There are times of the day that have a magical light. Magical for painters, photographers and filmmakers, but also for ordinary people. Moments when the shadows lengthen and the sun envelops everything around them in a warm tone. Magical moments that happen before sunset and a little later. Or magical moments when you expect to see the sunrise. We may not know what these sunsets are called, these moments, what their color temperature is, or the wonderful results that can be achieved in photography thanks to them. but the truth is that they don’t leave us indifferent.
These magical moments around sunrise or sunset are known as golden (or hot) and blue weather, are not the same but they happen, and although both are called?Time? Maybe we should call it “moment” because depending on the latitude we find ourselves on the planet and the time of year, can that “hour” last three hours or 20 minutes?
- Both are what we also call magic hours.
- And as I mentioned.
- There are moments before or after sunrise or sunset.
- Let’s look at this in the following graphic:.
You can read the chart as a sunset or a sunrise; in both cases the two “hours” occur in the same way, that is, at dawn, we would move from the night, to a few moments of the blue hour that would turn golden as the sun approached, and that stayed a few moments later (usually between 30 and 40?).
On the contrary, at dusk, they would happen the other way around; we would go from daylight to golden hour, and after sunset we would enter blue hour until dusk and natural light would be completely lost in the sky.
Although both are magic hours and you can often find them defined as the same thing, the reality is that both have very different color temperatures. The golden hour is characterized by a warm color temperature, so it is the appearance that will dominate in your On the contrary, in the blue hour, the dominant light is cold and bluish.
Color temperature in blue hour
Golden Hour Color Temperature:
But better to stop with positive and negative degrees, and see how we can enjoy these magical moments that the light gives us?
When the sun is low, approaching the horizon, the light it projects has warm tones that make these moments one of the most precious in photography, especially since it is widely used in portrait photography and landscape.
Since the light that is emitted in these last moments before sunset is very soft and warm, it is easy to integrate it artistically into the images with just a few tricks.
If you are planning to do a portrait session, it is important to think ahead of time where you will do it so that you can anticipate the best place to stand, where to place your model, predict where the sun will rise or set, etc.
The light that the golden hour transmits is very soft, which makes it easier to “control” than other harder lights. Many times you will not need more than this precious light to obtain impressive portraits, but it does not hurt to take help with you to have more freedom when framing or positioning your model.
The shadows at the end of the day are also characteristic of the golden hour, because the position of the sun is very horizontal, the light creates elongated and soft shadows that you can incorporate into any of your compositions.
You usually despair if you forget about the umbrella at home. Normally, light is often filtered through the most inopportune spaces and transforms our beautiful image into a ready-to-use image, however, in the golden age, these flares can give you an artistic touch. In your portraits. Don’t forget the umbrella at home, but try to leave it in your backpack for a while, see what happens?
It all depends on exposure, and there is rarely good or bad exposure to take a photo. The vast majority of the time depends on the result you want to get. By exposing the clear areas of your image, you can get an impressive silhouette portraits surrounded by warm colors.
Don’t limit yourself to a pose and an angle of light. Move your model, find the best angle, the best light and the best composition. Do not settle, be original, scroll down to find the image you want, because a small variation in one of the above aspects can mean two completely different images.
Several times we talk about interior portraits and the ‘trick’ of searching for natural light sources as we approach windows or doors, for the warm golden hour light, this could not be less, we always say it’s the best time to photograph, and now you know it’s true
Another great ally of Golden Hour is landscape photography, side light and its play of lights and shadows enhance textures, warm color stains the entire landscape and the sky is saturated with thousands of oranges, roses, blues, yellows or violets. Let’s look at some tips for getting great images of landscapes in the golden age.
This time, your model is a landscape, so you won’t be able to move it, only you can move. That’s why it’s even more important that you know what image you want before you get there, where the sun will set or rise, what scenario you’re interested in, if you’re looking for interesting silhouettes to add to your image or if you move a few meters. on the left, can you frame the sun between these branches?
The necessary equipment is the same as you will need for any landscape photography tour:
Immediately before dusk (and a few moments before the golden light of dawn), we have the blue time, which gets its name from the intense blue tones that look up at the sky, the blue hour is one of the most used to photograph the urban landscape, as it is the contrast of the deep blue of the sky with the first artificial lights of a city , one of the most photogenic places to photograph the blue hour. In natural landscapes, it is also a widely used moment, especially when the warm and intense The tones of the horizon contrast with the deep blue of the sky.
Although it is called ‘blue hour’, you should keep in mind that its duration is quite short and differs from the hour before sunrise to sunset time. 15 minutes after the sun disappears behind the horizon line, it will always depend on the geographical location we are in and the time of year.
When the lights turn on or are about to turn off, the sky is flooded with an intense blue color that contrasts with the warm lights that illuminate the city, and this is one of the most photogenic moments you can find in city photography, because the contrast of color between the yellow or orange of tungsten lights and the saturated blue of the sky complement each other perfectly.
Same as for any landscape photograph and the same as for photographing golden hour:
From the warmth of light to the absolute coldness of its blues, magic hours are something that, as a good photographer, you can’t miss in your image gallery, but beyond that, it’s a moment you can’t stop as a light worshipper. . For some reason, they are called magic hours, because they are, because you will enjoy as a child to photograph right now, either in the city or in a beautiful landscape, whether it is your pet or a still life ?. It only takes a little patience (not too much), to think that they happen, to think that fortunately one should not opt for one or the other, but that one follows the other and the other?All you have to do is be in the right place at the right time and with the enthusiastic spirit that characterizes you and you’ll see how your efforts will be rewarded.
And you know, if it served you, you liked it, if it encouraged you to go out in search of magic, if it made you want to get up late to watch the sunrise or get up very early on the weekend, and you think someone else might be interested in reading it (and/or accompany you in your search for light), share it!Thanks a lot!?