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Golden Hour

Lesson 78 from: Fundamentals of Photography 2016

John Greengo

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Lesson Info

78. Golden Hour

Next Lesson: Light Pop Quiz

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

17:26
2

Welcome to Photography

13:08
3

Camera Types Overview

02:00
4

Viewing Systems

28:43
5

Viewing Systems Q&A

08:45
6

Lens Systems

32:06
7

Shutter Systems

13:17
8

Shutter Speeds

10:47
9

Choosing a Shutter Speed

31:30
10

Shutter Speeds for Handholding

08:36
11

Shutter Speed Pop Quiz

09:06
12

Camera Settings

25:35
13

General Camera Q&A

14:38
14

Sensor Sizes: The Basics

15:33
15

Sensor Sizes: Compared

19:10
16

Pixels

20:13
17

ISO

21:13
18

Sensor Q&A

13:34
19

Focal Length: Overview

11:09
20

Focal Length: Angle of View

15:09
21

Wide Angle Lenses

08:48
22

Telephoto Lenses

25:23
23

Angle of View Q&A

09:29
24

Fish Eye Lenses

10:39
25

Tilt & Shift Lenses

23:42
26

Subject Zone

17:19
27

Lens Speed

09:56
28

Aperture Basics

08:46
29

Depth of Field

21:49
30

Aperture Pop Quiz

13:23
31

Lens Quality

18:30
32

Photo Equipment Life Cycle

03:57
33

Light Meter Basics

09:25
34

Histogram

15:25
35

Histogram Pop Quiz and Q&A

10:58
36

Dynamic Range

06:03
37

Exposure Modes

15:58
38

Manual Exposure

09:38
39

Sunny 16 Rule

05:54
40

Exposure Bracketing

10:18
41

Exposure Values

27:21
42

Exposure Pop Quiz

26:43
43

Focus Overview

16:15
44

Focusing Systems

05:15
45

Autofocus Controls

11:56
46

Focus Points

07:35
47

Autofocusing on Subjects

20:19
48

Manual Focus

07:52
49

Digital Focusing Assistance

03:40
50

Focus Options: DSLR and Mirrorless

04:58
51

Shutter Speeds for Sharpness and DoF

05:20
52

Depth of Field Pop Quiz

12:14
53

Depth of Field Camera Features

04:54
54

Lens Sharpness

09:58
55

Camera Movement

05:20
56

Handheld and Tripod Focusing

04:32
57

Advanced Techniques

07:12
58

Hyperfocal Distance

06:50
59

Hyperfocal Quiz and Focusing Formula

04:36
60

Micro adjust and AF Fine Tune

05:34
61

Focus Stacking and Post Sharpening

05:52
62

Focus Problem Pop Quiz

18:07
63

The Gadget Bag: Camera Accessories

25:30
64

The Gadget Bag: Lens Accessories

12:46
65

The Gadget Bag: Neutral Density Filter

20:43
66

The Gadget Bag: Lens Hood and Teleconverters

08:55
67

The Gadget Bag: Lens Adapters

05:43
68

The Gadget Bag: Lens Cleaning Supplies

04:34
69

The Gadget Bag: Macro Lenses and Accessories

15:57
70

The Gadget Bag: Flash and Lighting

05:08
71

The Gadget Bag: Tripods and Accessories

18:50
72

The Gadget Bag: Custom Cases

11:20
73

10 Thoughts on Being a Photographer

07:37
74

Direct Sunlight

25:04
75

Indirect Sunlight

18:49
76

Sunrise and Sunset

18:39
77

Cloud Light

14:48
78

Golden Hour

09:50
79

Light Pop Quiz

07:53
80

Light Management

14:00
81

Artificial Light

13:56
82

Speedlights

16:02
83

Off-Camera Flash

27:38
84

Advanced Flash Techniques

09:49
85

Editing Overview

08:24
86

Editing Set-up

08:06
87

Importing Images

16:45
88

Best Use of Files and Folders

20:54
89

Culling

20:56
90

Develop: Fixing in Lightroom

18:13
91

Develop: Treating Your Images

10:53
92

Develop: Optimizing in Lightroom

14:51
93

Art of Editing Q&A

06:01
94

Composition Overview

06:53
95

Photographic Intrusions

10:10
96

Mystery and Working the Scene

16:18
97

Point of View

09:11
98

Better Backgrounds

16:02
99

Unique Perspective

11:02
100

Angle of View

15:06
101

Subject Placement

41:14
102

Subject Placement Q&A

05:18
103

Panorama

07:39
104

Multishot Techniques

13:57
105

Timelapse

16:13
106

Human Vision vs The Camera

20:07
107

Visual Perception

08:35
108

Visual Balance Test

22:56
109

Visual Drama

12:25
110

Elements of Design

28:57
111

The Photographic Process

12:28
112

Working the Shot

27:38
113

The Moment

04:42
114

One Hour Photo - Colby Brown

1:04:32
115

One Hour Photo - John Keatley

1:03:05
116

One Hour Photo - Art Wolfe

59:01
117

One Hour Photo - Rocco Ancora

1:01:20
118

One Hour Photo - Mike Hagen

1:01:20
119

One Hour Photo - Lisa Carney

1:00:52
120

One Hour Photo - Ian Shive

1:08:00
121

One Hour Photo - Sandra Coan

1:10:29
122

One Hour Photo - Daniel Gregory

1:06:07
123

One Hour Photo - Scott Robert Lim

1:05:41

Lesson Info

Golden Hour

Alright, continuing on the talk about sunrise, sunset. So, the Golden Hour. That's usually the first or the last hour or the day. As I say, the actual time may vary. The closer you are to the equator, it gets much, much, much shorter in there. We have very nice color in here, low contrast, beautiful color to it. If you want to include the sun in the frame especially with the long lens can look really nice and we've always associated from the days of hanging around the campfire, that warm light as being a warm nice feeling on things. Being in the right place at the right time for the golden hour. You got to be there very quickly, it's something you don't have much time to work with. It can very much differ from day to day. There's situations where maybe you're arriving in town from the airport, you're taking the taxi to your hotel and you're like, wow this looks awesome, I'm going to come back here tomorrow. You come back the next day, just doesn't have the same type of light. It change...

