The "Blue" and "Golden" Hour

Sunsets, sunrises, water, beaches and boats can make, or very interesting and amazing photos.  

You can take photos while the sun is setting, of course, and these can be beautiful.  However, there is a time of day called the “golden hour” and the “blue hour”. 

One time I went to take sunset photos with my mentor, we took the usual shots and then we were all talking for a bit.  After about 20 minutes he said to us, “you see, all the people have left.  YOU are going to be the ones that get the shot!”  He was so right. The light is so much easier to photograph, you get a great glow and besides that, there will be less people to take out of the photo if you do not want them in there.  

Even if you do not live where there is a beach your photos can and will still benefit from using these times of day to your advantage in your photography.

So what time of day are these “magical” hours and what settings should you use?

In photography, the golden hour is a period shortly after sunrise or before sunset during which daylight is redder and softer than when the Sun is higher in the sky. This is the opposite of blue hour, which is the period just before sunrise or just after sunset when light is diffused and even.

Settings will vary depending on if you are shooting a cityscape with a lot of lights or a dark beach area.  However, you will probably be using a slow shutter speed.  A “slow shutter speed” is when the camera takes longer to take the photo, therefore letting in more light so you can take pictures when it is getting dark.  It is best to have a tripod for this but if you do not have one you can buy or make a bean bag out of rice or beans to set your camera on.  Use a column or a wall, if you do not have a remote, set the self-timer after you have put the camera on the beanbag.

Try out these tips and remember, keep on trying if it doesn’t work out so well the first time.  If it didn’t work out so well, there is always processing you can try if you enjoy using software like Photoshop or Lightroom for this particular outing.  Then learn what you don’t like about it, write down notes and go out and try again.

Keep learning, you will get it! 😊

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