Back to basics: the golden hour

The “golden hour” (or “magic hour”) is beloved of landscape photographers; it’s the hour or so before sunset or after sunrise when the sun is low in the sky and casts a beautiful orange glow over the land. Apart from the colour, the low point of the sun in the sky also means the texture of the landscape can be seen.

With the sun very low in the sky to my left, not only is the mountain bathed in a beautiful orange glow but the tufts of grass in the foreground have caught the sun adding texture and interest. © Emma Davies

Here the sun was setting over to the right and the atmosphere produced this gorgeous pink haze. © Emma Davies

Northumberland in the UK is on the east coast so the dawn golden hour is the one to aim for if you want to catch the first sun’s rays on the shoreline. This one was taken in July at 6am. © Emma Davies

When is golden hour?

Look up when sunrise and sunset are for the date you are interested in. Golden hour runs for about an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset. It may be longer or shorter depending on your latitude and the time of year; read this post from Adobe for an explanation of the variables.

The further away from the equator you are, the bigger the difference between timings for golden hour in summer as opposed to winter. In the UK evening golden hour in winter might be at about 4pm but in summer could be 7 or 8pm.

If you want to know whether cloud is forecast during golden hour on your proposed date, “Clear Outside” is a great resource. It splits clouds out into "high”, “medium” and “low”; a lot of low cloud cover usually means very flat lighting with the sun completely obscured, but high cloud might be thinner and easier to work with.

Clear Outside also shows you graphically when golden hour is, circled in pink here:

Timing is incredibly important when working in the golden hour because it is over very quickly:

Jökulsárlón golden hour: 15:45, 2 December with the sun just above the horizon. © Emma Davies

The same beach just 45 minutes later at 16:30 – notice how blue the light is now the sun has dropped below the horizon. © Emma Davies

Not just for landscape photographers

Most photos tagged “golden hour” are sweeping landscapes but there’s no reason you can’t try something more close up, urban or even indoors next to a window. The only requirement is that the sun is low in the sky and able to cast that beautiful tint over your subject.