![]() In the hour leading up to sunset, shadows become long and dramatic and you can use this to benefit! Check out this photo by Mika Korhonen, taken at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. If I had wanted a clean straight black line, I would’ve tucked the sun away behind the hand on the left. As you can see in the photo above, I didn’t completely cover the sun, which created a small, barely noticeable sun flare. The foreground will then become underexposed and will give you that solid black line you’re looking for. In order to get a good silhouette photo, you want to be exposing your camera for the background. When the setting sun brings out those vivid colors, that’s the time to start playing with silhouettes! Using the light to create dramatic silhouettes (This photo was shot at f1.6 with a 50 mm fixed lens and has not been edited.) To learn more about how to use aperture effectively and get started shooting in manual mode, check out this article! This is a fun technique to practice and test out, and your model will be happy to not be looking into the sun.įor this photo there’s a slight bokeh effect, which you can achieve with a low aperture. By exposing the photo to her face, the background becomes lighter. You can see in the photo above (of my favorite subject - my little sister) how the setting sun lights up her hair and shoulders, giving her a soft glow. ![]() Backlighting your portraits with the setting sunĪnother trick to try out during golden hour is backlighting your subject. His subject is lit up beautifully, with no dark shadows on the subject’s face.īe sure to keep an eye on your color grading though, sometimes when shooting in automatic your camera may overcompensate and your photos will have a blue tone. Look at the above photo by Francisco Delgado. Not to mention, your subjects can look towards the light without squinting. This makes for ideal portraits that have a naturally warmer tone. One of the principal advantages of the magic hour is that the sun is softly diffused, and there are no harsh shadows. Facing the light or backlit, there’s a lot of wriggle room here.Īs for regular portraits I, like many photographers, prefer a shallow depth of field and a fixed lens (50mm ideally), but of course, you can always experiment with whatever lens you have. When you have that magic lighting, a gorgeous background, and a happy subject, it’s hard to go wrong. Shooting portraits during golden hour is just a joy. Photo by Lital Levy, Unsplash Making the most of the lighting to perfecting portraits They captured the sun reflecting off of the buildings and the sunset changing the mood of the city. Check out this photo by Lital Levy on Unsplash of San Diego, California. When it comes to capturing a beautiful cityscape, the hour before the sun sets can create some really beautiful reflection and shadows. Photo by Monica Linzmeier How to make the most of golden hour Capture beautifully lit scenes For some ideas of places to get creative: Do you have a grassy field, a garden of flowers, cityscape, or (my personal favorite) a body of water nearby? It’s great to get the colors of the sky reflected in the windows of buildings or off the water. ![]() ![]() In order to get the hour exactly right, you’ll have to look up sunset times near you and head out to your preferred location. ![]() To learn more about shooting real estate at twilight, be sure to check out this guide! So what exactly do we mean when we say golden hour or magic hour? Approximately 45 minutes before the sunset or after sunrise, the natural light from the sun’s rays is diffused gently and evenly, illuminating landscapes and setting up the perfect lighting for portraits or other artistic shots.įor the ideal time for outdoor real estate photography, the hour following sunset (also known as twilight) works best. Or maybe you’ve never heard the term before but you’ve noticed the time of day when just about all of your photos turn out great. You may have heard it called golden hour, or maybe you’ve heard it called magic hour. ![]()
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