Does Time of Day Matter?

The short answer: Yes!

The word photography comes from the Greek roots “photo” (light) and “graphy” (drawing). Photography, quite literally, means “drawing with light.” I love that, by the way. So when clients ask me if it really matters what time we schedule their session, my short answer is Yes. Because the way light hits the subject is what makes the photograph.

While I use artificial (flash) lighting in my studio, the sun is the star of outdoor photos. Most photographers prefer to schedule their sessions during what we call the “Golden Hour,” which is the hour after sunrise or the hour before sunset. Natural light can be unpredictable (particularly in the summer, when clouds and storms sometimes seem to come from nowhere!), but it’s hard to beat a beautiful sunlit outdoor portrait. I’d say 95% of the outdoor photos in my portfolio – the best of the best – were taken during that Golden Hour.

A large percentage of my clients are young families, and, as a mother of four kids, I understand why they hesitate when it comes to scheduling photos at sunset. Bedtime is important, and many kids melt down if they stay up too late. However, I really can’t stress enough how important it is to plan your sessions around the light. It really makes all the difference.

Back in 2015, I decided to use my daughter (look how little she was! She’s now 12!!) to illustrate the difference that time of day makes to your portraits. In 2015, there were still times when I’d be home all day. Now I’m so busy shuttling kids to a million different places that I could never update these pictures in a day or two! But anyway, I photographed these in my backyard, using the same camera, lens, and aperture for all five pictures. Sunset was around 7:15pm.

Disclaimer: I ended up having to do this over the course of 2 days. The first day started out sunny but ended up overcast, and I wanted to keep the conditions the same for each timestamp.

10:30am: This is obviously not a great photo (even though her Frozen sticker is adorable. I miss her wanting stickers from the doctor!). The sun is way too bright, so my daughter is squinting. There are harsh shadows across her face causing her eyes to look like black holes. A session at this time (at least in this location) would be a disaster!

1:00pm: There’s not a huge difference between this one and the first one. The light and shadows are still harsh. Though the sun is clearly still in her face, her eyes aren’t lit up.

4:00pm: Her face is admittedly brighter, and if I had turned her so that the sun was behind her, it would have prevented the shadows on her face. However, the background would have been overly bright. I still don’t consider this great lighting. 

5:45pm: As we get closer to sunset, the backyard is more shadowed, and the lighting is softer and more even. You can see all the details of her face, and her eyes begin to pop. 

6:30pm: And here is my favorite. No question about it, right? I was able to backlight her (my favorite type of lighting), and her face is bright and her eyes are clear. See the ring of light in her hair? I love that look. It’s soft and beautiful. We’ve since moved from the house where I shot these, and boy do I miss the sunset light in that backyard!

The lighting at sunset really is the best. The warmth and softness helps create beautiful portraits, and it’s why I always recommend that my clients do their best to adjust schedules for this one day. You will be so happy you did.

All of that being said, if it is absolutely impossible for your family to make this work, I do have other options! Being able to handle different kinds of lighting is a really important skill for a photographer to have. But we will have to be picky about location, there may be less variety in backgrounds, and, to be honest, they won’t look like most of my outdoor portfolio.

Here are some more pictures taken at sunset. Different locations, different times of year, but all within that Golden Hour.