What is the best time of the day to take photos?
The answer to this question can be applied to any shoot, especially if it takes place outdoors.
Recently I was blogging about a time of the year you could have your photo shoot done, now, let’s talk about the time of the day!
The rule is quite simple. To get the best results from the shoot, it’s worth working around the sunset and sunrise hours. So why should you do that?
- Lighting in photography adds much atmosphere.
- Golden hour lighting creates nice shadows on the photographs.
- Your skin may look smoother and full of glow.
- Regardless of the location, the world will look much more beautiful during this time. So even a very simple location with nothing to focus on just by adding some golden hour lighting will be magical.
What time is that golden hour, then?
The golden hour is the time within an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. I personally, also like to shoot two hours before sunset and up to two hours after sunrise as the light is still really nice but a bit different.
Sometimes however, you can’t count the sun will appear and do its magic. The weather may be tricky and not wish to cooperate. It happens is cloudy all day.
Don’t worry, a good photographer will use it as an excuse to experiment with some not-obvious backgrounds that could be missed if the sun would shine.
Below you can check my examples of different lighting scenarios and background ideas :)
If you think about booking an outdoor shoot, contact me I’ll be happy to create some beautiful photos with you.
You can book a shoot here or just contact me and have a chat about your ideas and expectations :)
two hours before the sunset
![engagement shoot locke park barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/359127832/c464cdd0c85d6955134feea209faaf7d-6f6fe872.jpg)
![engagement shoot locke park barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/069127832/92383d13f2a0c327b4c86ecc632ba552-df2a2ecd.jpg)
one hour - 20 minutes before the sunset
![engagement shoot locke park golden hour barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/617227832/8358899809bcee9cd6e4b961a0c0fbb8-23ebca0b.jpg)
![engagement shoot locke park golden hour barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/327227832/c4bc0bbb391a073bb9b4a7df834c63d6-d1c2dd84.jpg)
no sun but foggy morning
![foggy couple photoshoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/082327832/be33269b8430aa33f5e2ddf5d628a85d-96e70403.jpg)
![foggy couple photoshoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/782327832/02d3f173d0174cd5df81bf3ea9d12a58-3e3c31d2.jpg)
no sun but some creative january backgrounds
![Thornes park Wakefield engagement shoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/780427832/40bd0fb2cc868f93037840ff8475d823-af12f4ad.jpg)
![Thornes park Wakefield engagement shoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/490427832/4dee17686fedd9f084864bb719fb2331-cd50d3d1.jpg)
again no sun but some nice backgrounds
![cannon hall farm engagement shoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/213427832/b65461b369dd1a66be59296e38665252-de106020.jpg)
![cannon hall farm engagement shoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/913427832/0bf6ab0493d6305c8668cd6775526b7f-40193dc3.jpg)
we were hoping for sunrise but got a rainbow and surprise engagement!
![peak distrcit engagement shoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/847427832/b2fcfcf81bb58c91964f4569fdd759f8-18b04474.jpg)
![peak distrcit engagement shoot barnsley photographer](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/557427832/ec16b46c9350cbb94b2d234266a2080f-09e07f6c.jpg)