Why keeping your kids up for Golden Hour photos is TOTALLY WORTH IT!
It’s all about THE LIGHT!
The light! The FREAKING LIGHT There is nothing quite like it. The light alone adds its own kind of wizardry.
Despite the name, it’s not always just an hour. Golden hour (also known as the Magic Hour) is that fleeting hour (or two) before the sun sets or after sunrise - but let’s be honest who gets up and ready by 5 a.m. - where the sun sits close to the horizon. One of the biggest benefits is the gentle natural light. The result is softer and warmer, and it doesn’t wash out skin tones, and well, quite frankly, it’s magic. You won’t find anyone squinting against harsh sun and the soft golden light basically kisses your skin!
We need to talk about your Flare (see what I did there?)
I’m not talking about the type of “flair” you wear. I am talking lens flare. Because of where the sun is in the sky during Golden Hour, it is much easier to get that beautiful flare! Using trees, or even people to partially block the sun helps create stunning rays of light that can completely change the feel of a photo. I feel like it makes it more romantic, or nostalgic… if that makes sense.
Additional locations
The middle of the day can limit your locations. If it is a bright sunny day, your locations will likely need shade, or filtered light and as we know in Calgary, the weather changes minute to minute. The other nice thing about Golden hour is even if it does end up cloudy, you are still getting that beautiful, diffused light.
Consider Blue Hour
If you are up for it, and the kids are having fun, consider sticking around for Blue Hour. It’s actually not even close to an hour but more like 10-20 minutes after the sun has set. It’s basically the exact opposite of golden hour, and produces cool tones… but man, does it make you pop! One of my favourite times to shoot by far and I am often looking for models to come shoot blue hour in unique locations with me!
Check out a few favourite blue hour photos of mine below from the Find Your Light Workshop with Spruce and Sparrow last year (best investment ever)! I barely needed to edit these photos and look how freaking gorgeous!
