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golden hour

Five steps to faking golden hour lighting with just one flash

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Golden hour is the type of lighting most photographers swear by. And indeed, it’s hard to go wrong when you shoot around this hour of the day. But you know how it is: sometimes the weather or the timing just don’t work for you. Still, there are ways to “cheat” and create your own golden hour.

In this video from Adorama, Pye Jirsa guides you through five simple steps you can take to mimic the golden hour lighting in outdoor portraits. It’s pretty easy and doesn’t even require a complicated setup. All you need is one flash, a color gel, and some photo editing skills.

Find the exact times of golden hour with this helpful tool

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Golden or magic hour is the favorite time of day of most photographers who love using natural light. The only trouble with it is that it lasts, well, an hour, so you have to be at your location at a very specific time. Guys at Inkifi have created The Golden Hour Index, a tool that lets you determine the exact moment when the magic hour starts and ends. It works wherever in the world you are and lets you get the most of this time of day.

Five simple steps for using strobes during golden hour

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Hi, this is Jay P. Morgan. Today on The Slanted Lens I’m back out here where we photographed last week. We photographed this little pizza cart called Dracari’s Pizza. It’s a great little cart with neon lights on it. I’ve been shooting food trucks for the last little while and have really enjoyed it. I still have the Hasselblad X-1 D. So I was not happy with the image I got here last week, it looks strobe-lit. The lighting was not integrated with the scene. And I felt like it kind of missed it. So tonight, I’m going to take that same image.

New Apple Watch notifies you of the Golden Hour and stargazing conditions

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Apple has announced the Apple Watch Series 6. While this gadget may not have to do much with photography, it looks like the latest model of the watch aims at photographers as well. Other than its usual features, Apple Watch now tells you when is the best time to shoot, and astro and landscape photographers could find it especially handy.

Atmosphere and Light – How To Improve Your Outdoor Photography

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This past summer I was camping with my family and one of the lakes we visited had a perfect jumping rock.

I knew this would be a great photo opportunity, so I brought my camera to snap a few photos of us jumping off of the rock and into the lake.

What I ended up capturing was a perfect lesson on why you need to look for atmosphere and light to improve your outdoor photography.

How to enhance colors in sunset photos with a single layer, and get optimal results

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Even the magical light of the golden hour requires some enhancement in post-processing. There are a few ways to do it, and Denny Tang of Denny’s Tips suggest one of the simplest I’ve seen so far. He uses a single adjustment layer, and it’s the Channel Mixer. The whole editing process is pretty fast, yet gives natural-looking results on the photos taken during sunset (or sunrise).

Fake Sunshine Glow – Warm Up Your Fall Photos With Strobe Sunlight

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I was just raking up the last of the fall leaves and though that I’d like to get some photos of the kids jumping in my big leaf pile.

The image I had in my head was one of those amazing fall days where that gorgeous warm glowing late day sunshine was back-lighting the leaves and highlighting the kids.

Problem was: by the time I was done raking the leaves, it was petty late in the day so most of my yard was in shade, and the ambient light that was available was coming from the wrong direction.

To get the photos I wanted, I decided to fake that late day warm sunshine glow with strobe sunlight. In this article, I will show you how to do it yourself (its actually pretty easy to get great results)!

It’s Only Magic If You Know How To Use It; Getting The Most Out Of Magic Hour

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We all know how great the light is during those magical hours that surround sunrise and sunset, but knowing good light exists is only half the battle. Given that golden hour is so fleeting and the light changes so rapidly, you also need some camera skills and, most importantly, a little creativity to turn an ordinary photo into an incredible one. As Corey Rich explains the process he used to create the photo you see above, you begin to understand the real magic behind stunning magic hour shots is a combination of preparation, observation, and, of course, serendipity.

“This is what happens when you’re outside in the right place, the light’s nice, you’ve done everything in your power to arrange the situation, you stack the cards in your favorite and you get that added element and, boom, you start making really interesting pictures.”

In the video below, Rich continues to explain one of the best ways to ensure you’re getting the most out of the magic that is golden hour light, is to get there early and stay late. Do everything in your power to set yourself up for a great shot, be patient, examine the scene with an open mind, and be ready to fire the shutter on a moments notice…

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