Sunrise... Sunset...

The Golden Hour is, indeed, a great time of day - for the lighting. I do both sunrises and sunsets. But I also never hesitate to shoot whenever and wherever the mood strikes.

You're correct Bill. Of course one can get great shots anytime.

I forgot to mention I like capturing animals and many are crepuscular.

You have the blue and golden hours (not really hours) twice a day.
As the sunsets you have golden hour as the sun gets close to the horizon, as it dips below, that starts blue hour, then you have twilight and then night.
This reverses as the sun rises, night, twilight, blue, golden and then daylight.
They are the best times for photography, if you are seeking soft, beautiful light, no matter where you are located. Weather, location and time of year will obviously play a role in all of this.
I won't get into the weeds with this, but do some internet research on the blue and golden hours related to photography.
It will be well worth it.

I'm more of a sunrise girl myself, for the same reasons as you...I especially enjoy photographing wildlife and it's in the early morning hours that we have better luck finding them. I was much more active with photography when I lived on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia (moved from there a few years ago), where we were surrounded by wildlife...I regularly saw elk and bears, but also wolves, coyotes, bobcats, owls, eagles, and of course deer. The only (minor) problem there was that we were mountains in the area so the sun wouldn't come over the mountaintops until well after sunrise.

I remember Days of Heaven...I thoroughly enjoyed that movie. I either forgot or didn't realize that it was filmed one province over, in Alberta. I'd like to watch it again. I remember it as being very moving visually.

I live south of Miami and the golden hour last about 20 minutes or less. Besides we have usually a clear blue sky early in the morning and it takes until about 11am before the clouds show up and with landscape photography the rule of thumb for me is no clouds no pictures. Sooo....

As a morning person, I don't do sunsets really.

The good news is I do a lot of black and white on film and that makes that golden color less important

I prefer the golden and blue hours. I try to get up early when I can, to catch that type of light in the morning, because there are less people out and about. Sunsets spots get crowed during the warmer months. I also think everything feels different in the early hours. Wildlife, as Peggy mentioned, is easier to find and seem more relaxed in the early morning hours.

I do try to take advantage of other lighting situation too. I like overcast days for macro, foggy days for moody shots, etc. I do the same with seasons. Nature photography in winter is kind of gloomy without snow, so at times with no snow I will shoot urban landscapes. There are less people moving about cities during the colder months, and the urban environment doesn't rely on foliage for beauty.

Sure, those are the preferred times if you can manage it. However, most times are generally OK, depending on the subject. The only thing I actively avoid are days like today in my area. Full sun and no clouds. Lot's of wind, blech.

I prefer sunrise with fewer people around, but if the light is good and conditions are right (nice clouds in the sky, filtering the light) I don't hesitate to work during midday either. And sunset of course is great, but there are usually more people around. I don't like when things get too people-y. People-ish? Whatever.

Peggy, Days of Heaven was filmed in Southern Alberta... Calgary, Banff, Waterton and other places. The story took place in Texas.

The light at sunrise and sunset is truly special. So soft. And changes by the minute.

I'm not a morning person, so sunrises really aren't in the picture for me (pun intended) - I do enjoy them, but I just can't drag myself out of bed early enough for them. Sunsets, on the other hand... there have been times when I've specifically gone out during sunset because of the lighting, or other times when I'm already out and decide to stick around for the sunset. But really, I'll take pictures at any time of the day; it just depends what I'm doing, where I am, what the plans for the rest of the day are, etc. And sometimes I'll get a photo that would look really good during sunset, but the circumstances don't allow me to wait or go back and re-take it, so I'll attempt to fake it in Photoshop after the fact. Sometimes it works well, other times it doesn't.

Sunset is my favorite thing to shoot.

Sunrises are so special with the morning glow slowly peeking over the horizon. The peace and quiet of the stillness of the night haltingly gives way to the faint sounds of the awaking world.

I still remember the first time I took pictures at sunset. I was driving around looking for wildlife and the lighting was so amazing. The pictures turned out amazing too. Since then I have made it a goal to use early mornings and evenings to capture great photos.

One of the better pieces of advice I ever received was to make the best picture you can with what is there when you are there. Can't always make it during the golden hours.

