How Does the Time of Day Affect Your Photos?

And let me tell you – this is a loaded question so buckle up! I’m going to cover all things time of day AND weather conditions. Because a cloudy day will get you much different photos than a bright, sunny day!

I think this blog post is going to be super important for you to read over before we schedule a session together. I want you to know exactly what type of results you can expect based off of your preferred time of day and weather conditions. We all know Colorado weather can be finicky but if I’m being honest with you….clouds are our friends! And you’ll see why soon 😉

1. Sunrise! This is perhaps the *softest* lighting you could dream of. Sunrise elopements in the mountains create this natural filmy vibe. Things we can count on at sunrise:
   1. No harsh shadows on your face
   2. Cooler temps no matter what time of year. Sunrise sessions in the summer are my favorite. You could be done with your photos by 8 am and have yourself a day afterwards!
   3. Less crowds. Yep – the only other crazies out at sunrise are people trying to get a head start on big hikes. So we can basically choose any spot (ahem… The Lost Gulch in Boulder is a prime example of this!) and count on there being much less people around.

2. Mid-morning to high noon. I get it… you have a little one and 10:00 am is the sweet spot. He or she is usually fully fed and awake and happy at 10:00 am each day. Which means it should be the perfect time for photos, right? Kind of! Ultimately if you’re hiring me for photos, we have to do what will work best for you. But I ALWAYS try to steer clear of scheduling sessions between the hours of 10:00 am and 3:00 pm (especially during the summer) because of how harsh the sun can be. Not only does harsh lighting make it uncomfortable for you, it is not always the most flattering! I can’t edit out squinty eyes and usually if you want the mountains as your backdrop, that means you have to directly face the sun. For these mid-day sessions I’ll always encourage picking a location with shade so we can avoid weird shadows on your face and avoid squinting eyes. I will also say this is typically the busiest time of day at Boulder trailheads so parking can be a big pain in the butt. You can also count on crowds at popular locations!

3. GOLDEN HOUR!!!! Okay – you’ve probably seen those light, warm & dreamy edits sprinkled throughout my website and social media accounts. These are made possibly by the warm sun at golden hour! So when is golden hour? It begins about an hour before sunset. This is the best time of day to play with sun flares and 10/10 will always create warm, creamy edits for your photos. This time of day you can have both the mountains AND the sun behind you which will avoid weird shadows and squinty eyes. We have more flexibility to roam and play with alllllll of the scenery. Golden hour is my favorite and will always start with giving you my golden hour availability haha.

4. Have you ever heard of blue hour? It’s the time of day that immediately follows golden hour! This is when the sun has officially set behind the mountains but the sky is still light. Blue hour is a wonderful time of day for photos. Usually if we’re shooting during golden hour, we’ll hit the start of blue hour so you’ll get a lovely mix of warm golden photos and some cooler, softer images! Blue hour is gorgeous because it does create a natural ‘cooler’ effect! Sometimes the moon graces us with her presence, too!

5. Cloudy Days! So we’ve gone through all the times of day during a typical, sunny Colorado day. But what happens if you wake up the day of your photoshoot and it’s cloudy AF out? Don’t worry! Clouds create beautiful, soft lighting – no matter the time of day. You can count on your images being a *touch* moodier than a sunny day but I still try to capture warmth in my editing. I am a big fan of clouds and you should be too!

And there ya have it! I hope this guide was useful in helping you decide when to schedule your photoshoot for. Can’t wait to work together!