s a lot from time to time. And so, you're often going to need open land so be aware of where all those mountains and building are that are going to blocking that good light. Here you want to be once aware of where are those clouds, are they going to be blocking the light, are they going to be adding to it as a nice reflector. Sunsets are fantastic because you can scout them that day ahead of time in the light. It's really hard to go to a sunrise location and I know sometimes you're traveling fast and furiously and you're going from place to place and you're at one location for sunrise, you get there early but you're kind of like shining the flashlight around. When am I going to be shooting, where can I go, where's the sun coming up? That's what makes sunsets so much easier to shoot is because you can get there at two o'clock in the afternoon and really scout it out. I'm typically at manual exposure because I really want to maintain exact control. What I'm often doing with the manual exposure is that I'm shooting at a particular shutter speed and aperture and as the light's getting brighter or darker I'm just making slight adjustments to the shutter speed because I usually want to keep the same depth of field and the same low ISO. If I'm not shooting anything that's moving then I can adjust that shutter speed. Nice lighting, but it doesn't last very long, it goes so quickly. Fast and furious shooting at these times of days. Bryce Canyon and I've giving this advice before, if you go to Bryce Canyon there's a place called Sunrise Point. Don't go there for sunrise. There's way too many photographers and you're not actually in the right location. I don't know who named it, it was not a photographer. It's a beautiful place to watch the sunrise but if you want to get a great picture of the canyon itself, not the best place to be in my opinion. But I didn't know that the first time I was there. You learn your lessons, that's why you got to scout these locations out ahead of time. Monument Valley, this is one of those places I had scouted out my location ahead of time and then the weather turned horrible and so I changed my plans, went on to do something else and then it turned fantastic on me and I wasn't in the right spot so you have to just be able to be very creative and act quick on what's around you and what you can deal with. Golden hour for obvious reasons. Alright, let's run another little time lapse here at sunset. Thirty minutes before sunset so we're in the golden hour. Let's get this time lapse rolling here. And so we're getting some very nice color on the city. This is our golden hour as we've mentioned. We're working our way towards sunset and the light is going to start dropping off here so the sunset drops down and then suddenly there's not a good time but we're getting back into that lights on and that blue zone. So, we have another peak period, we can still see Mt. Rainier back there but it's quickly getting darker and darker and darker and it just becomes a night time shot at that point. In this case on a sunny day with no clouds we don't get any cloud light. We get some nice light on the city right there at the sunset. The sky gets a little light colored, it's a little too light the lights aren't on but once they turn those lights on and the sky gets to be that right tone you get that nice little peak and so there's another good peak. I know a lot of people, they go home right here at sunset. It's so funny, interesting and it really depends on the concept of the photographer because I've seen photographer groups out shooting and as soon as the sun's below the horizon one group is, okay, that's it, show's over, everybody's out of here. I'm like, that's not over. And other times that's all they wanted and they are leaving they got what they wanted and they didn't want to get the rest but just be aware of everything that you can possibly get and what to look for. Now there are technical terms about what's going on. If you do look up on some of the astronomy websites as far as exact times of the sun coming up, where is the sun on the horizon level, there is a point of night and then there is something called