I think I am a photographic hobbyist, who likes to take photographs of all occasions and with all kinds of camera devices, be it an iPhone/iPad or even a DSLR camera. I know all about photography terms… , a little bit anyway I think. But when weekly photo challenge says “Golden Hour” and people’s submittals for this include sunset pictures, I question myself: what’s the difference between Sunset and Golden hour? What is the definition of Golden hour? And then, there is the question of Blue Hour?
Wikipedia says that golden hour is: When the sun is near or below the horizon, sunlight travels through more of the atmosphere, reducing the intensity of the direct light, so that more of the illumination comes from indirect light from the sky (Thomas 1973, 9–13), reducing the lighting ratio. However, there is another explanation of Golden Hour as of “Light Stalking“, that says: “the time just before sunset and after sunrise, or rather: “the time of day when the sun is at its weakest and a less harsh position in the sky.”
Thus, I think this is golden hour:
What I love from the above picture is the colour of the cloud. It has more colour, a subtle pink purplish colour.
With those explanations I conclude that Golden Hour is not the same with Sunset; as sunset is when the sun touches the earth:
And another occasion when the sun leaves the earth at sunrise:
Correct me if I am wrong, my view is golden hour does not happen in the afternoon, it is when the sun is about to set, it also happens after the sun rises:
However, my last question above is not being answered: What is blue hour?
So many beautiful captures in beautiful places. Especially like the final two shots. Nicely done.
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Thank you.
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Wow – I loved looking at these. I pinned it so I can find it again later.
Nancy
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Very well captured… 🙂
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😀
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Really beautiful pictures. I especially like the last one. since i just returned from Shanghai and looked longingly at the skyline in the Pudong area. http://ohtheplaceswesee.com
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🙂
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I agree, not sunset or sunrise but the time before or after. But what is blue hour??
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Jessie,
That’s the question that I am still asking, but in general term is that’s when the sky turn blue. A typical picture shoot on blue hour can be seen on my other blog post: http://ninslenscape.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/blue-hour/
Thank you for dropping by and commenting my post.
N.
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Absolutely gorgeous shots Nin!! Particularly the featured image on top! 🙂
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Incredible. Absolutely.
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