When to Use This Cheat Sheet
Use this during the hour after sunrise or before sunset when the light turns warm, directional, and forgiving. Golden hour moves fast. Having settings dialed in before the light peaks makes the difference.
Quick Settings Reference
The table covers nine golden hour scenarios from frontlit to silhouette. Light intensity drops quickly; plan to adjust ISO and shutter every few minutes.
Key Principles
- Light changes fast. In the final 15 minutes, you may lose 2-3 stops. Reassess exposure every few shots.
- Backlight creates magic. Shooting toward the sun produces rim light, sun flare, and silhouettes. Expose for the subject, not the sky.
- Warm white balance amplifies the mood. Set WB to Daylight (5200K) or Cloudy (6000K) to preserve warmth. Auto WB often neutralizes the golden tones.
- Exposure compensation is essential for backlit scenes. Add +0.7 to +1.3 EV when the subject is between you and the sun.
Adjustment Tips
- Arrive 30 minutes before the predicted golden hour to scout angles and set up.
- Use spot metering on the subject’s face for backlit portraits; evaluative metering will underexpose.
- A lens hood reduces unwanted flare. Remove it intentionally when you want flare as a creative element.
- Shoot RAW to preserve highlight and shadow detail in high-contrast backlit scenes.
Common Traps
- Trusting auto white balance and losing the warm tones in post.
- Waiting too long to start shooting and missing the best 10 minutes of light.
- Metering on the sky and ending up with an underexposed, silhouetted subject when you wanted detail.
- Using a polarizer when shooting toward the sun, which kills the warm glow.
ShutterCoach Connection
Upload your golden hour shot to ShutterCoach for feedback on exposure balance and warm-tone rendering.