astronomical twilight. If you want to do star point photography, you want to do it with the sun about 18 degrees below the horizon when it is truly pitch black and you can see the dimmest of stars. This astronomical twilight, that's where I think most of us would say, yeah sunrise is coming up here in a little bit. You can start to see a little bit of light on the horizon but it's not really the best time to be shooting those twilight photos yet, there's not enough blue up in the sky. I think it's somewhere in the nautical twilight zone that is actually the pretty good time for the blue zone photography that I've been talking about. As the sun gets closer to the horizon towards civil twilight I think it's right at this edge between nautical and civil twilight that you're probably at the best for shooting that blue zone. It's hard to say because I've never been able to measure how far the sun is below the horizon just by looking. It's somewhere in that range and it's obviously going to depend on the atmospheric conditions as well. In the civil twilight zone, for the most part, the sky is too bright and so those moments just before the sun's coming up, five minutes before the sun, you're not going to get that blue zone. Then obviously as soon as the tip of the sun reaches the horizon, it is sunrise, but here in Seattle, sunrise means nothing because, and sunrise doesn't mean anything either because we have this gigantic mountain range to the east and to the west of us. If you have any sort of hills blocking you, sunrise is more of a theoretical sunrise, what time does the sun cross the theoretical horizon, not what time does it cross the hills that you are looking at and so be aware of that. The sunrise time that they have is a little bit off. It's probably earlier than you're actually going to experience and with sunset, it's probably later. Just make sure that you're on location early. Get there an extra 15 minutes early. Then once that suns up, that's when we get our golden hour of time. You can look and I have a little app on my phone, I think it's like Sun day time moon, something or another like that. I want to check, okay, what time are we getting into nautical twilight, because I want to be on location by the time we get to nautical twilight if I'm wanting to get that twilight time. Some examples of golden hour, right at sunset, getting some nice twilight, getting the good blue zone, the end of the blue zone where you can just barely see any blue in the sky at all and then you just get to the plain old nighttime. Examples from all of those different time frames. So, once again we'll talk about sunrise here. You got your overcast day, so it's a full cloudy day there's no chance of sun, what's going to happen? Well, it's going to get dark and then it will slowly get a little bit lighter until it's light. If it's an overcast day, I'm not going to bother waking up til sunrise and then I'll go out afterwards and I'll shoot my macro photography or my detail photography. On a no cloudy day, so there's no clouds today, I'm going to look out for good blue zones, I'm going to be looking for silhouettes, I'm going to be looking for city lights. I'll have one subject I'll shoot for that and then I'll have a little bit of dead time, go find something else to shoot, waiting for first light to actually hit my subject. What subject is going to look good with sunlight and that's going to look good for the first hour of the day. The last scenario is party cloudy. Okay, hang onto your hats, who knows what's going to happen now, folks? We might get a little bit of blue zone depending on where the clouds are. We might get some beautiful cloud light depending on that little gap on the horizon, that tunnel at the end of the hallway there. Then depending on our subject and how the light's reflect onto our subject we might get some beautiful golden light here. Now, maybe I'm completely nuts because I live in Seattle and this is what I've seen and experienced and it's different where you live, but just be aware of the conditions you're working in and how the light works where you are shooting. That's my breakdown of sunrise and sunset.

