My favourite time of day to shoot is the hour before sunset or the hour immediately after sunrise. When the sun dips towards the horizon and spreads it’s orange-golden rays horizontally through the atmosphere, the light becomes warm, soft and dreamy.
Photos taken at this ‘golden hour’ have a magical quality. Whether it’s evoking childhood memories of lazy summer evenings eating ice cream and running under the sprinkler or a more ethereal, fairytale and dreamlike feel, there is something about a golden hour image which makes you feel happy.
As a natural light photographer, I love to shoot at this time of day.
It’s flattering
The golden hour’s beautiful, warm, even light suits everyone. It’s golden highlights add colour and glow to every family member from Baby George to Grandma Geraldine and everyone in between.
It’s shadowy
The long shadows cast in the very early morning or in the evening add dimension and depth to photos. I love using shadows to create an interesting image and draw attention to the children and families in portraits.
It’s fleeting
The golden hour is elusive. Its dependent on the weather and can fail to make an appearance if it’s too overcast, misty or rainy. The length of the golden hour also varies and it can last for just a few minutes before clouds roll in. And in Melbourne, as we all know, anything can happen with the weather.
As a Melbourne photographer I love the challenge of capturing the golden hour. It requires effort to chase it down but the results are worth it.
It’s fabulous
The directional light of the golden hour can transform the most uninteresting locations into a magical place where angelic kids with halos chase illuminated insects through fields of light catching weeds. Everything is better with golden hour light!
Many of my favourite photos of my own kids are at the golden hour. When they see me staring out the window towards the end of the day they know what’s coming next (something like ‘quick, honey, the sun’s just going down and the light’s just right, put this on and let’s run down to the park/the creek/outside).
I love nothing better than to photograph families and children at the golden hour and the results are always wonderful. So get in contact via the Contact Us page or email hello@beanstalkphotography.com.au and book your golden hour session.