Our free online camera courses are divided up into two experience levels for you to learn from:

• Beginner Camera Courses
• Advanced Camera Courses

Feel free to explore those categories above to learn how to get the most out of your camera. Our tutorials cover a wide range of topics and will have you shooting like a pro in no time!

Other Free Online Camera Courses

Of course, we can’t write every single article possible on the subject of using your camera. But, we do try our best. Because of that reason we also wanted to share with you several other great websites that provide free online camera courses. Be sure to check these out to learn fully how to use your camera.

Each recommendation includes a description and list of lessons available on the site.

FreePhotoCourse.com
Whether you just purchased a brand new digital SLR camera or you’re still trying to figure out how to use the one you’ve had for a while, these lessons can help you master your camera in no time.

Lessons are divided up into four parts:

1. History
2. Camera Tutorials
3. Exposure Control
4. Depth of Field

GeoffLawrence.com
A well known photographer providing free online camera courses that cover an array of topics, including everything from purchasing your next camera to editing.

Lessons are divided up into 9 parts:

1. Equipment
2. Exposure
3. Basics
4. Composition
5. Lighting
6. Color
7. Subjects
8. Editing
9. After Work

BestPhotoLessons.com

With these free online camera courses you’ll learn how to take better photos of any subject. Lessons are arranged in an order that will systematically build your skills

Lessons are divided up into 12 parts:

1. Intent
2. Exposure (Basic)
3. Exposure: High Key
4. Exposure: Low Key
5. Depth of Field
6. Shutter Effects
7. Rule of Thirds
8. Diagonal Lines
9. ‘S’ Curves
10. Balance
11. Negative Space
12. Pick A Subject

ShortCourses.com

This website is structured like a book on photography. These free online camera courses explains everything you need to know about using your camera’s controls to capture great photos. Getting you prepared to see and capture great photographs is what this website is all about. It doesn’t matter if you are taking pictures for business or pleasure, there’s a lot here to help you get better results and more satisfaction from your photography.

Lessons are divided up into 7 parts:

1. Camera Controls and Creativity
2. Controlling Sharpness
3. Controlling Exposure
4. Capturing Light & Color
5. Understanding Lenses
6. Using Flash and Studio Lighting
7. Exploring Special Features

Here is a simple photography exercise that teaches you how to shoot better photos and train your photographic eye.

The Photography Exercise

Grab your camera with a kit style lens, like an 18-55mm. This type of lens works best for this exercise because it covers a variety of focal ranges. Then, go out for a walk. Go anywhere you choose. At some point during your journey stop when you find an object  that intrigues you. It can be anything like a flower, park bench, flag pole, street sign, etc.

Now, make it your goal to take at least 10 different shots of the object that intrigued you. Capture a variety of focal lengths and angles.

Types of shots can include:

• Wide shot showing location and surroundings
• Close up with blurred background
• Low angle looking up at it
• High angle looking down at it
• Frame the object with another object
• Vertical framing and horizontal framing
• Focus on another object that’s closer to the camera rendering the object out of focus
• etc.

By forcing yourself to capture at least 10 different photos you’ll end up with a good sample.

At the end of this photography exercise look through the photos you took and pick three that you think are the best. Examine those three photos carefully and ask yourself what characteristics these have that led you to this decision. Thinking about each photo in this way will train your photographic eye because you’ll learn what traits make a good photo.

To get the most out of this photography exercise its best that you repeat it several times. Make sure to choose a variety of subjects to photograph. The more you practice the better you’ll train your photographic eye.

Want to make this photography exercise more exciting?

Take another person with you on your journey and have them choose the subject for you to capture. Better yet, take another photographer with you and examine each of your photos together to find out what characteristics make a great photo. But, most of all have fun!

Andrew MacNaughtan, Award-Winning Rock Photographer, Dies
Award-winning Toronto photographer and video director Andrew MacNaughtan died suddenly Wednesday night of a reported heart attack while in Los Angeles on assignment for rock trio Rush.

MacNaughtan shot a who’s-who of Canadian talent since he began his career in the 80s as a teenager. His clients have included Bryan Adams, Avril Lavigne, Michael Buble, Sum 41, Nickelback, Celine Dion and hundreds more. Most notably, he was Rush’s primary photographer for tours, promo pics and album art for the past 20 years.

Photographer Annie Leibovitz says project that became Smithsonian exhibit revived her spirit
Photographer Annie Leibovitz says she has come back from some dark days and revived her creativity with a new project now on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that marks a departure from her popular celebrity portraits.

