What is the best time for photos?

Soft morning light?
Mid-day when the sun is brightest?
Sunset for that golden glow?

Being an outdoor, natural light photographer, your session timing relies heavily on the sun. Most people thing mid day would be correct…. but for me early morning or later in the day is best! (It’s my fav!)

Real life example

Here is a great example of the three lighting options taken within hours of each other.

For an example, this session was in mid June. The left photo was taken around 4 in the afternoon. Notice the more neon colors, harsher shadows and the background is really washed out in that photo. We had to be very careful not to get the sun on the couples faces because then they would be so squinty! The middle photo was taken during golden hour between 6 and 8 pm. This is my fav lighting! That pretty glow, soft colors and even shadows. The right photo was taken just after sunset. Super even skin tones and colors with no shadows. But this window is super short before it gets too dark.

What time of day is best for photos?

Golden hour! Soft low light is always the goal, so we will either start 15ish minutes before the sunrise, or about 1-2 hour before the sun sets for that soft golden glow!

Mid Day Light

Mid-day sun is very bright and harsh which creates harsh shadows in odd places (think under the eyes, nose and chin) and squinty eyes. It is NOT what we are going for. Plus the colors during the day are more “neon”, and the background tends to be more blown out (less details in the background and more “washed out”) where earlier in the day or later in the day the colors are much softer and more natural looking and will have more detail to the background.

Some tricks would be for my subject to face away from the sun or find some shade of a building or some big trees.

Overcast Days

If the day is overcast, we can shoot pretty much anytime and have some more flexibility with locations! This is why photographers get so excited when the weather is cloudy for a wedding – we don’t have to worry about harsh lights!

On a sunny day I always have my clients facing away from the sun, but on cloudy days I like my clients to face the sun – even behind the clouds- because there will be less shadows under the eyes and chin. (Bonus tip for ya!)

If we have a golden hour session booked, I will recommend moving it up if possible because with the clouds, the natural light will be a lot darker at the sun set time.

Extra examples

So check out below for some more examples of different lighting! I will explain the differences under each group of photos.

Now after seeing these examples can you see why I love golden hour? 🙂 So what is the best time for photos? Golden hour!

My favourite time of day to photograph people is in that golden hour light. It’s just so soft and creamy and beautiful! When booking I will let you know about lighting and what times will work the best for the people involved in the session. But the later in the day the better. I know having a later session doesn’t always work if there are small kids involved, I would suggest having a session in the spring or later fall when the sun sets earlier.

Want an at home lighting photo tip? Check out this blog post!

Do you have any questions about lighting? Let me know in the comments below!