A great photo like any art will tug emphatically at your heartstrings. The use of light in photography has a profound effect on how your subject and overall scene will resonate with people. Really good photographers understand how to manipulate the direction and quality of natural light to help inject mood and emotion into photographs, as well as capture impeccable detail.

Utilizing natural lighting encourages natural harmony and is a free mood enhancer. Optimal outdoor lighting occurs during what is termed by photographers as the Golden Hour. The Golden Hour is roughly the first hour of sunlight after sunrise and the remaining hour of sunlight before sunset. During these periods, the sun is low in the sky and casts a soft, diffused light on subjects. Since the illumination comes from indirect light that is traveling through a greater depth of atmosphere, a softer image with less excessive contrast is produced. The light during the Golden Hour reduces blown highlights, hard shadows and washed images, making for enhanced colors in each photograph. The soft, reddish hue and vivid colors created by Golden Hour lighting brings incomparable warmth and depth to photographs.

Just like a portrait or landscape photographer, an aerial photographer will often adjust their flight schedule to specifically capitalize on the beautiful lighting produced during the Golden Hour. Often the Golden Hour is not actually an hour since it is determined by the time of year and the altitude of the sun. The closer a photographer is to the equator the shorter the Golden Hour is. In contrast the farther away a photographer is from the Equator, the longer the Golden Hour will be. During winter the Golden Hour may not exist at all in places located at the far reaches of the globe. Regardless of location, the Golden Hour is simply not very long.

The Golden Hour is a relatively short window of opportunity for capturing stunning portraits. Therefore, an aerial photographer must work twice as fast as other photographers. Flight planning and preparation need to occur well-before the Golden Hour to ensure the photographer is airborne and in position before the first hour of light after sunrise or the last hour of light before sunset.

Lighting can either make or break a photograph and if not applied delicately, your next project can fall victim of bad lighting. Desert View Aerial Photography understands how to promptly apply the Golden Hour rule to any type of photography to ensure its composed for maximum impact. Our team will ensure your images are extra special.

For more information on how Desert View Aerial Photography can take your photos to the next level, call 480.396.2409.

ELEVATE YOUR MARKETING…the sky’s the limit!®