When the Magic Happens…

"Lost - Yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever."
- Horace Mann

When you go on holiday, it’s easy to get into the habit of enjoying the nightlife, sleeping late, and then hitting the beach and taking in some sightseeing after a late breakfast at the hotel. For many, that equates to the perfect vacation. But when you get home, do you ever wonder why your photographs of exotic people, places and landscapes never compare to those you saw in the travel magazines?

Certainly, professional photographers have an arsenal of tricks and techniques, but there’s one secret to perfect pictures that no photographer can own. It’s a not-so-secret secret that belongs to Mother Nature and it happens just about every day, twice a day, no matter where you are. No special equipment is needed to take advantage of its mystery, and once you know it’s there, it’s remarkably easy to find. Those in-the-know call it “the golden hour” (or sometimes “the magic hour”).

Are you ready to impress your friends? Grab your camera and get ready to head out to someplace special – or even to the corner café. The golden hour is waiting for you!

It’s Only a Matter of Time

Most likely, your travel habits hid the golden hour from you. The real magic happens in the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset. While most tourists are catching up on sleep or putting on their party clothes, professional photographers are watching nature put on a light show. At these times of the day, a low sun, indirect light and long shadows create a richness that add interest to any image.

Most of your pictures were probably taken either at midday or after dark. Midday light is very harsh, and the contrast between the bright sun and dark shadows wreaks havoc on your camera’s light sensors. As a result, you get images that are overexposed (too much light). At night, the lack of detail and the weak artificial light from a camera flash often result in images that are underexposed (too little light). Unfortunately, it’s at those very times when what you see through the viewfinder is probably not what you’ll get when you look at your photos later.

Now think back to the pictures in the magazine that entice you to visit travel destinations. Chances are, the sky is soft and warm – often with a reddish color noticeable in the clouds or on the faces of buildings and people. Unlike those high-contrast midday shots, you may hardly even notice the difference between light and shadows – what you see is a great deal of texture, depth and dimension. The photos seem to glow – possessing an aura that can elicit a spiritual or ethereal quality.

Science and the Sun

The golden hour provides the ideal combination of detail, color temperature and color saturation. Because this all depends on the quality of light that washes across the earth and sky, we have one important partner to thank – the Sun. Each day, when the Sun is located between 4 degrees below and 6 degrees above the horizon, it’s light rays intermingle with more atmospheric particles, softening the light.

To imagine this effect for yourself, think about getting out of a hot shower in a bright bathroom. Even though you can see the details of the room, you will likely notice a gentle, hazy quality as the light becomes diffused by water particles in the air. Similarly, dust particles and water droplets in the Earth’s atmosphere filter sunlight and change the way color wavelengths behave. Blue wavelengths scatter, letting more orange and red through to the visible light spectrum.

Just Sixty Minutes of Success?

So, is the Golden Hour always exactly sixty minutes? Actually, the answer is "no." Proximity to the equator and seasonal differences cause the actual time to vary quite broadly. And, because the magic light happens when the Sun is below the horizon, the morning Golden Hour actually starts shortly before sunup and the evening Golden Hour ends shortly after sundown. However, for most photographers and those seeking to get the best possible memories of their excursions and vacation getaways, a good rule of thumb is use a sunrise/sunset calculator. Add an hour to the sunrise time in your area to find the early Golden Hour, and subtract an hour from the sunset time in your area to find the late Golden Hour.

You don’t need to be a professional photographer to take home dramatic images. You don’t need to wake up while it is still dark, drive to remote locations or purchase thousands of dollars in equipment. Try exploring an area one day to find the most scenic views, then plan to return to those locations the following day during a Golden Hour. Meet friends for breakfast or dinner and use the Golden Hour as an opportunity to take portraits or group photos. When possible, walk rather than drive, especially in the morning and evening hours. Find a place where you can enjoy a scenic view of a sunrise or sunset and use that time to share a romantic or meditative moment.

Claim your reward! Enjoy those glorious and magical moments that meet you in the morning and greet you just before the day becomes dark.