How to Take Golden Hour Portraits
This blog post will teach you how to take golden hour photos that look like this:
Choose the right time of day!
Golden hour may be defined as “one hour before sunset” but from my experience, betting on this one hour isn’t enough! I always try to schedule my “golden hour” shoots at the earliest 3 hours before the sun goes down. I found that there’s enough light up until the last hour before sunset - and then the sun goes down so quickly you’ll start struggling to get enough light!
That being said, I also personally prefer the golden hour in the summer rather than in the winter. The snow can reflect too much light sometimes that the nice golden glow is lost.
Plan your golden hour shoots accordingly, and you’ll get that nice sunset glow!
At the shoot, chase the light.
Position the model so that they are facing the sun. It seems obvious, but sometimes I try to get that ‘halo glow’ of the sky that I forget about the main subject in front of me. Here is an example from my last sunset photoshoot:
RAW image: blue tones, underexposed, unflattering
RAW image: warmer tones, adjustable exposure, true-to-life color
When I took the photo on the left, I noticed that there was no light on the model.
“Oh no!” I thought. “Does that mean I have to end the photoshoot early?”
Thankfully no. The model and I walked behind the trees you can see in the left photo, which was much more exposed to the sunset. By chasing the light, we see that the photo on the right is much more flattering. Only a few tweaks will be necessary to raise the image to the proper exposure.
Bring and use a reflector!
Having a reflector can make or break your portraits, especially when you’re first starting out in photography. As in other low light situations, popping out the reflector can bounce the diffused sunlight onto the subject to reduce unflattering shadows. Here’s what I mean:
In post-production, use “dehaze”.
It’s only been a year since I’ve discovered the function of the Lightroom slider “Dehaze” and how I wish I discovered it sooner!
I found that whenever I take photos of the sky, the photo can get overexposed to the point where it’s difficult to see the main subject.
Once in post-production, take this Dehaze slider and bring it up to 5-14 to bring out the shadows and tuck away the blaring highlights.
Want to have a golden hour photoshoot with me? Send me an email and let’s start planning!