, to have a flag against the first beautiful sky that I had the chance to photograph in weeks.
Even though my mobility was not very much during my first year and a half, especially the last six months of that period, I did manage to take a few trips off state and capture excellent morning and afternoon golden hour photos. Later, as I gained some freedom, I was able to plan for those moments and locations a little better and do my best to snap images of beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Since it has been possible for me to continue, I must say that I have been very lucky in this aspect.
One of the perks of living in Connecticut is the possibility of seeing all seasons in full splendor. So, I have been able to capture golden hour photos in all winter, spring, summer and fall. The effect of the orange skies whenever there is snow present brings a unique sight that I had never seen before. It is a true fortune to be able to witness those moments and freeze them forever.
My To-Do List
Of course, even though golden hour moments are so magic that you barely need any photography skills, there is a list of things I like to do before trying to photograph them. Some of them may or may not be followed by every photographer, and many of them are probably my own thing to do:
Know the time of sunrise and sunset. You can use The Photographer Ephemeris app to monitor the sunrise and sunset times and the direction of the sun in the location you intend to photograph. This will enable you to determine angle and composition, while preparing you for when you must be on the spot and where you should aim your camera.
Monitor the weather forecast. It is important to know what the weather is going to be like at the time and place you intend to photograph. This will keep you from taking an unnecessary trip to a location where you intend to shoot. Check it until the last moment, because as we all know, the weather can change.
Arrive in time to set up. It is important to make it to the location early enough to know whether you will or will not need a tripod, which lens filters (if any) you will use, and to set up at the perfect spot, if there are no obstacles in place. It is important than when the golden hour starts you are 100% ready to start shooting.
Set the exposure based on that of the sky, not the foreground. Even though I like to focus on the foreground while shooting golden hour, mainly backlit, I always try to use the exposure of the sky and not the trees, mountains, buildings or people being photographed. It is important that it is done. I usually was able to use the exposure of the buildings because I kept my exposure one stop down while shooting street photographs,
Darker is better. That said, you can actually set your exposure one stop down while taking this type of photographs. This will enable you to work with the light better and avoid having blown up images. Sometimes, in order to do that, I would set my camera in AEB (auto-exposure bracketing), which enabled me to take one photo with normal exposure, one darker and another one lighter. I did so by bracketing to one or two stops each way.
Use a small aperture. I have had great experiences shooting at f/7.1, f/8 and all the way up to f/22. It provides a better DOF (depth of field), thus enabling us to keep more things in focus than when we are shooting at a higher aperture like f/4 or f/2.8.
Set up a tripod when and if necessary (I believe it always is). It is obvious that the time of shooting will have a major influence on the amount of light. The amount of light you can get, coupled with the low ISO many photographers generally like to use, will lead to a slow shutter speed. So, to avoid motion blur due to camera shake, a tripod might be a necessary tool.
Obstacles such as medium or big structures are good. Even though an electrical pole with wires tends to be a distraction for many beautiful photos, they make up for great components when shooting golden hour. The silhouette of those structures can add character to your picture, and I find that instead of becoming a distraction, they actually highlight the sky.
Take several pictures. If you are using autofocus instead of manual focus, there is a chance something might come out blurry, so you need to have several photographs to choose from in case something goes wrong. Having enough photographs to choose from is always an advantage.
Shoot in RAW. Well, I have been using this in almost every to-do list that I create. I have had regrets for not exploring the benefits of RAW images earlier in life—although in my defense I did not have enough storage space to do so until recently. Now, I am only shooting in that format. It is the way to go.
Shoot before/past the golden hour to capture blue light. While you are at it, whether you make it to the place way before sunlight or decide to stay (you should decide to stay) a little after sundown, you will be able to witness some blue hour. And, since you are already at the spot, it will not hurt taking some photos of that beautiful light and those amazing colors as well.
Don’t overedit. One of the biggest problems some photographers (mainly beginners) face is the tendency to overedit some images. Even when a photographer is experienced in the art of shooting, but rather inexperienced when it comes to editing, there may be some excessive retouching that must be avoided at all costs.
Final Thoughts
Taking golden hour photos will always be a fun thing to do. Whether there is a compelling landscape (urban or natural) to capture or not, the sky will always be the hero of the photo. Of course, playing with silhouettes is a plus, and knowing how to do so is crucial for the quality of the photo.
In general, there are very few things that can go wrong while shooting golden hour, and most of them are in our control as photographers. The biggest challenge will always be how small a window we may have to be able to capture the photos, given how fast the colors of the sky can change and how ephemerous the golden hour becomes.
