29th May 2007
magic hour & photographing setting
Photographers have long known about the magical time after sunset sometimes known as the “magical hour” or the “golden hour”. In this time, it is said that the colors and the quality of light will be tip top. I am often in the Riviera Maya shooting and that particular coast looks east mostly so we end up waiting for the sky to change colors.
I am a big fan of the 30 minutes after sunset and the next 30 minutes after that. This technique will improve your portfolio because it will enable the client to see the setting with the most beautiful colors. Start to set an automatic alarm clock in your brain (or literally set one for 30 minutes after sunset) and go outside and look around. For the purpose of this particular post, we will be talking about examples of where we incorporated nature and some form of architecture that represented the wedding / reception location…. all in a completely different light.
My Canon 5d performs beautifully in this situation and I will typically shoot wide open at 2.8 at pretty high ISO’s. Usually 800-1250. If you have a tripod (i usually don’t carry one) but this will help greatly as you may need to shoot long exposures (1/2-10 seconds). I usually prop the camera on a handrail or on the ground or use a makeshift tripod, set the timer on the 5d and walk away.
In this example, I determined my ambient exposure (to emphasize the blue colors) and set the light under this palapa thatch roof hut on the beach. It was the desert & cake table. I felt like the flash provides a contrast against the natural light that gives it a POP.
If you are visiting a trade show in the US, Art Leather has a HUGE PANO print of this in one of their 11×14 montage art books as a sample. The print ended up rocking the house out.
Here is another one from Cozumel. Sol Tamargo stepped back and gave us a super idea of the ambiance of the evening.
I shot this one in the South of the Riviera Maya at the Palladium Resort. I had to walk a pretty good distance to find a bridge that gave me a higher prospective.
Use the golden hour of beautiful light to showcase your setting. Add a little flash here or there to give your photo some EDGE. Experiment here. Shoot one with the flash and one without. This way, you give yourself options!
Thoughts?
Cheerios,
Matt
Matt, Beautiful images…as always. Your work definitely captures the mood and, with weddings, that is what it is all about. Keep up the phenomenal work!
Matt, is the light in the third one the flash also? I like that effect. How about gelling the flash to a warmer colour?
Keep up the blog. I like this very much
Matt - great pictures. Just love the first one.
Interesting that all the shots have an area that’s been whited out by artificial light/flash but in the context of the whole image they work really well. Shows that the rules don’t need to be that rigid
This is for sure one of the things I just love about the off camera flash, using it at this special time, it allows us to step back and look at the beautiful scenery we have “The magic hour” in spanish it is “La hora azul” …. everything looks even more romantic, and the flash allows us to show what’s going on with more detail
Matt showed me how to, and now I’m having fun on my own… love you guero!!
I loved the first picture too… I just pulled that out of you know where at the last second. The light could go warmer, for sure. You could gel that baby any way you like. I think I will try that next time. Thanks for the idea Eddie! Yes, the third one has the flash blasting away too.
Susan, thanks for your contribution! We appreciate the love!
John, I thought the same thing, it definitely is rigid but I think that is what helps it pop. There are a million different ways, for sure!
Sol, it is always a pleasure to watch you work and i feel blessed to get to share ideas together. YOU rock!
matt
Matt,
Wow……
Showcasing the ambient light as it encapsulates, hovers around, and surronds the burst of flash in the thatch hut is what makes the (1st pic) image so sweet, in my humble opinion.
Sol’s image (2nd pic) brings to mind a surreal sense of someone attending some ceremony of some sort, walking a short distance away to take a moment to pause and reflect on something while watching said ceremony, loctaed somewhere near the edge of the world (that little piece of horizon on the left does that for me
)……as you can see, I really let loose with my imagination when I analyse pictures………but I digress.
Seeing you and Sol’s work since I discovered this site makes me want to just throw my financial software development career aside and dive headlong into photography!! LOL!!!!!
Great stuff as always, guys. I’m learning something about my new hobby (photography) everytime I visit your site. Thanks so much for sharing!
Ade,
Thanks so much for this great comments, it is really amazing to see how others can get inspiration by looking at this images.. gracias! for taking the time and write
Sol,
You’re quite welcome!
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