Planning Golden-Hour Photography

Tips · 3-minute read

Photographers chase golden hour for a reason — and a little planning with sun times turns "I missed it" into a shot you nailed.

What golden hour is

Golden hour is the spell just after sunrise and just before sunset when the sun sits low (roughly below 6° above the horizon). The light travels through more atmosphere, so it is soft, warm and directional — long shadows, gentle contrast and a golden cast that flatters almost any subject. There is also the cooler "blue hour" just before sunrise and after sunset.

Plan the shot

• Check the tool's morning golden hour (it runs until a time after sunrise) or evening golden hour (it starts before sunset) for your location.
• Arrive early to scout and set up — the best light moves fast.
• Note day length across the year: golden hour is longer and gentler near the solstices at high latitudes.

How long you actually get

Golden hour is rarely an hour. Near the equator the sun drops almost vertically, so the window can close in about 20 minutes; at 50 degrees latitude in midsummer it can stretch past 90 minutes, and inside the Arctic Circle it can run most of the night. The tool gives the real start and end times for your coordinates and date, which is the number to plan against rather than the name.

Build the shoot around the window

Scout in daylight, be in position 20–30 minutes before the window opens, and keep shooting through blue hour instead of packing up at sunset — the colour keeps changing for another half hour. Put the sun behind or beside the subject for rim light, expose for the highlights, and expect the white balance to drift warm as the sun sinks.

More: Solstice vs equinox, or the Sun Times blog.