Class Materials

Free Download

Fundamentals of Photography Outline

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Learning Project Videos
Learning Projects PDF
Slides for The Camera Lessons 1-13
Slides for The Sensor Lessons 14-18
Slides for The Lens Lessons 19-31
Slides for The Exposure Lessons 32-42
Slides for Focus Lessons 43-62
Slides for The Gadget Bag Lessons 63-72
Slides for Light Lesson 73-84
Slides for the Art of Edit Lessons 85-93
Slides for Composition Lesson 94-105
Slides for Photographic Vision Lessons 106-113

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

Love love all John Greengo classes! Wish to have had him decades ago with this info, but no internet then!! John is the greatest photography teacher I have seen out there, and I watch a lot of Creative Live classes and folks on YouTube too. John is so detailed and there are a ton of ah ha moments for me and I know lots of others. I think I own 4 John Greengo classes so far and want to add this one and Travel Photography!! I just drop everything to watch John on Creative Live. I wish sometime soon he would teach a Lightroom class and his knowledge on photography post editing.!!! That would probably take a LOT OF TIME but I know John would explain it soooooo good, like he does all his Photography classes!! Thank you Creative Live for having such a wonderful instructor with John Greengo!! Make more classes John, for just love them and soak it up! There is soooo much to learn and sometimes just so overwhelming. Is there anyway you might do a Motivation class!!?? Like do this button for this day, and try this technique for a week, or post this subject for this week, etc. Motivation and inspiration, and playing around with what you teach, needed so much and would be so fun.!! Just saying??? Awaiting gadgets class now, while waiting for lunch break to be over. All the filters and gadgets, oh my. Thank you thank you for all you teach John, You are truly a wonderful wonderful instructor and I would highly recommend folks listening and buying your classes.

Eve
 

I don't think that adjectives like beautiful, fantastic or excellent can describe the course and classes with John Greengo well enough. I've just bought my first camera and I am a total amateur but I fell in love with photography while watching the classes with John. It is fun, clear, understandable, entertaining, informative and and and. He is not only a fabulous photographer but a great teacher as well. Easy to follow, clear explanations and fantastic visuals. The only disadvantage I can list here that he is sooooo good that keeps me from going out to shoot as I am just glued to the screen. :-) Don't miss it and well worth the money invested! Thank you John!

Vlad Chiriacescu
 

Wow! John is THE best teacher I have ever had the pleasure of learning from, and this is the most comprehensive, eloquent and fun course I have ever taken (online or off). If you're even / / interested in photography, take this course as soon as possible! You might find out that taking great photos requires much more work than you're willing to invest, or you might get so excited learning from John that you'll start taking your camera with you EVERYWHERE. At the very least, you'll learn the fundamental inner workings and techniques that WILL help you get a better photo. Worried about the cost? Well, I've taken courses that are twice as expensive that offer less than maybe a tenth of the value. You'll be much better off investing in this course than a new camera or a new lens. I cannot reccomend John and this course enough!

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