Twitter Talk

• 28 Examples of Conceptual #Photography 13 Every Picture Says a Story! - http://t.co/H8cjnaOd via @kirose1
• Extreme Light Painting by Janne Parviainen http://t.co/1jSWQ7Xp #Photography via @ruhanirabin
• Stunning and Beautiful Sunset  #Photography – http://t.co/eyIhsfFO #sunsets RT @Reeph via @anitabondi
• Rare color photos from the Depression era: http://t.co/GmIK3eBa #Photography via @ibtimesnews @katiembaldwin via @AlixPassage
• Hey #Photographers: Beginner’s Checklist Before Starting a Photography Business http://t.co/njBgt8op via @wix #Photography via @thepplsmktg

Image by Digitalcameranotebook.com

What the Feinberg Technique #1 is, is a guideline for where to crop (frame) photos and other 2D visual imagery like paintings, drawings, etc. It’s used to balance a composition within a set area so that it doesn’t look like it’s off-balance or has too much open space (negative space) on one side of the image compared to the other.

Here’s an example of how this technique is applied. If you look at this photo, you’ll notice a couple of things. First, there is no alignment to the “Rule of Thirds” grid (the bottle isn’t aligned to the one third grid). Secondly, you’ll notice that the main subject, the bottle, is tilted and off-center. This in itself would normally cause some tension in the image.

With these two details in consideration, you still get the sense that you’re looking at a well-balanced composition that seems to work just fine.

So what is it that makes this photo look like it’s balanced and properly cropped? Well, it’s actually nothing to do with the main subject at all, but rather everything to do with where the background elements are touching the edge of the image. Basically, where the photo is cropped.

The Feinberg technique measures each point around the edge of the image and then compares the location of those points to the opposite edge. If they match up, you end up with better cropped image. Let’s look a little more closely to how this works.

If you look at the photo to the right, you’ll see where I’ve marked the points at which certain objects touch the edge of the overall image.

Each colored arrow is related to it’s counterpart on the opposite edge of the image. For example, the top purple arrow is almost exactly the same length as the bottom purple arrow. The length of these arrows represents the distance from the image corner to the point where an object touches the edge of the image.

The goal with this Feinberg Technique #1 is to learn how to crop an image or photo so that each point(s) has an equal counterpart (or spacing) on the opposite edge.

An important item to consider here is that the measurement of these points don’t always need to originate from the same edge as it’s counterpart. For example, the purple arrow is measured from the left edge of the photo. With a different image, you could crop the top from the left and the bottom from the right. You just need to make sure that they are equal in length.

This photo could be tightened up just a bit more than it is – compositionally – but I think you get the point here. When you’re framing your photo’s or cropping them in a photo editor, try to see if you can employ this technique. It’s a very useful technique when you’re not really sure how to crop a more complex photo.

When composing photos its equally important to pay attention to the background as you do to the main subject. By thinking about the whole frame before you snap a shot you’ll end up composing a better background and capturing photos you’re happy with.

To help you learn what to look for we’ve outlined some tips below on how to compose better backgrounds in photography.

Eliminate Distractions

As you look through the viewfinder take note of everything you see around your subject. This will help you find distracting elements that otherwise would have been ignored. If you see any shapes or objects in the background that intersect oddly with your subject recompose your frame to avoid them. Often, it only takes a minor adjustment of shifting your camera’s position by tilting up or down, panning left or right, or zooming in closer. Good backgrounds are ones that are clean and free of contrasting elements.

Notice in the photo on the left how distracting the clothes hangers are in the background. It competes with the subject. This is easily fixed by zooming in tighter to eliminate the distraction. Photo by mharvey.mc

Use Shallow Depth-of-Field

Sometimes you may find that you can’t eliminate all of the distracting elements in the background of your photographs. No matter how you reposition your camera these elements still show up. The best way to fix this problem is to blur the background by using a larger aperture. A large aperture creates shallow depth-of-field. By setting focus on your subject the background will fall out of focus and remove the distractions while at the same time bring full attention to your subject.

In the original scene of this photo the background had a lot of distracting elements. To fix it a larger depth of field was used to blur the background. Photo by Lessfeet

Include More of the Background

Instead of trying to eliminate distracting elements in the background by repositioning or using a larger aperture try to include more of it. This can often lead to a great looking photo and is a great trick to use when you are photographing someone in a visually distracting place – like an office building or busy sidewalk. Including more of the background can also help give the viewer a sense of location for the photo and communicate a better story.

