There are various pieces to the puzzle that make up a breathtaking image; composition, emotion, pose, the moment, but by far the most important part is light.

In the photography game, 'golden hour' is the holy grail of photography. Golden light is softer and adds a warm tone, which for a wedding images it is the mood you want to convey. It's magical, mystical and romantic and the results are striking.

Throughout any day, the sun moves in a semi-circle movement, starting low below the horizon from the east, makes its way up to its highest point, then makes its way back down to the west toward the horizon once again.

If all of the conditions allow, we get a clearly visible sunrise, and sunset when the sun is at its lowest point over the horizon. Photographers call these times the golden hours.

In my experience, the sunsets in Winter tend to be more dramatic, but the light goes earlier in the day so this can sometimes be a challenge with timings.

In Summer, it's easier to capture. Especially those weddings held around Midsummer in June. Obviously, as long as it's not a wet one!

Photographers don't always get the chance to use golden light. If it's cloudy or too late in winter, with it going dark early, your chance to use golden light diminishes. Weddings are planned to the minor meticulous detail and often they overrun so it's not always possible to pull a couple out of their wedding breakfast just as the speeches are rounding up!

As the golden light isn’t as harsh as the mid-day sunlight, it makes for much softer, cleaner portraits, with a warm and enlightening feel around the couple. This makes for some stunning photographs.

I usually have completed the bride and groom portraits section of the day before the wedding breakfast, and have the shots “in the bag” at this point. I usually ask my couples if they wouldn’t mind doing some more portraits again at sunset if we get a visible “golden hour” as the light is so much better for photographing couples in.

Some of my favourite images have been captured in the golden hour. I always get a rush of excitement when we get an awesome sunset to work with!

Golden Light Wedding Photography

If you'd like to chat about your own upcoming wedding and you're looking for a wedding photographer who specialises in natural light, relaxed and reportage style photos then get in touch.

Email me matt@mattherrington.co.uk or text/call 07872 177736

Matt
Matt Herrington
North West Wedding Photographer