You Are Golden

Not many people know this, but I am usually singing a song in my head when I am behind the camera.  The song can be anything and normally fits with the situation. 

It's no surprise then, that as I sit here and write this blog, I am playing Woodstock, sung by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  If you haven't heard it, some of the lyrics include: "We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon; And we got to get ourselves back to the garden."  It's the first song that also seems to pop into my head every time I see the sun dropping to meet the horizon, bringing the "golden hour" of photography.

It is most likely the song that was in my head when I snapped this photo.

Depending on where exactly the sun is located as it sets, the colors may be red, yellow, orange, pink, but often they are golden.  But the golden hour of photography is not really about the color at all, instead it's about the period of daytime shortly after sunrise, or before sunset, when daylight is softer than when the Sun is higher in the sky.

Going back through various blog posts you would find many photos taken during these two time periods, although I am not really a morning person and prefer the setting version, rather than the rising version, of sunlight.

In the photo above, I like that the English Setter portrayed is an Orange Belton.  This coat color lends itself well to golden hour photography.  The same Setter below, with a different expression and surrounded a bit more by the trees rather than the field, and the dropping sun has to glimmer where it can.  (P.S.  I used the photo below in the "Bokeh" blog as well.)

Depending on the time of year, the golden hour may reflect differently on the surroundings.  In the Fall, the changing tree colors often allow for brighter, more flamboyant colors.

I don't do many landscape photos, but the photo below was taken of a local barn that I always liked (it is a house now), during the golden hour time frame on a Fall day.

Yes, there is a Setter running in the field near the barn.  If you can imagine this same scenario taken in very bright sunlight mid-day or on a big, puffy cloud, blue sky day, you can begin to see the difference the golden hour can make in photographs.

I am always admiring sunsets, whether I have a camera on me or not.  But no matter how hard I try, I can never quite show the actual colors as I am seeing them. 

Stay golden my friends.

To see more on the subject of golden hours, jump to the blog circle of pet photographers, starting with Pawparazzi Pet and Animal Photography presented by Shae Pepper.  Enjoy!