Instead of fighting with the background for these engagement photos the photographers chose to use the background to compliment the compositions. A sense of location helps bring life to these photos that a closer composition would not. Photos by Tugnutt and seng1011

Nikon D800 rumors intensify
More and more rumors about the likelihood of a D800 seeing a release in the next couple of weeks are emerging.

Many people hoped that the D800 would make its appearance at CES last week, but as the show drew to a close without any such announcement, rumors are now circulating that it will be unveiled in early February, at the same time as the CP+ photography show in Japan.

It’s happened before, and will no doubt happen again, but a number of events have led to increased suspicion that the D800 is soon to be unveiled.

Kodak was never going to be the Kodak of digital photography
First, an important point: The fact that Eastman Kodak has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy is no reason to begin talking about this iconic American company in the past tense.

Kodak isn’t going out of business. In fact, the whole point of chapter 11 is to help an ailing business avoid death and move forward. I’m still hoping that Kodak will find a way to be viable–even successful–for years to come.

Selling Photography: PhotoShelter Introduces Stripe, A New Integrated Payment Processor
PhotoShelter the worldwide leader in photography portfolio websites, sales and marketing tools for photographers is pleased to announce the integration of Stripe,a new payment processor now available with all PhotoShelter websites. PhotoShelter is one of the first major online companies to offer Stripe to its customers.

Twitter Talk

• Enter to win a #Canon 5D MKII or #Nikon D700 from @mcpactions #photography #photog http://t.co/59Ke5P1x via @PunchTab via @Syndelin and @teeography
• 12 Of The Most Iconic Photographs Ever Taken http://t.co/dQjK0DB2 #photography #tog via @fstopDasha
• Tips on how to take great photos using water. http://t.co/LoYzxaES #photography  #DSLR via @DSLRAdvice
• RT @Better_Photos: Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase. – Percy W. Harris #DSLR #photography #DSLR via @ducciman57

So, in order to help save you (and other photographers) from a bad investment we decided to compile a list of the top portrait photography books. We developed this list by asking our readers to share with us their favorite portrait photography books. We thought it would be best to learn what other photographers thought about the books out there and get an honest direction for which are the best.

After numerous submissions certain books kept coming up, which eventually lead to this list. We’d like to thank all the readers that participated and took the time to share their recommendations of portrait photography books. We assure you that no matter which book you choose to buy below it will be a great investment.

