You only look good for one hour a day

Many of you are familiar with the term "golden hour". It is known as the best time to shoot things and people. But what is so special about that one hour of a day that everyone keeps talking about? Is it even legit? Let's look into it.

I first heard about this from an awesome blog post about "Don't be ugly by accident". Yes, that was the name of the post. It examined the differences between the perceived attractiveness of people whose photos were taken by camera phones versus SLR cameras, with direct flash versus off-camera flash, and also photos taken during and outside of the golden hour. The results were staggering. To sum it up, you basically look like a superstar if you get your photo taken with SRL using off-camera flash during golden hour. And if you do the opposite, well I'm sure you've seen plenty of vanity self portraits taken by camera phones to get the idea of why that is bad.

Cairo during golden hour (notice the two little peaks of pyramids, all the way to the left):

Golden hour is the main reason I recommend my clients to shoot with me in the evening. Shooting during the golden hour is challenging for both the subjects and the photographer. You have very little time to get it right while the lighting conditions are constantly changing -- getting worse. These are the challenges:

• You need to worry about getting to the location well before the sunset.
• You have to setup your equipment and position the subjects, then take few sample shots, examine them for issues and distractions, remove all negative elements you saw in sample shots. This usually means asking the subjects to readjust their pose, move to the side, change the angle of the light, or the angle of the camera.
• You need to keep readjusting the aperture and exposure about every two minutes to match the yet darker sky.
• You need to get your subjects to pose well in a very short amount of time. This is often the number one challenge.

By the time you get everything right, it might be well after the sunset. That's why you need to be pretty much ready before the sunset. It's better to hang out for few extra minutes than ending up with your best shots at the end of the shoot when it's way too dark. I've done this many times so you might want to learn from my mistakes.

San Francisco Bay Bridge photoshoot during golden hour:

The whole thing blazes in front of your eyes and before you know it, the shoot is over. The customers are usually little sweaty by now, and little worried that there weren't enough good shots in such a short time, but there always are few good ones if you timed it right.

How exactly do you need to set up your camera and light?

The goal is to keep a good balance between the naturally lit background (a sunset for example) and the subjects. If one is too dark or too bright, the whole image is bad. You are only in control of the light pointed at the subjects. You are not in control of the ambient light coming from the sunset or other sources such as street lamps. That's why you set up your camera according to the ambient light and only then add the strobe.

• You start with the widest aperture your lens allows. Let's say F 2.8. You want to capture as much of the precious ambient light as possible.
• Now set the shutter speed at the longest speed that you can steadily hold without moving the camera. I can go as low as 1/30s, but you can start at 1/50s.
• If the image is still too dark (the sunset is not bright enough), you increase the ISO a bit. Let's say ISO 800.
• If the photo looks dark, increase the ISO even more, or lower the shutter speed if you think you can hold it steady.
• Once the scene looks great with just ambient light, work on adding the flash. Ask your subjects to stand approximately at the same place you want them to stand in the final shot. Tell them you are just setting things up so that they don't pose just yet. (Yes, I'm telling you to lie.)
• Set the strength of the flash to something low, like 1/32 power. Take a test shot. Look at it. Bright? Lower the strenth of the flash. Dark? Increase the strength.
• You are now all done with the setup and ready to shoot. Hurry, your setup is probably already getting messed up by the yet darker sky.
• Keep checking the photos on the camera display to see if you need to change the settings again.
• Once the sky gets too dark, open the aperture even more, lenghten the shutter speed, or (what might be your only option) increase the ISO even more. And don't forget to lower the strength of the flash to match this new more light sensitive camera settings.
• After about 5 - 10 minutes you can't get any ambient light using high ISO and the shoot is over.
• Pack your gear and go home.

Shooting during golden hour without flash:

If you do not have human subjects to shoot, the instructions are the same, just ignore the strobe part. It is best for you to practice without subjects first. It removes the extra stress of having to keep them comfortable and setting up flash. After a couple of times you do this, you will even find it relaxing to shoot sunsets by yourself. You get into the habit of "adjust => shoot => view" cycle and won't find it stressful any more.

This photo of Santa Monica pier was taken about 10 minutes after the sunset: 

I wish you happy shooting and want to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Comments

[Iveta Tonhauserova]

Thank you - this is really helpful - to this day I tried to avoid shooting right before the sunset as I messed up couple of times and photos were too dark, underexposed or shaky, probably it's time to give it a try again :-). My question is where do you usually place flash when you shoot humans and how high? Do you diffuse or bounce its light? Thanks!

PS: Looking forward to pictures of that 'most beautiful bride ever' you tweeted about :-).

[Petra Cross]

I usually position it to the side of the camera, and slightly above the head-level. I usually carry 43'' silver reflective umbrella, but the choice of light modifier really depends on the environment. If it's too windy, I go with only diffuser. If it is indoors, I bounce the flash off the ceiling or a wall.