The magic hour

We call the magical hours of the sun, those in which, by their quality, they imprint on landscape photography (mainly) an undeniable personality, whether perceived as color, atmosphere, …. There can be no photography without light and without an attractive light/atmosphere it will be very difficult for us to capture unrepeatable moments.

What are the hours of the sun and what are the magic ones?

The different hours of the sun are, daylight, golden hour, blue hour, twilight (with the different types of twilights that are defined) and night.

The magical hours of the sun are the golden hour, the blue hour and twilight.

Each of the magical hours will be recognizable by its light qualities, but knowing when they occur depends on the position of the sun in the sky or hidden behind the horizon. In other words, it depends on the elevation in the sky, with positive values to indicate the position up in the sky, 0 ° to indicate hiding on the horizon and negative values when hidden behind the horizon. It is also essential to know the qualities of each light, to visualize how it influences the landscape and what photography is right at all times.

This table classifies the different lights of the sun by its elevation on the sky (or below):

Type of lights (Sun)

Non photographic

 

Photographic

Night

 

 

 

Night

Twilight

Astronomic

Morning

 

Twilight

Nautical

 

Blue hour

Civil

 

Golden hour

Day

 

 

 

Daylight

Twilight

Civil

Evening

 

Golden hour

Nautical

 

Blue hour

Astronomic

 

Twilight

Night

 

 

 

Night

 

As seen in the table, magic hours are repeated both in the morning and afternoon, and although in theory they behave in the same way, in practice they behave differently by the effect of pollution, mist, temperature and atmospheric conditions.

In The Photographer’s Assistant, each type of light is identified (in addition to its name) with a color, as seen in the table.

Twilight

Twilight is the time interval from night to sunrise and from sunset to night, when, even if the sun is not visible, there is still light. This interval changes every day, depending on the time of year and our position on Earth, but they always depend on the elevation of the sun, when the elevation of the central point of the sun is positioned between -18° and 0°.

A long exposure during twilight brings back the color from the sky.

Civil twilight

During civil twilight, objects on both earth and heaven are visible to the naked eye. That is why orientation and walking paths are possible without the help of artificial light.

Civil twilight begins when the center of the sun is at -6° and ends at sunrise. In the afternoon, it starts just after the start and ends when it is at -6° elevation.

A soft glow lights the taller peaks during the civil twilight.

Nautical twilight

During nautical twilight, objects on earth are barely visible without the help of artificial light. However, it is possible to navigate the sea (hence the name). The main stars and brightest planets are already visible in the sky.

At dawn, the nautical twilight begins when the sun is at -12° and ends with the civil twilight, at -6° elevation. During evening, it begins just at the end of the civil twilight (-6 °) and ends when it is at -12°.

The blue hues dominates this seascape. Long exposure is needed to gather enough light.

Astronomical twilight

During astronomical twilight, the sky has become very dark, the sea is barely a stain and the shapes of the ground are only visible when trimmed against the sky. More stars and constellations are already visible, but many other objects visible at night are not yet visible.

Astronomical twilight is the time interval between night and nautical twilight, when the sun is between -18 ° and  -12°s, both at morning with during evening.

The change of hues during the twilight.

The Magic Hours

Golden hour

The golden hour, as the name suggests, is the time interval in which the light is of a warm hue, depending on the atmosphere, of soft yellows to golds, oranges and reds. Color transitions will not be abrupt nor a change will be seen in a few moments from one tone to another.

Even if it’s called an hour, it can last from a few minutes to several hours.

Beautiful warm light on the coast. Now, it’s time find a good composition.

At the beginning of the golden hour of the afternoon, the light will start becoming yellow, very pale at first, but the tones will gain strength. Influenced by the amount of particles in the atmosphere (dust, fumes, pollution, rain, …), the light will be more or less diffuse and the tones will be more intense or not. The shadows will be long and less defined, being an ideal time for landscape, urban and portrait photography.

Urban golden hour. Sometimes, happens the unexpected.

The Photographer’s Assistant implements golden hour as the time interval in which the sun is between -4 ° and +6 ° elevation, both during the morning and afternoon.

However, in the cinematic world, golden hour is divided into two intervals in which the post-sunrise or pre-sunset (when visible in the sky, top elevation > 0°) is equally called golden hour, but the part where it is hidden behind the horizon is called the magic hour.

Some cinematographic works have been widely recorded in this interval:

  • Days of Heaven (1978), awarded an Oscar for Best Cinematography, The New World (2005), The Tree of Life (2011), where all scenes were recorded during this interval.

Duration of magic hours in different places of the world

Example 1: Donostia, 43.3199294, -1.9760193

March equinox (start of spring)
June solstice (start of summer)
September equinox (start of autumn)
December solstice (start of winter)

Twilight is visibly longer on June than in December (longer purple bar), although golden hour is slightly longer during winter. Blue hour longs pretty the same during all year.

Example 2: Elgol, UK, 57.1492752, -6.1076438

March equinox (start of spring)
June solstice (start of summer)
September equinox (start of autumn)
December solstice (start of winter)

Twilight is longer on June than in December (longer purple bar) and there’s no night (no black colored bar). Golden hour is slightly longer during winter. Blue hour longs a little bit more during winter than during the equinoxes, but still less than in June.

Example 3: Reine, Lofoten Islands, 67.9450101, 13.0616998. Inside the arctic circle.