Top Portrait Photography Books

• Doug Box’s Guide to Posing for Portrait Photographers
  Often overshadowed by complicated lighting techniques or advanced post-production tips, this resource seeks to remind the professional photographer of the fundamental importance of a subject’s pose. Conveniently designed in two-page spreads—a striking portrait on one side, a comprehensive how-to of the strategies used on the other—this reference includes countless techniques for studio sessions as well as outdoor and location shoots, with individuals or groups, male or female clients, and in sitting, standing, or lying poses. With advice from a well-known and respected professional, it covers all the basics, showing how to emphasize a client’s assets and downplay perceived flaws, how to create a cohesive, engaging group photo, how to use natural elements on location to enhance an image, and how to ensure that the result flatters the subject and adds the essential professional polish to an image.
• Posing for Portrait Photography: A Head-to-Toe Guide
  Photographers learn how to gauge the needs of their clients before placing them into a stale, preconceived “women’s,” “men’s,” or “children’s” pose that hardly fits the client’s personality or preferences. Provided with a two-pronged approach to fail-safe posing, photographers learn first to determine what the mood of the portrait should be and how to use an appropriate posing genre—traditional, casual, glamour, or journalistic. Photographers are then shown how that genre can be used as a basis to produce a pose that best suits the client, allowing them to create dynamic yet natural-looking pose that the subject—and the intended recipient—will love.
• The Best of Family Portrait Photography: Professional Techniques and Images
  Artwork from 30 of the industry’s top photographers is used to highlight both clear-cut shooting strategies and colorful, cutting-edge approaches to family portraiture in this handbook intended for idea gathering and inspiration. Advice on focal length, perspective, and maximizing the potential of digital equipment highlights the technical aspects of family portraiture while group posing strategies demonstrate how best to flatter each subject and convey a sense of family unity. A lengthy discussion of lighting—the backbone of portraiture—and the manipulation of shadows and highlights instructs photographers on how to create mood and interest in a variety of lighting scenarios, both indoors and out. Specifics on adjusting body lines, colors, and shapes, working with young children, and creating a comfortable atmosphere ensure that the photographer captures the unique personality of each family with dynamic and attractive images.
• 500 Poses for Photographing Brides: A Visual Sourcebook for Professional Digital Wedding Photographers
  Containing numerous contemporary images by leading photographers, this indispensable manual concerning wedding portraits explains posing fundamentals as well as how to create a flattering, feature-specific photograph—one that focuses on the head, shoulders, arms, legs, or torso—in different levels of close-ups, from head-shots to full-lengths. Since posing is the second most challenging aspect of photography and with the added complications of a wedding—from the bride’s personal style to her figure and gown—it can be very easy for a photographer to make a wrong turn. This perceptive reference provides the perfect place to turn when in need of quick posing strategies and fresh ideas.
• 500 Poses for Photographing Men: A Visual Sourcebook for Digital Portrait Photographers
  Offering a variety of options for refining poses and spicing up portrait sessions, this visual sourcebook addresses the problems that photographers often run into when taking portraits of men, whether the pictures are for male fashion shoots, weddings, family shots, or individual portraits. For ease of use, this reference groups sample images according to how much of the subject is included in the frame—from head-and-shoulders shots to full-length portraits. Containing contemporary images from leading professionals, this indispensable manual explains posing fundamentals as well as how to offset the fears, concerns, and insecurities that men can bring to a portrait session.
• 500 Poses for Photographing Women: A Visual Sourcebook for Portrait Photographers
  Next to lighting, posing is the most challenging aspect of photography—with so many body parts to capture, the possibilities are endless, and it’s all too easy to make a wrong turn. This illustrated reference provides both amateur shutterbugs and seasoned pros with the perfect place to turn when in need of quick posing strategies and fresh ideas. Containing 500 contemporary images by leading photographers, this indispensable manual explains posing fundamentals as well as how to create a flattering, feature-specific photograph—one that focuses on the head, shoulders, arms, torso, or feet—in different levels of close-ups, from head-shots to full-lengths.
• On-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography
  With this guidebook, photographers learn how to create stunning, professional images while avoiding the common pitfalls of using an on-camera flash. Techniques for using simple accessories—such as bounce cards and diffusers as well as how to improve a lighting scenario by enhancing it rather than overwhelming it—show photographers how to master this challenging aspect of portraiture. For wedding and environmental portrait photographers who must work in ever-changing lighting scenarios, executing these tips to evade flat, lifeless images with harsh shadows, washed-out skin tones, cavernous black backgrounds, and other unappealing visual characteristics results in not only better images, but happier clients and more sales.
• Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers
  Includes time-tested lighting strategies that will improve the quality of a portrait are detailed in this book. Equipment needed to create professional results is outlined and the unique role that each element of the lighting setup plays in the studio is explored. Photographers learn how color, direction, form, and contrast affect the final portrait. The concise text, photo examples, and lighting diagrams enable photographers to easily achieve traditional lighting styles that have been the basis of good portraiture since the advent of the art.

What most photographers don’t know is that the trick to night photography is finding the right combination of low aperture, low ISO and slow shutter speed. In this photography tutorial, we’re going to teach you how to achieve great looking photos at night by explaining everything to you in a full night photography settings guide.

Camera Requirements for Night Photography

Camera requirements are pretty simple for night photography. Here’s what your dslr camera needs to have:

• Manual Exposure Mode – Allows you to independently set aperture, ISO and shutter speed.
• Bulb setting – Allows manual control over shutter speed to take exposures longer than 30 seconds.
• Connection for shutter release cable or Wireless remote setting – This is very important because the slightest vibration of camera shake can cause motion blur in your photographs. It is not advisable to press the shutter release button on the camera because pressure from your finger can cause movement of the camera. Invest in an inexpensive cable release or wireless remote for your camera.
• Ability to shoot in RAW format – Some photos may look completely dark in the viewfinder but if its not clipping in underexposure the RAW format can allow you to pull out the details by adjusting exposure in post-processing
• Connection to mount onto a tripod – This is very important because night photography requires very long exposures and no one can hold a camera steady long enough to capture sharp images. Night shots vary in exposure time and can require between 30 seconds to thirty minutes of exposure time.

Photo by Neil Armstrong2

Selecting a Lens

We recommend that you only use a wide angle lens for night photography.

Here’s why:

• The most intriguing night shots are ones where you can tell they were taken at night. This often requires a photo to include both a foreground and background within the scene. A wide angle lens is best for this shot.
• Focusing at night can be very hard to do. A wide angle lens is more forgiving with focus because the depth of field is so large. Being a tad off in focus is not as noticeable as when using a telephoto lens.

