You often see sunrise & sunset times in weather reports. But these times by themselves are not that useful for photography. Depending on the scene, different twilight times may be of more interest. I'm looking for contributions to a Pentax Forums article to illustrate the various forms of natural light and which periods suit different scenes.
Periods to be covered:
Name | Dawn Period | Dusk Period |
Astronomical Twilight | Astronomical Twilight time->Nautical Twilight time | Nautical Twilight time->Astronomical Twilight time |
Nautical Twilight | Nautical Twilight time->Civil Twilight time | Civil Twilight time ->Nautical Twilight time |
Civil Twilight / "Blue Hour" | Civil Twilight time->Sunrise time | Sunset time->Civil Twilight time |
"Golden Hour" | Early Post-Sunrise | Late Pre-Sunset |
Definitions:
Twilight,
Golden Hour &
Blue Hour
Free calculators:
online (excellent user manual, handy PDF monthly chart printouts);
offline (can show sun/moon positions throughout the day/night).
All contributions used will be attributed. Post links or examples here. Indicate geographical location, date, time of day and which period the shot occurs in (saves users having to work it out with a calculator). Perhaps Google Maps link too.
For the Golden Hour shots, it may be helpful to also show the same scene but taken outside this period. Chronological sequences might be good too.
Question: is there a difference in light quality between dawn & dusk? If so, is this solely due to the effect of the heat of the day causing wind & dust in the atmosphere (red sunsets) and the clearing of mist/atmospheric moisture (more mist = more bluish).
Dan
Last edited by dosdan; 10-30-2010 at 06:07 PM.