Magic hour is that magical time of day after the sun has dipped below the horizon, and before the sky has gotten dark. For photographers and cinematographers, it is a wonderful time of day for shooting portraits, architecture, landscapes, water, and products. Calling it an hour is really a misnomer for most parts of the world, as it is usually a time period of only about 20-30 minutes…

There is such an interesting quality of light at that time of day. It has a tentativeness to it, as though change is coming.

Cinematographer, Nestor Almendros shot an entire movie at magic hour, and won the Oscar for his efforts. Made in 1978, DAYS OF HEAVEN stars Richard Gere and is a gorgeous film. The movie isn‘t my favorite, but as you can see, photographically it’s candy for the eyes.

Another interesting reference for this movie is the homage to artist, Edward Hopper and his painting entitled, “House By the Railroad.” You can see that this image from the film looks as though it was plucked from the painting.

SHOOTING CARS AT MAGIC HOUR

Automobile advertisers live for magic hour, as it’s the perfect time of day to photograph a car. The shiny metal of cars acts like a mirror and sees everything, including the bright sun beating down on it. But at Magic Hour, the sky becomes a gigantic soft box and cars look gorgeous against it. When shooting high-budget car commercials, it often takes many days to get all the footage because the producers have less than an hour to get all the shots each day.

If you ever want to take portraits of your new car, shoot in an area where the car’s reflection will see the illuminated sky, such as at the beach, on a hill or in an open field. Then with the car in a good position relative to your camera, wait until the sun dips below the horizon and take advantage of the beautiful light Magic Hour provides.
SILHOUETTES

Try shooting silhouettes during magic hour. Expose for the bright sky not the object you are silhouetting. You can do this either by spot-metering the sky or pointing your camera at the sky, pressing the button down half-way and holding it there until you re-compose the picture how you want it and finally finish pressing down the button. This technique locks the exposure for the sky and allows whatever is in front of it to stay dark.
MAGIC HOUR PORTRAITS

You can get beautiful portraits at Magic Hour; there is a luminousness to the light which is very flattering to faces. As the light diminishes, you might choose to use a little flash fill or a bounce card/shiny board to fill in the shadows a bit.

TIPS FOR SHOOTING AT MAGIC HOUR

When shooting at Magic Hour, you will need to work quickly if getting multiple angles. Exposure can be tricky as well, as shadow levels can change dramatically in as little as 5 minutes. Keep checking your picture viewer if shooting digital, or your light meter if shooting motion picture film.