In photography, the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset holds a special place as that’s when the sunlight is at its magical best. The time is known as the ‘golden hour’ or ‘magic hour’ and offers perfect light to create stunning photos.
The light during the golden hour is great for a variety of shots, particularly for portraits, landscapes and street photography and lends itself wonderfully to composition tools like silhouette, backlighting, texture, shadows and much more.
This post is a collection of some images that make excellent use of the golden hour light. We hope that they inspire you to create some of your own golden hour photos. Give it a go!
Light is fundamental to photography, and having a strong understanding of light will open a new world of photographic opportunities. If you’d like to improve your appreciation of light in photography, do check out Kent DuFault’s guide to understanding light. Take a look at it here.
Photo by Darya Skuratovich
Photo by Erik-Jan Leusink
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez
Photo by Neven Krcmarek
Photo by Joshua Kirshner
Photo by Jurica Koletić
Photo by Sebastien Gabriel
Photo by Brianne Reed
Photo by Damar Jati Pranandaru
Photo by Corina Rainer
Photo by zhang kaiyv
Photo by Sergey Pesterev
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo
Photo by KAL VISUALS
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If you’ve struggled to take advantage of light in your photography to the fullest and you want a complete, in-depth training to help you with that, take a look at our best-selling guide Understanding Light.
You’ll get case-studies, how-to instruction. Plus it includes a free printable chart for your camera bag that outlines the psychological effect of colors to ensure you don’t forget when you’re out shooting.
If you missed out on your copy last time. It’s available again, and on sale right now.
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