Golden Hour and Fall Photography

Photographers are both story-tellers and artists, as these photographs by Jennifer Franklin show.

There is a moodiness to each image, caused by the early or late afternoon light and by the shutter speed she chose for the latter, which accentuates both motion and emotion.

Jennifer (@msnightfall) stopped at Silver Lake (June Lake Loop) at sunrise on Saturday, and ended the day in McGee Creek Canyon in the late afternoon.

Photographers call the hour shortly after sunrise or before sunset, “the golden hour,” because then, sunlight is warmer than when the sun is high in the sky.

However, in autumn the golden hour lasts much longer because the lower angle of the sun causes light to warm each scene. That is particularly noticeable when such light touches warm colors, as in these scenes (click on photo to enlarge).

Using digital darkrooms like Adobe Lightroom, photographers have many tools today that make it possible to emphasize vibrance, highlights, shadows and contrast. Years ago, we would spend endless hours in the dark working to express what we saw, experienced or imagined. Now, it happens in the light.