THE GOLDEN HOUR TIMELINE

Understand how light and colour change throughout your shoot to help you prepare for the best exposures and make the most out of each time of day

PRE-DAWN (05:30)

The ‘blue hour’ lighting is desirable in its own right and is the perfect time to experiment with mixed artificial and natural light. It provides the opportunity to set up your composition and set your base exposure for the desired aperture.

EVENING LIGHT (19:00)

While the light is more directional, and hence more capable of accentuating detail, it is still quite harsh and contrasty. Use this as a ‘modelling light’ – observe where the sun will be at sunset and then arrange your composition accordingly.

PRE-SUNRISE GLOW (06:00)

As light appears along the horizon, begin to work out an appropriate white balance and estimate where shadows will fall after sunrise. Focus on atmospheric conditions such as mist and look for bodies of water to reflect the colours of the scene.

SUNSET (20:00)

The second golden hour of the day offers an advantage over sunrise – the light becomes softer as time passes. Set your white balance to Cloudy or Shade to emphasise the yellows, while watching out for red channel clipping. Shoot low for backlit foreground detail.

SUNRISE (06:30)

As golden hour begins, the Kelvin value of the colour in the scene falls, and global contrast increases. Since the light will become harsh rapidly, take multiple images at each of your pre-arranged shooting points and then move to the next.

DUSK (20:30)

Post-sunset light is longer-lasting than during pre-dawn, providing time to capture contrasts of golds and colder hues as the day moves into blue hour. Step down white balance from Shade to Cloudy or Cloudy to Daylight, to represent both low and high kelvin colours.