A family photography guide to the perfect time of day to shoot

Every family photographer has their sweet spot, a time of day that they love to capture families outdoors. For many family portrait photographers the best time of day is golden hour. This time of day, the look it produces, the warm golden rays of light and how they hit a person’s face, hair and body becomes a cornerstone of a photographer’s artistic practice.

Golden hour produces warm rays of light that if you angle into your camera correctly can result in pure magic. For many family photographers, the alternative of shooting in direct sunlight during daytime hours is not possible and they will only shoot during golden hour. Golden hour occurs right after sunrise or just before sunset. The sun is low on the horizon, softening as it prepares to come or go creating the perfect warm glow for family photoshoots Sydney.

Blue hour, another beautiful time of day, is a much shorter space of time, right before sunrise or after sunset, the sun is behind the horizon which produces cooler tones. Whilst it is fleeting, the photos captured at this time of day are also soft and magical in their own way. Photographers will need to remember to adjust their camera settings during this time of day as it gets dark quickly and the light changes colour so the Kelvin settings will need to be adjusted accordingly.

When scouting locations, it is best to scout at the time of day you will be shooting. Visiting a location in the middle of the day won’t show you where the sun will be setting or what it will look like at all. Seeing it at this special time of day will spark interest and inspiration for your photoshoots.

It is also important to note that the sun moves very quickly during golden hour and if you are not prepared, you will miss the moment you came for. Many photographers will follow the sun during golden hour as it moves through the sky they too will move around the chosen location chasing its rays until it is gone. If the sun is setting over the water, there will be extra light and reflections bouncing off its surface which can also look enchanting in the final results.

Knowing your location well also helps as the sun will dip behind hills or buildings at many locations earlier than expected casting large shadows and reducing the available light significantly. If you are shooting at a location where you know there is an obstacle, make sure you arrive early enough to capture what you need before the sun disappears.

A strong understanding of camera settings and shooting in low light will also help to capture perfectly focussed family photographs during this time of day. Bump up your ISO and use large wide open apertures so that your shutter speed doesn’t slow down and blur your subjects. Be careful of motion, noise and blur during golden hour too.

Often the auto white balance settings on a camera are in-accurate during golden hour. The best thing to do when capturing family photography Sydney is to manually set the Kelvin temperature yourself. Decreasing the kelvin will add more blue which is what you want to do during the strong golden hour stage. However, as soon as the sun disappears, you will want to increase it to add more orange back into the photos.

During golden hour as the light changes you will go from a backlit subject to direct sun angled onto their face. Be careful to adjust your angles and poses as the sun changes brightness and moves through the sky.

Both blue hour and golden hour are beautiful times of day to capture family photography in Sydney that is ethereal and magical in its results.