AM vs PM golden hour

[John Olsen]

I prefer the pm golden hour (actually about 3 minutes). I can set up camera and fill lights in the afternoon and then pounce on the sunset glow. I don't pounce on much of anything in the predawn moments. I've done it mind you, but it has had to be an exceptional occasion. As other respondents noted, the most important factor is which face of your fixed subject, East or West, is the best scene. If you've got a model, that's different, but they're generally not eager to be out in the predawn chill either.

The comment above about the still air of dawn is important though. In New Mexico we could see the thermal waves by mid-morning, so long shots were out in the afternoon.

[DG 3313]

AM, I can sneak out of the house with a coffee. I let my wife sleep-in (after working all week) and go to the usual places and hope for unusual conditions. I haven't taken a photo of a sunset since November (we were in Maui). The quiet mornings are the best time for me to get out.

[steveo]

I've camped out on a couple of occasions to get the morning shot, mainly because sunrise in the summer in is about 0430 and I'm not that much of morning person and partly because its far less hassle to set an alarm trip the shutter then get back to sleep for a couple of hours.

I did this last year, the morning light does seem much "cleaner" than the warmer evening light.

Last Light, Moon Light, First Light by Steven, on Flickr

[Lenny Eiger]

I always thought that photography was a response to life, to seeing something, to understanding something. Dawn light is magical, but so is that 4PM silvery gray that happens where everything shines, especially for b&w. Life happens all day long, however. You might point you camera in the shadows instead of the high noon light, if you want, or you might make a photo that is about that harsh light. However, if you relegate you shooting to 10 minutes a day, you miss 99.722 % of what is going on.

It's a fair question, from a technical point of view. However, I have met some that take it too literally. Photography that is only about color, or morning light is quite limited vs what is really possible...

Lenny

[John Kasaian]

I'll take whatever I can get, AM and PM

[Greg Miller]

I'm a habitual morning shooter. I don;t like getting up at 4:00 AM, but my reasoning is, that as much as it suck getting up that early, if I get a good shot I have that for the rest of my life. And in a few months the pain of getting up early will be long gone.

I probably have four keepers from morning shoots for every one that is an evening shoot. But as a landscape shooter I am more interested in the direction of the light, as in where does the sun rise and set on the horizon. The sun rises and sets in the southeast/southwest in the winter (at least in the northern hemisphere) and northeast/northwest in the summer. If I am shooting a mountain range that runs north/south, I don't really want to shoot it around the vernal/autumnal equinoxes because at those times the sun rises due eat and sets due west. That direction of light is front lighting and renders no shadows on the contours of the mountains. On the Solstices (when the sun rises/sets at it most southerly/northerly points) the direction of the sun will provide oblique lighting on the contours of the mountains and will render lots of shadows that yields dimensionality in the resulting 2D image.

So I do care about shooting and evening light, but I choose my specific shooting location based on where the sun will rise/set and how that direction of light fits with the the subject. In the workshops trhat I teach, i show participant show to look at a scene, and easily determine the best time to return based on where the sun will rise/set.

[Vaughn]

I am sure glad the redwoods are best from 10am to 2pm...

[jp]

http://photoephemeris.com/ has a nice app for your tablet/phone that will show the direction of sun (and moon) at any time in the future for any location, overlaid on a map. It's good.

shadowfacts is a simpler app to show the angle/direction/time without the maps.

[Liquid Artist]

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

With the exception of Dairy Farms.
Those dam cows want to get milked early, so the poor farmers have to wake up early.

[Alan Gales]

I'll take whatever I can get, AM and PM

Crack of noon in bright sunlight?