Studio photographers rely on equipment to create masterpieces. Natural light portrait photographers, on the other hand, depend on weather and great timing to take stunning portraits.
For me, as a natural light photographer, the lighting at a location is the thing I look for first. I try to find and visit potential spots during the golden hour, when the light is the most magical. I usually take a few test shots and experiment with different settings. Some locations may be beautiful, but they just don’t get very much of the magical light that I look for when capturing the perfect shots.
If you have a location in mind I am open to try it but we would have to discuss the time and some other details before the shoot.
Read on below for more information.
The golden hour is a short period of time that happens twice a day. Once in the morning, for an hour shortly after sunrise. And second time in the evening, an hour before sunset.
Photographers LOVE shooting during these times, because the light is even and diffused and is much warmer than the midday sun. Thats why they also sometimes call it the “Magic Hour”. It is truly magical!
The warmer tones are very flattering on subjects and make their skin look golden, like they have a healthy tan. You can even have your subjects facing straight into the sun, if you want to, without them having to squint and as a rule of thumb you don’t ever want your subjects squinting.
You can also find out more on this handy link golden hour calculator which will show you the exact golden hour times for the date you are planning your photo session.