What time of day is best for the golden light?

Planning your Seabrook, WA photoshoot.

What time of day is best for your summer photoshoot on the PNW coast beach?

Let’s chat a little bit about what to expect as far as what time of day your photoshoot will be to achieve the style you’re looking for. 

Did you know that in order to get the pretty warm gold light that you get during the golden hour/sunset sessions, you must plan to be photographed within the last hour or two before the sun sets (or weeee first 2 hours hours of sunrise)? That warm color and dramatic lighting simply cannot be achieved in the middle of the day. Yes, that means in the summer time you should plan for a late night given the sun sets around 9pm or later. You should plan to be photographed around 7pm roughly especially being on the beach. Winter months are different and I will be writing up another blog post about the Winter months as well.

Yes this means even if you have little kids, I still cannot give you the gold light - midday. I wish I could.

If you are truly wanting to have that thought, then adjusting your schedule to Mother Nature is the only way to do it, and one evening of the kiddos getting to bed late is absolutely worth it! I promise! However, it still may not be guaranteed if you are a traveling/visiting family to the west coast and limited on your days here...

Let me explain... The PNW is beautiful and green for a reason. Rain. We get a lot of rain throughout the year and yes even in the summer months. Being on the northern part of the west coast we also get a lot of overcast and low fog some days. While the weather may say we are expecting clear blue skies, that is not always accurate. I live in Aberdeen and it may be clear skies here and dark with fog at the beach, or vice versa. When the fog rolls in, it rolls in fast.

That being said, if we are planning on a golden hour shoot and the time comes and the fog does roll in, fret not. We can still get some amazing moody images for your gallery! In this blog you will see some examples of imagery at different times of day, in different lighting and different weather.

As far as location within Seabrook. I will be completely transparent as to what you should expect given all the circumstances listed above.

• If it is clear blue skies, midday, I will be suggesting we use shaded areas and pathways that are not in direct sunlight.
• If it is overcast I will suggest almost anywhere. However, keep in mind certain times of the year and week there may be more foot traffic and vehicles parked along the streets. While I do not edit out those details, we will plan for pathways that are clear in the background and work around other visitors walking around.
• If you are willing to plan around Mother Nature and truly hoping for the golden hour sun set (if the weather allows) then I strongly suggest a trip down to the beach/sand and taking advantage of the light in the last hour or so before the sunsets.
• If you are wanting something a little more city vibes, then we can plan a photoshoot downtown Seabrook for something little different than the beach vibes.

It should be noted, when booking a photoshoot with me we plan to shoot rain, shine, overcast or fog. I promise you will love your images no matter the weather and lighting.

Have more questions? Email me here!