Shoot at the perfect time

There’s much more to the golden hour than the sun meeting the horizon

1 Peak colour

The peak colour of sunset often occurs before the sun rises above the horizon, or after the sun has set, when the longer and most colourful wavelengths of light are scattered into the sky. It’s best to be on location up to an hour before sunrise or an hour after sunset to ensure that you can shoot the whole of the golden hour, and be prepared for peak colour.

2 Colour fading

Soon after peak colour, the colour will begin to fade; in summer this is typically slower than in winter, when the sun seems to move more quickly from east to west, since it doesn’t appear as high in the sky. When the colour fades, you can still capture interesting images that feature the cool hues of the oncoming blue hour, but still shows subtle colour in the clouds.

3 Blue hour

Blue hour is the period after the colour of sunset has left the sky, but the sky still has luminosity before it becomes dark after sunset or before sunrise. The cool hues can create a sense of calm. Exposure times can be naturally long, which makes blurring water incredibly easy, with exposures typically ranging from 30 seconds to several minutes.