I remember years ago, before I was a photographer, seeing blog posts about ‘The Golden Hour’ and how beautiful it was. I remember seeing the images in each post and thinking, “wow, beautiful” but it was only when I picked up a camera myself that I understood what they were actually saying.
Photographers get excited about light. To us it’s a HUGE thing and now that I have shot in both hemisphere’s and various countries throughout Europe, I can fully understand what people where going on about before and why ‘The Golden Hour’ is so important – especially for wedding portraits!
Working in the UK, I was pretty much happy to have ANY light at all – but I was a little surprised at what I noticed when I sat down to edit… the light (to me) seemed blue. I found the same thing in Ireland. In Paris I found it a little warmer, more lilac, and in Spain, Greece and Cyprus I have found it to be more yellow. However, in South Africa I discovered (to my extreme delight) that is was a soft, warm pinky-orange.
I am a hybrid shooter, which means that I shoot both film and digital camera’s. I always want to ensure I ‘got the shot’ so to speak when working indoors as the light is a bit more tricky to work with and during a wedding, there are not second chances to get the shot, but I am completely in love with the feel of film, especially for outdoor couple shoots.
The point is, when you mix film and the Golden Hour, the results are magic! So if you are planning your big day, no matter where in the world you are having it, check what time the sun sets and try your best to set aside the hour and a half before hand for your couple shoot. Doing this you will ensure 2 things; 1, a very happy photog and 2, some pretty magical images.
Don’t believe me? Rose and Martin’s couple shoot fell perfectly into that last hour of light before the sun went down (and just after) and the combination of soft light, beautiful tones and amazing grainy film created some pretty gorgeous images.
