The Golden Hour (often referred to by photographers as the Magic Hour) is the period of daylight shortly after sunrise or before sunset when daylight is redder and softer than when the sun is higher in the sky.
What is Golden Hour?
Scientifically, golden hour occurs when the Sun is between 6 degrees above the horizon and 4 degrees below the horizon.
Because the Sun is at a low angle relative to Earth, solar rays must travel through a thicker layer of the atmosphere. The atmospheric particles scatter shorter blue wavelengths (Rayleigh Scattering), allowing warm red, orange, and golden wavelengths to pass directly to your camera sensor.
Why Golden Hour Creates Beautiful Photos
- Soft Directional Light: Shadows are elongated, gentle, and non-harsh compared to midday direct overhead solar glare.
- Warm Color Temperature: The natural color temperature drops from 5500K (midday white) down to 2500K - 3500K (rich warm gold).
- Flattering Portrayals: Harsh under-eye shadows disappear, making portraits look luminous and naturally glowing.
- Enhanced Texture & Depth: Low-angle raking light highlights surface textures in mountains, city architecture, waves, and fields.
Step-by-Step Golden Hour Photography Tips
1. Calculate Exact Local Golden Hour Timing
Golden hour does not last a literal 60 minutes in every location. Near the Equator (e.g., Singapore or Ecuador), the Sun descends rapidly, making golden hour last only 25–30 minutes. At higher latitudes (e.g., London, Seattle, or Oslo), golden hour can stretch for over 90 minutes!
Pro Tip: Use our Sunset Sunrise Today Golden Hour Tool to compute exact morning and evening golden hour start and end times for any city worldwide.
2. Recommended Camera Settings
- Shooting Mode: Manual (M) or Aperture Priority (A/Av).
- White Balance: Set WB manually to Shade (6000K) or Cloudy (6500K) to preserve and emphasize warm golden tones. Avoid Auto White Balance (AWB), which often tries to correct away the warm golden glow!
- ISO: Keep ISO low (100–400) for maximum dynamic range and crisp shadow details.
- Aperture:
- Landscapes: f/8 to f/11 for front-to-back sharpness.
- Portraits: f/1.8 to f/2.8 for creamy bokeh with sun flare highlights.
3. Master Golden Hour Backlighting & Lens Flare
Position your subject directly between your camera lens and the setting Sun. This creates a stunning rim light or halo around hair and shoulders. Stop down your aperture to f/16 to turn the setting sun into a crisp starburst flare!