March equinox (start of spring)
June solstice (start of summer)
September equinox (start of autumn)
December solstice (start of winter)

Reine is in the arctic circle so, during summer they have the midnight sun effect and in winter sun is never visible during many days. That’s why we experience no sunrise nor sunset, nor blue hour or any darkening in the sky. On the other hand, in December solstice, sun isn’t visible, but we can experience a continuous magic light from the end of the night until the beginning of the next one.

Example 4: Singapur, 1.3437419, 103.6839582 (almost on the equator).

March equinox (start of spring)
June solstice (start of summer)
September equinox (start of autumn)
December solstice (start of winter)

As can be seen in the image, near the equator all year we can experience the same length (mostly) of magic lights.

Sunrise and sunset

In the golden hour the sunrise and the sunset take place, which already have a personality of their own: the moment when, on a flat and clean horizon, such as the sea, you can see the sun trimmed and changing shape; the shadows will be almost infinite, the minimum bulge, elevation or texture of the terrain will be defined and the light takes the reddest tone.

Sunset at the sea. The sun finds a keyhole to light the scene at the very last moment.

Although it is widely spread that this happens when the central point of the sun is at 0° elevation, by the effect of diffraction of the Earth’s atmosphere normally (average value) it is estimated to be at an elevation of -0.58°.

The moon during golden hour

During golden hour, the illumination of the moon and landscape are equal, and if it also coincides with a low elevation, it can become an element of interest in the photograph.

It is when the sun is below + 1°  / +0.5° elevation when it takes a lot of prominence and its color changes are also better appreciated.

That’s why The Photogarpher’s Assistant marks these days of great interest in the calendar.

The calendar view in the app. 25th and 26th are good days to capture moon set during golden hour.

God Rays

Depending on the amount of atmosphere, the sun sneaking between the clouds can create volumetric lights and shadows (also known as the crepuscular rays), which as they get closer to sunrise or sunset will become more reddish.

God Rays or crepuscular rays during sunset.

Stormlight

Stormlight during golden hour can be one of the best experiences a landscape photographer can experience.

This is the sum of a dense atmosphere, dark clouds as a background with a result in which if the rays of light happen, they will look much more intense than on other days; contrasts in the clouds, between the illuminated areas and those in the shade will look like chiaroscuro (light-dark) style paintings, of great visual drama.

Rainbows

Rainbows that occur during golden hour are special because, on the one hand, they are appreciated higher in the sky and also because they lose some of their usual colors; the sun has lost some of its white color, being now more yellow-golden, so we will see an arch with red, orange and yellow colors (at the beginning of the golden hour).

When colored clouds light up

Low altitude clouds lighted just before sunset.

These values may change depending on the atmosphere of the moment, the height of the clouds, and the configuration of the clouds. But having a clean horizon that does not block the illumination of the clouds, this can help as a starting point:

  • the low clouds of cluster type, when the sun is between +1° and -0.75°.  It is possible to add the sun in the frame. They usually long few minutes, but at the same time they are very saturated and intense of red and orange colors.
  • medium-height clouds, when the sun is between -1.25° and -1.75°. Its duration is intermediate, and the highlighted colors are usually yellow and orange, although not as intense as in the lower layers.
  • high-altitude clouds, such as cirrus and strata, will light up when the sun is between -2.5° and -3.5° below horizon. Its duration is usually quite long, and its colors are usually less intense, they tend to throw more pastel oranges, yellows, pinks and purples. The different textures of the clouds greatly influence the final appeal.

Blue hour

The blue hour is the relatively short time interval at mid and central latitudes, in which the sky takes a deep blue color, except in the directions of sunrise and sunset where warm colors are still appreciated.

Blue hues on a cloudy day.

As the sun no longer illuminates the landscape directly, most of the light comes from the sky, that’s why is so blue and wide, the shadows are diffuse and the landscape turns to colder colors.

It is a good time for urban and architectural photography, when streetlights, lamps and city lights are on, creating a tonal contrast of warm lights and cold unlit areas.

Chromatic contrast during blue hour. Blue and orange colors work well together.

Also highly appreciated in photographs in desert and snow environments.

Certain authors define the blue hour part of the civil twilight (between -4 and -6), but photographically, The Photographer’s Assistant understands it as when the elevation of the sun is between -4 ° and  -8 °.

The blue mists

During the blue hour, the static mists of the valleys and the changing mists that rise from them, take the color of the sky becoming a cottony blue sea.

The moon

The capture of the moon during blue hour is still interesting; the illuminated area usually loses detail, but the shaded area is best appreciated. The color changes at the rising and the setting begin to be very noticeable.

Moonrise during the blue hour. Look the reddish color at rising time.

The Photographer’s Assistant indicates which dates match the moon’s rising and setting during this interval.

Twilight (photographic)

This is the time interval from the end of the blue hour to the start of the night (during sunset) or from the end of the night to the start of the blue hour (dawn).

As mentioned above, stars are visible during photographic twilight, as are brighter planets and constellations. Other astronomical objects such as nebulae will not be visible until nightfall.

However, the sky still has color, barely visible, true, but much more intense in the direction of sunrise or sunset, which in the photographs will be seen with a dark blue, purple or dark lilac color. It can be a special time to capture a starry sky or with the Milky Way slightly visible over a naturally-colored sky.

Both stars and a color on the sky are visible during this interval of time.

The moon

Capturing the moon in a wide landscape that doesn’t come white out completely the lighted part or the rest completely in the dark starts to get complicated, but the moon’s rising and settings already have an intense color: red when just over the horizon, then it will turn orange and finally it will look yellow before turning white. The process will be repeated at the setting, but in the reverse order.