by Editor Miro Susta

Sun-kissed golden hour glow, what does it mean? Do not expect highly elaborate clarification ;-)

“We are here waiting for you” by Shenshen Dou

Simple said, the so-called “Golden Hour Glow” takes place twice a day, in the hour after sunrise and about one to two hours before sunset.

During these magic hours, the sun is low, everything appears in gold-orange-reddish light, creates long shadows and nice warm atmosphere. The colours are intense and the shadows give pictures something mystical.

One can say without fear that during these golden hours the most impressive landscape shots arise.

Most of the 1x photographers are aware of this and so we find in 1x photo gallery many excellent photos that were taken during “Golden Hours”. It was not an easy task to make a selection.
I hope that I made the right choice. Many thanks to all authors for excellent photographic work.

I am sure that the following photographs and some useful tips at the end of this article will give all 1x photographers and other readers of this article more inspiration.

Enjoy this “Golden Hour Glow” photo gallery.

“Golden time” by Hao Jiang

“Golden Light” by David Hua

“Be careful” by Mathilde Guillemot

“Windy sky over the calm lake” by Peter Svoboda

"Atmosphere” by Jose Luis Granados

 

 

“Sunset over Chinese Fishing Nets” by Miro Susta

“Lines” by Nese Ari

“Tree 3” by Miro Susta

“Fields” by Krysztof Browko

“Golden Africa” by John J. Chen

“Golden Daydreams” by Lisa Holloway

“Pans Residence” by Lars van de Goor

“Mill of Shadows” by Kent Mathiesen

“Tuscan Dream Alley III” by Mike Kreiten

“As the first rays warm up the land” by Peter Svoboda

“The magic of light” by swapnil.

“Lichtblick” by Dirk Juergensen

“Finding Foothpath” by Marek Boguszak

“View from the Window” by Karol Nienartowicz

"Blancos contra el sol” by Juan Pablo de Miguel

“Still Living” by Ahmad Abbasi

“Larches on Fire” by Martin Rak

“Winter” by Giovanni Modesti

“Una ventana al norte” by Juan Pablo de Miguel

“Moments” by Dan Mirica

Whether on holiday on the beach or from your house - with these few tips you shall be well prepared.

Underexpose.
A slight underexposure of the sunset makes the colours look more powerful and clearer.

Sunset.
Photographing sunset does not just mean photographing the sun. Sometimes the most beautiful scenes are just behind you as you look towards the sun.

Stay longer.
The sky will usually brighten up with colour about 15 - 30 minutes after the sun dips below the horizon. Most photographers miss this second sunset - and he is usually more beautiful than the first.

Create silhouettes.
Dark silhouette(s) in the foreground is popular subject for images taken during sunset golden hours. Just try it out by choosing a lower shutter speed. With less shutter speed, less light falls on the sensor. A person or object in the foreground will appear more or less black as a silhouette on the image. However, make sure that the shutter speed is still long enough for the background to continue to shine in gorgeous golden light colours.

Birds & animals.
A few birds flying in the sky or animals in the photo can make a landscape more interesting.

Clouds in the sky.
Wait for patchy cloud fields in the sky.

Camera modus.
As long as the sun is still in the sky you can take pictures in the aperture priority mode. Then switch to manual mode as soon as the sun dip below the horizon.

White balance.
Switch the white balance to “Shade”, and you'll get beautiful golden colour shades from an otherwise boring sunset light.

ISO.
The lower the better. The higher the ISO value, the more image quality is lost.

Apply High Dynamic Range.
With HDR you can achieve much higher contrasts and strong colour saturations in a picture. An interesting option for golden hour photography.

Aperture.
Typically, you'll get the best score, ranging from 8 to 11. With these settings, you're on the safe side and guaranteed to get a sharp picture.

Noise reduction.
Since noise reduction often interferes too much, a picture can be over quickly. Much better result can be achieved by turning off the function and edit the noise behaviour on the PC manually.

The right filters.
Especially in the late afternoon, the sunlight is often much too strong. Photographing in such light without aids becomes difficult as the picture is still too bright, even at short shutter speeds. In that case, you should use an ND filter. Polarizing and UV filters are NOT helping to saturate the golden hour’s colours.

Do not forget to use stable tripod and remote shutter release.

“Power Line” by Tiger Seo.

Do you have any more tips for golden photography?
What else do you do that I did not mention here?
Don’t hesitate to let us know, use the “COMMENT” section.

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