How to Focus at Night

At first it may seem impossible to focus at night. Auto focus doesn’t work because it can’t detect a subject through a dark viewfinder. The same thing goes when trying to focus by eye – you can’t see anything. So, what do you do?

Set your focus ring to the infinity setting . This makes everything up until infinity within your scene in focus.

If you’d rather focus on a closer subject in the foreground then you can either guess the distance between the lens and the subject and change your focus ring setting to match, or use a flashlight to illuminate the subject and look through the viewfinder to adjust proper focus.

Choosing an Aperture Setting

When you’re shooting night photography depth-of-field is usually not a factor because you’re lens is set to focus to infinity. This takes all of the guesswork out of choosing an aperture setting. Just open your lens up to its widest f-stop. Your goal in night photography is to allow as much light as possible into the camera. So, if your lens opens up to maximum of f/5.6, choose that setting.

Choosing an ISO Setting

Photo by Zimmelino

The ISO setting on a camera is a gift and a curse for night photographers. Its a gift because you can boost the setting when shooting in a dark location in order to brighten up the image and its a curse because the more you boost the ISO the more noise it introduces into the photo. High ISO settings cause photos to look grainy and lower quality.

When choosing the ISO night photography setting on your camera try to keep it as low as  possible (for example ISO 100 or 200). This will give your photos a higher quality look by reducing the noise. With that being said you’ll want to use a high ISO setting when doing your test shots. We’ll explain more about this in the next section on choosing a shutter speed.

Choosing a Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the most difficult night photography setting to choose on your camera because every scene is lit differently. Scenes can vary from a pitch black landscape with only the moon providing any light to a brightly lit city with lights coming from every building. Its really just a matter of guessing which shutter speed will work for your situation and making adjustments from there. The only draw back is that in night photography there are times when you’ll have to use shutter speeds that last as long as 10-30 minutes to get a proper exposure. But, instead of wasting an hour just to take two test shots we’re going to teach you a trick on how to figure out proper exposure for your scene in a fraction of that time.

Here’s what we recommend you do when trying to choose a shutter speed for night photography:

1. Set your ISO to the highest setting possible on your camera
2. Choose a shutter speed you think will give an acceptable exposure
3. Take a test shot and see how the exposure came out
4. Adjust your shutter speed up or down until the test shot has a proper exposure
5. Finally, use arithmetic to find the same exposure at a lower ISO setting. This reduces noise and captures high quality photos. Each time you reduce the ISO one step (for example, from 400 to 200), the camera needs to let in half as much more light for the same exposure. So, if you had a shutter speed of 1/500 at 400 ISO, going to 200 ISO would let you get the same exposure at 1/250 second – providing the aperture remains unchanged. Another example would be a test shot with a shutter speed of 1 minute at 1000 ISO which is the same exposure as a ten minute shutter speed at 100 ISO and very little noise.

Also, keep in mind that because night photography requires longer shutter speeds, its often unavoidable to prevent light trails from moving objects with lights in your scene like cars. Just embrace it.

A Final Tip

When starting out in night photography we recommend that you start taking photos at dusk when the sun sets. At first, you’ll still be able to use the light meter within your camera to achieve proper exposure, but as it gets darker you’ll learn how to manually adjust the settings on your camera to compensate for this change.

A Recap: Proper Night Photography Settings

1. Use a camera with full manual settings
2. Always use a shutter release cable or wireless remote and a tripod to prevent camera shake and motion blur
3. Attach a wide angle lens to your camera
4. Set the focus ring to infinity (or focus on a close subject using the tips above)
5. Open your aperture to its widest setting
6. Set your camera to its highest ISO setting only during test shots to find a shutter speed that gives proper exposure
7. Find out which slower shutter speed gives the same exposure at a lower ISO setting using the arithmetic tips above.

Speaking at the launch of the recently announced Nikon D4, Jeremy Gilbert, Nikon UK’s group marketing manager, said, “To achieve what we want to do, we need to have a balance of all products, supporting all the different customers.”

Canon G1 X announced
Another consumer camera announcement in the spotlight at CES is the new Canon PowerShot G1 X. This is an update to the line of popular G-series cameras. These cameras are a little larger than your average point-and-shoot compact cameras. It features more dials and handles, more like a conventional DSLR in the smaller size. This camera continues to feature an optical viewfinder. This option usually adds to the size of the camera.

