AM vs PM golden hour

**Brian Sims** · 26-May-2015, 20:06

There seems to be common response that morning is golden and evening is more red.
So I consulted my wife who is a mentor on the physics forum. I asked her to post the question there. She rolled her eyes and me and said this is not a difficult question.
The cool, humid night settles a lot of dust out of the air. By evening, the drier air and daytime activities and winds pick up a lot of dust. Dust particles scatter red light. That's the physics behind red sunsets and golden sunrises.

**RodinalDuchamp** · 26-May-2015, 20:13

Originally Posted by Brian Sims

There seems to be common response that morning is golden and evening is more red.
So I consulted my wife who is a mentor on the physics forum. I asked her to post the question there. She rolled her eyes and me and said this is not a difficult question.
The cool, humid night settles a lot of dust out of the air. By evening, the drier air and daytime activities and winds pick up a lot of dust. Dust particles scatter red light. That's the physics behind red sunsets and golden sunrises.

Awesome! That's actually very useful to know or rather understand.

I went shooting this afternoon down here in Florida and one thing I noticed is that the length of time that creates good or optimal light seems to be longer in the afternoon than in the morning. It may be just an issue of perception. But I went and shot from about 6:00-7:30 at about 6 different spots along the same road and felt like the quality of light stayed VERY consistent.

In the morning I don't think the light is as consistent for an equal amount of time.

**Kirk Gittings** · 26-May-2015, 21:33

Originally Posted by Will Whitaker

If you're shooting architecture, perhaps interior window lights would be more prevalent in the evening with late workers. Just a thought....

We don't ever leave that to chance, especially now with lights on sensors. We always get access and have people on the inside keeping lights on coordinated via cell phones with me.