Why does everyone seem to crave that sunset lighting? If you’ve followed any photographer on social media you’ve seen the gorgeous images where the light rays dance through the trees or cast brilliant shimmers onto human bodies. If you’ve booked sessions with me, you’ll probably recall that I tend to steer everyone towards booking right around when the sun starts to go down. I have a sweet spot for this “golden hour” light because the mood it creates is just unbeatable.
When you look back on these photos, you will want to feel a peace about your moment in time.
The golden light that breaks through the trees is unmistakable. There is something undeniable about the stillness that accompanies the close of a day. We tend to start to wind down. Our bodies sync up with our minds, and we don’t “hold on” so tight. These are the physiological phenomena I want to play with in your photos. These feelings create moody, magical images that can’t exist with a harsh, blinding mid-day light.
Its just logistically better!
When developing colors in these photos, I work so much less on creating a vibe. Its already there! I save so much time by getting quality shots from the start. Sure, I can edit a poorly exposed photograph & make it look like it was shot perfectly, but after editing a batch of sunset photos, it becomes obvious why they are simply superior. Part of the benefit of my learning photography on a film camera and developing only black and white photos for years, is that I learned how light plays in nature during the different hours of the day. When we have color to distract the eyes, we often forget how completely valuable light can be to the beauty of a photo. Sunset unleashes the softest, sweetest light, causing anything in its path to be swept up in the aura of its presence.
Its nature’s photoshop.
Shadows fall without our permission. The difference in a face shot during mid-day bright light and a face shot at sunset is vast. The curves of our faces and the shape of our heads can tend to be distorted in bright light. Shadows are softer, gold-toned, and warm. Any blemish is assisted by the dramatic, rich colors that sunsets bring. Within the hour or so that we photograph during your session, we will have a variety of hues along the warm spectrum to choose from. From the beginning of the session, we’ll have those yellows & bright greens that create vivid, playful shots. From the middle, we’ll grab some light dancing through the trees to create subtle shades of gray. Towards the end, and during blue hour, we will get those moody, serene glimpses of gold that are totally timeless and classic.
We can count on it!
No matter what the weather does, the sun always rises and sets. In the changing of each season, we can tend to feel a bit uneasy at what the thermometer will read, but we know that the sun will do its thing. Even if your shoot is set on a rainy day, the sun’s job is to illuminate, even though the clouds. It will always do its job when most every other variable is unreliable.
Its fleeting.
Not to get too poetic on you, but the impermanence of the sunset is part of what creates its value. If we could always have soft sunset light, it wouldn’t be as special. That hurts a little to think about, but it really is true. The very best things are often fleeting or scarce. The moments we want to capture are that way, too. Photos help capture memories so we can free our minds to move forward. The looking back can sometimes feel like looking into the sun; we squint, then we smile.