#MORNING GOLDEN HOUR TIME PLUS#

#MORNING GOLDEN HOUR TIME PLUS#

Because the contrast is heavily reduced during this time the shadows are less dark and the highlights are less likely to be overexposed, plus the warm color of the low sun is often considered desirable to enhance the colors of the scene, adding vibrancy to your images. The golden hour, which is sometimes known as magic hour, is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day when a specific photographic effect is achieved due to the quality of the light. Around this time first, the golden hour starts and then before darkness falls in the blue hour. The transition in between is the sunrise/sunset. Because of the bulging shape of our planet, the other part is dark. One part of the earth is light due to the sunlight. However, when day turns to night, these phases take place in reverse order: day becomes the civil twilight at sunset and turns into nautical twilight, and after the astronomical twilight day becomes night. Just before sunset it starts with the golden hour and moves from the blue hour towards the night.ĭuring sunrise, night turns to day in the phases astronomical twilight, nautical twilight, and finished by civil twilight. The transition between day and night is called “twilight”. The left half of the earth is night, right half is the day. The phases described are shown in the image below during a sunset. Too many clouds block out the sunlight, too little clouds and the light has no objects to reflect on.Īfter the civil twilight, the sun rises over the horizon, and as it gets higher in the sky, the blue and red colors are mingled again, combining for white bright daylight. The best change for a red sunrise is when there is approximately 70 percent overcast. As a result, with the right conditions, just when the sunrise starts, the sky is turning red. Like mentioned, when light has to travel far, the blue lights spread out and the red lights are more visible. The sun is just starting to peak around the bulging edge of the planet to reach that part of the earth where the day is about to start. Moments later, as the sun is getting even closer to the horizon, the light still has to travel a far distance but is bright enough the wake up the world. A little moment later, the sun is getting closer to the horizon, the sky turns blue and is bright enough to see the shapes of the world around you. Just enough light travels trough the atmosphere to light up the sky a bit. At this point, the sun is still far away from the horizon (at another part of our planet), but it is getting closer. Pitch black darkness turns into deep blue. A few hours before sunrise, the sky slowly starts to get a bit brighter. It starts deep in the night, the sky is black. Twilight is the transition between day and night (and vice versa) and happens in multiple phases.

So what are the characteristics and differences of each of these times? Well, let’s take a look…įirstly, it is important to mention that the term “hour” is used quite loosely, the amount of time for each period can be significantly less and most photographers wish that blue hour, for example, would last a little longer! Twilight Astronomical Twilight (from -12° to -18°).Astronomical Twilight (from -18° to -12°).The following list shows the different light phases depending on the elevation of the sun… Please don’t panic, you can use PhotoPills to comfortably find out when each light phase occurs: But I do you know about Civil, Nautical, and Astronomical Twilight? 3 twilights?! Yes, 3! Well, maybe 3 distinct parts that together make up the whole. You might be familiar with the “Golden Hour” (that magical time that everyone with a camera knows about) and “Blue Hour” (the not as well known cousin that people get less excited about). It is also necessary to understand that the night is only black because of the lack of light. Because the blue lights are spread out, the red lights are more visible.

The further light travels trough the atmosphere, the more spread out the blue lights are. It is import to know that sunlight has seven colors (the rainbow is proof of this): red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Sunrise and sunset are a little more complex than just “day to night” or vice versa, at least for photographers, because there are different types of light and the illumination of the sky doesn’t just simply go from daylight to the black of night. Understanding how it behaves and the factors that influence it is mandatory.įor sunlight, we can distinguish the following light phases depending on the elevation of the sun: golden hour, blue hour, twilights, daytime and nighttime. We all know that light is the crucial element in photography.

Morning golden hour time