There’s no better feeling than waking up to the sight of the sun peeping its golden head over the ocean’s vast horizon, its rays piercing the morning clouds, hitting your skin, dispersing upon you its warmth. Sometimes I stand there looking out wishing I could just take a screenshot with my eyes, because I know my phone camera would never do it justice.
With Daylight Savings just around the corner, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all looking forward to warmer mornings, evenings, and longer days in general. It’s the perfect time to capture the beautiful, intricate details of the Golden Hour.
What is the Golden Hour?
The Golden hour is the period of daylight just after sunrise or before sunset. During these short periods, the sun gives off a softer glow, a characteristic that enhances your photos making them feel warmer and more inviting.
Canon has some top tips on how to get the best out of the Golden Hour, whether it be the types of shots or which cameras are best suited to the time of day.
Dusk and Dawn
Whether it’s the crack of dawn or the last light of the day, take advantage of the warmer weather to go outside and capture its golden glow in all its splendour.
Canon recommends the EOS 90D to combat the lower lighting. Its high-speed autofocus and latest DIGIC 8 processor ensures that your photos will have great resolution, despite the darker setting.
A Little Flare Never Hurt
Normally, when you’re taking a photo, flare is the last thing you want. But during the Golden Hour, it can make your photos even more beautiful. Combining the EOS R and the RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens makes for the perfect mix for flare shots. You can backlight your subject with the sun, or have the sun just outside the frame, but kind of peaking in, it depends on how your want it to come out. Experiment with it.
Face the Light
Evidently, the Golden Hour is not only good for the scenery, but also for portrait photos. The best photos of you are the ones in natural light and there’s no better time than during the Golden Hour. Shooting your subject with a larger aperture lens such as the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM will allow you to take a flattering shot in natural light all while keeping the focus on your subject.
The only possible difficulty you could encounter with taking this photo is persuading someone to model for you at 5 am.
Keep On Keeping On
Once the first instances of the Golden Hour begin, the window of opportunity becomes limited. The lighting changes very quickly, and you’ll want to take all the shades and colours in. To do so most effectively, you could time lapse the whole Golden Hour with the new EOS 9D (the model proposed for dusk and dawn) paired with the EF 24-105 f/4L lens to capture the whole golden process in full HD.
So get out there and take some photos, and keep the warm weather rolling!
