Golden Hour Photography: When It Is and How to Shoot It

When the sun is closer to the horizon (shortly after sunrise and/or before sunset), its light is warmer and softer and illuminates objects from the side. Golden hour light makes faces glow, buildings shine and highlights textures with long dramatic shadows. It’s such a sought-after light for photographers that many plan entire photo trips around it. And you can make the most of it with the camera on a Samsung Galaxy, too.

In this guide we explain what golden hour is and why it’s so good for photography, how to work out when it is where you are (and why it lasts longer around midsummer and midwinter, and far from the equator), and which settings to use on your Galaxy so the phone doesn’t correct away the colour you came out for.

What is golden hour?

Golden hour isn’t a fixed hour on the clock. It’s the last stretch of direct sunlight before sunset, plus a few minutes after, when the light turns warmer and softer and comes in from the side. The same happens in the morning, starting just before sunrise and ending when the sun is about 6° above the horizon. There’s no official definition, so planning apps draw the line slightly differently: PhotoPills counts the sun between 6° above and 4° below the horizon, timeanddate.com between 6° above and 6° below, and The Photographer’s Ephemeris stops at sunset or sunrise.

The blue hour follows golden hour (and precedes it in the morning). It is defined as the period when the sun is between ~4° and ~8° below the horizon (again, this varies between planning apps). It gets its name from the deep blue colour of the sky and is popular with photographers as artificial lights turn on and the sky, while still bright, is dark enough that photographs don’t have extremely bright and dark areas. The blue colour is unrelated to that which makes the daytime sky blue and is the result of ozone in the upper atmosphere absorbing the red light from the sun.

Why golden hour light looks so good

Golden hour is the time when the sun is low in the sky, soon after sunrise or before sunset. Because it’s at such a low angle, light has to travel through more of the atmosphere to get to you. More atmosphere means more particles to bounce off, and as blue light scatters more than red, more of the blue is removed and the light that reaches you is warmer (yellow/orange/red). On the colour temperature scale, this light is roughly 2000K to 4000K, compared with about 5000K to 6500K for a clear midday sun.

Low angle light also emphasises texture as it hits things at a shallow angle, think of how side light reveals the texture of stone, fabric or tree bark. And finally, because the light is travelling through more atmosphere it is softer, some is scattered, some absorbed by water and dust, meaning that although there are long shadows the light within them isn’t black and contrast is lower, which is easier for your phone’s camera sensor to handle.

How long does golden hour last?

The duration depends on your latitude (how far you are from the equator) and the time of year. The closer to the equator, the more steeply the sun sets and rises, and the shorter golden hour is. The further from the equator, the shallower the angle, and the longer it lasts. Using NOAA’s solar position equations, we calculated how long the evening golden hour lasts in eight cities, with PhotoPills’ definition of 6° to −4°.

Golden hour varies in length throughout the year and around the world. There are two main trends: golden hour is longer in the middle of summer and winter than around the equinoxes, and golden hour gets much longer the further you get from the equator. If you live in Scandinavia, Canada or the UK, you’ll get longer golden hours than if you’re in Singapore, for example. In Scandinavia in winter, for instance, the sun can be golden for most of the short day.

How to find golden hour where you are

The simplest rule is to head out about an hour before sunset, or shortly before sunrise, and stay until the colour has gone. Samsung’s Weather app, like most weather apps, shows the day’s sunrise and sunset times. For exact golden and blue hour times, apps such as PhotoPills or Sun Surveyor show when each phase starts and ends for any place and date, and the sunrise and sunset page for your city on timeanddate.com lists twilight times too. Samsung’s own tip: use burst mode, as conditions can change in seconds.

Check the sky as well as the clock. A clear horizon gives the warmest direct light. Thick cloud on the horizon can cut golden hour short or cancel it, but broken high cloud can turn orange and red after sunset. On dull days it can be worth hanging on for another 10 to 20 minutes after the sun has gone.

Best Samsung Galaxy settings for golden hour

Golden hour photography can be tricky on a phone because the camera often automatically lightens dark areas (causing the sky to look washed out) and corrects white balance (which can make a warm scene look neutral). You can fix this by lowering brightness and adjusting white balance manually. If you’d like to get up to speed on the Kelvin scale, our white balance guide covers that.

How to shoot a golden hour portrait on a Galaxy

1. 1

   Put the sun behind or beside your subject

   Backlight gives a glowing outline in the hair; side light gives shape to the face. Avoid having them stare into the low sun, which makes people squint.

2. 2

   Switch to the 3x lens

   Step back and use 3x, or Portrait mode at 3x. The longer lens flatters faces and blurs the background into soft colour.

3. 3

   Lock focus and exposure on the face

   Touch and hold the face until the AE/AF lock shows, then drag the brightness slider until the skin looks right. The sky will get brighter; that's fine for a portrait.

4. 4

   Watch for flare

   With the sun in or near the frame, wipe the lens and shift slightly until any coloured blobs or haze across the face disappear, or shade the lens with your hand.

5. 5

   Take a burst as the light changes

   The colour shifts minute by minute. Shoot several frames, then pick the best in the Gallery.

For 17 portrait set-ups sorted by where the sun is, check out our golden hour portrait ideas. Interested in turning your subject into a silhouette? Our silhouette guide shows how.

Golden hour photo ideas beyond portraits

• Use a 3x or 5x lens to accentuate layers of hills and valleys in landscapes.
• Backlighting makes grass seed heads, steam, dust in the air and people’s hair glow. Expose for highlights around edges of subjects.
• Low, raking light emphasises texture, think tree bark, stone walls, doors, ripples in sand etc.
• With the sun behind you buildings facing the camera glow in golden light against blue skies.
• With the sun behind you shoot down streets or across fields so shadows of trees, railings, people etc stretch towards the camera.

After golden hour: the blue hour

Try to capture cityscapes or harbours 15 to 30 minutes after sunset (this varies depending on your location). The sky will have taken on a lovely shade of blue and the lights will have come on in windows and on streets. The difference in brightness between the sky and the lights won’t be so extreme at this time of day. However, as it will be pretty dark, shoot in Night mode or Pro mode (with the phone on a tripod). Our sunrise guide covers the morning blue hour, and the Night mode guide the settings once it's dark.

Frequently asked questions