04/12/2024
Some free advice to those couples on a budget trying to calculate the best timing for photography!
Please note if you book a session with me I will do the groundwork on this. If you are working on building your wedding timeline I’m happy to work with you and/or your planners or venue on this!
However, I also understand some people want to elope and want to lay the groundwork with a little planning first or get an idea of timing way ahead of time or want to be able to check-in on the best timing often or maybe we aren’t working together and you’re trying your hardest to save every penny because let’s face it living these days is expensive - I want to work with you but I also want to inform you of a great way to find your golden hour and sunset time so here is some free advice- a great way to do this is to download a free app called Golden Hour!
Below I will explain! 👇🌅
Especially those who are interested in portraits being taken during “sunset”. The first step in that is to actually understand if you just want the sunset or what you really want is golden hour with the sunset at the end. I will post photos as examples.
Golden hour is that beautiful period of time right before sunset when the sun is low in the sky, the lighting is more even and the golden light and filament in the air comes together to work a special kind of magic. It’s usually an hour to an hour and a half before sunset in the evenings and the time right after sunrise in the mornings. This app will give you the timing for both golden hours, the sunrise and the sunset for your exact planned GPS location so if your are really wanting those epic mountainside elopement photos with the sun falling behind you this is a great planning tool and even a good tool to help you pick a location in a way.
I see many posts needing to budget for a small amount of time for photography & wanting to plan timing in your schedule to make the most out of it and wanting sunset photos in wedding photography groups which led me to make this post.
Many people don’t understand that you most likely want to shoot for golden hour that beautiful glowy time which takes place about an hour before sunset (weather permitting of course), which then leads to a short sunset & then it gets dark.
Most experienced photographers will help you build a timeline but for those of you needing to try to build a timeline on your own and those photos are important to you I want to recommend a FREE app in the App Store called Golden Hour.
You input the date, exact location and it will provide you with a pretty accurate timing of golden hour AND exactly when it estimates sunset to take place in that exact location as well (sun will still be visible in some places nearby that isn’t at your exact location or vice versa) so it’s ALLOT more accurate than just googling when sunset takes place or getting sunset time from Accuweather.
I recommend checking it semi-regularly leading up to your wedding as things can change based on weather and other factors and it’s really able to dial it in the closer you get vs a year from but it’s a good starting point!
This is free advice, weddings are expensive and I understand and respect when people don’t have the budget for a fully photographed wedding day but want to make the most out of what they do have.
I don’t make any money by offering this advice and the app really is free.
I will post a couple photos I took during golden hour to help people visualize as well as a photo I took at sunset.
Good luck to everyone in your wedding planning! Hope this can be a helpful planning tool to those that need it!