The G1 X is larger than its predecessors because it features a much larger sensor, which translates into better quality images. Again, like the Fujifilm X-Pro 1, this camera is designed for the advanced hobbyist or professional looking for a camera to carry when a bulkier DSLR isn’t appropriate.

Interview with John Carlson, Pentax
The interview covers some of the challenges faced over the last year by the photo industry, and the changes seen at Pentax since its recent acquisition by Ricoh. Also covered are the tiny Pentax Q compact system camera, Pentax’s future plans for its camera and lens lineup–and whether full-frame might fit into that picture–and on the state of play with respect to tethering software, a function no longer officially present in the company’s current lineup.

Twitter Talk

• Great Falls Tribune – Veteran photographer ready to take a #hike http://t.co/NpxslygK #photography #HikeOurPlanet via @LeeHillerLondon @LeeHillerDesign
• 50 Stunning Ray of Lights Photographs (@rish404) – http://t.co/MoqADnOP #photography RT @ruhanirabin *Amazing! @2cre8 via @YvonneWindell
• #Tog Contest!! you don’t want to miss! http://t.co/Yc72c1mk via @WestcottCo

Facebook Updates

• Lina Perez- FREE online seminars sponsored by CanonVII The Visual Journeys Seminars | This is the second in a series of five online seminars in which VII photographers share the secrets of their expansion into new areas of creative and commercial success. (Wednesday January 18). For more information visit | http://www.viiphoto.com/news/online-seminar-facts-and-fictions-with-jessica-dimmock/
• Matt Sniff – PhotoRankr website is great for discovering and selling your amateur photography. You get to pick the price of your photos, and you get to vote on the photography you like! There’s nothing like it, it’s great!
  http://photorankr.com/
• Greg Aldous - Check out our photographic workshops. Shoot top swimsuit models in the Caribbean. These are not workshops where you watch us having all the fun. You will shoot for 2-4 hours with experienced guides and models on proven beaches in the Caribbean. First workshop is set for the NCL Pearl on March 28th.

If you’ve ever taken a photo outside you know that lighting affects how your photo comes out. You may have composed an amazing landscape or portrait shot, but if the lighting is not perfect it usually results in a less than desirable photograph – one that’s dull and flat.

Fortunately, professional photographers have discovered that if they take photos during a certain time of day they usually come out looking the best. The term used for this time of day is the “golden hour in photography”.

In this tutorial, we’re going to teach you everything you need to know about the golden hour and how you can use it to your advantage.

The golden hour is what causes this beautiful warm light across this landscape. It also add a hint of warmth to the Jefferson Memorial building. Photos by sahlgoode and manuel MC

What is the Golden Hour?

The golden hour (also known as the magic hour) is a time of day when the sun casts the most appealing light. It varies depending on the season, but a general rule is that its present during these two times of day:

1. Around 1 to 1 1/2 hours after sunrise (dawn)
   
2. and, 1 to 1 1/2 hours before sunset (dusk)
   

During these times the sun is low in the sky, which produces soft, diffused and warm lighting. This type of lighting usually results in better looking photographs as opposed to hard light that comes from the mid day sun. *Hard light can be effective if used correctly. For more details on hard light check out our tutorial on Creative Ways to Use Hard Light in Photography.

Light that occurs during the golden hour produces less contrast than any other time during the day. This reduces the possibility of both dark shadows and bright highlights from occurring within the same scene. This is a common problem that happens during the mid day and can result in losing important details of your subject in the shadows or blown out highlights. Its for this reason that many photographers swear by the golden hour and refuse to shoot photos any other time of day!

Another feature of light during the golden hour is that it produces a warm glow. This happens because the sun is very low in the sky. As a result the light passes through much more of the atmosphere. This filters out blue tones and creates a warm light. Trying to match this type of outdoor lighting is nearly impossible without purchasing expensive equipment.

Perfect for All Types of Photography

One of the greatest aspects of shooting during the golden hour is that it produces very beautiful photos. This makes it perfect for all types of photography. Landscape photos benefit from the low contrast and warming effect just as well as portraits, flowers, architecture, etc. So, take advantage of this free light source and start capturing your images during the golden hour!

The golden hour adds a touch of glow to a swan. It also warms up the portrait of a young girl and produces low contrast. Photos by heidi peters and William Schmitt

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial on the golden hour in photography. Tell what you thought of it and share your experiences of capturing photos during this magic hour in the comment section below.