I read that an artist wrote that sunrises and sunsets look the same, you can't tell the difference, unless the title would say it, obviously.

Is it true, please?

I am not a professional photographer, but I love to take pictures of sunrises and sunsets.

Look:

Bad weather is good weather for photos. I don't look for sun rise/set per se...

Lucia, I don't think one can tell the difference from a photo wether it's dawn or dusk.

I think the colors in the clouds are often more prevalent in sunrises but maybe it's just my imagination.

Thanks a million, Jim, for your reply.

It's not that I didn't trust the other artist, but if he doesn't go out at sunset, how would he know, I wondered.


Edit: yet, he knows.

I don't watch movies - I stopped to watch all of them - and happy of that!

Sunrises and sunsets are beautiful It's almost hard, but not impossible, to take a bad photo of them. Because of that I actually avoided shooting them for years. Somehow it seemed too easy... like cheating. I even pinned a couple of blog posts on the subject. https://carolinafootprints.com/my-prejudice-against-sunrise-and-sunset-shots/ and https://carolinafootprints.com/revisiting-sunsets-a-genre-i-avoided-for-a-long-time/ Lately I've gotten over my resistance to shooting them.

If all you do is shoot sunrise/sunset/blue hour/ golden hour you're work will lack variety. There are times that harsh light can be perfect for some subjects. Perhaps my favorite time to shoot is on overcast days which provides soft, even lighting.

Hi, may I also ask, please, what about sunset and twilight? Do they look the same? I ask because of titles, please.
Thank you!

Lucia, I think twilight is the latter stages of sunset.

OK thanks a lot, Jim!!

One more question, please:

But a sunrise can't be pink as sometimes a sunset, right?

Lucia, I think one can find any color in dawn or dusk.

Amazing! OK, thanks a lot, Jim!

I have heard that the colors presented consistently are different between sunrises and sunsets. How true is it? I don't know.

Personally I think the biggest difference is you have to prepare mentally and time-wise differently for the two, because one is play in the reverse order of the other.

I also believe that certain complementary phenomenon, happen more frequently during one or the other. The best example I can think of is radiation fog. It would be pretty hard to get an equivalent of this picture at the same time year, in the evening. But dawn is a different story.

For example, Could I describe this one as sunrise as well, please? Thank you!
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/my-daily-vitamin-sea-lucia-waterson.html

Gary, I think there are some differences between sunrise and sunset in the lighting. Certainly you won't get the kind of morning mists in the evening you do in the a.m.

I'm not a get-up-real-early kinda' gal, so I really don't get too many shots because I live on the very eastern edge of Michigan, so sunset it not practical for me to get. I would have to get up about 5:00 am and go down to the Saint Clair River that runs through town here to get a sunrise.

That said, when I was driving to an office every day and when I went to fill up the car downtown before heading to work, I got a few nice sunrise shots, which I have posted in my portfolio, but there are only about three or four of those in over 13,000 images.

So here's a question, in your experience do you find that sunsets/sunrises are more vivid in the winter, than the summer. I tend to say yes, especially sunsets, in the summer where you get a lot haze, humidity, and pollution built up they can be pretty washed out. Sunrises seem to be better, but I am just getting more in the habit of watching them, than I have in the past.

That's a good question Gary. WInter's are so brutal where I live I rarely look outside. ha ha. Actually I've never really noticed but next winter I will observe.

Lol Mary photography has forced me to be a morning person. My nature is to stay up well past midnight and sleep late into the morning. But since here on the east coast you have to go out at sunrise to see the sun come up over the ocean in most cases I've shifted my sleep schedule over the years.

Now I'm passing out by 10pm.

Hello, I have a question, please.

Does anyone know if sunsets are actually more beautiful in summer than winter, please?

Lucia,
I think so, but then I dislike winter altogether.

Summer and Spring work well for me, yet Winter and Fall can have some really swell shots. Its all on your preference or what works for you. I always think that we don't have to be in a cookie cutter phase. We are all different in talent and taste.

Thanks a lot, Jim, for replying me!

Anytime of day and conditions can be good. It just depends on what you want to achieve. For example for outdoor flower photography a bright but completely overcast day is perfect. This does not suit landscapes for me when I prefer clouds with some sky visible.