You hear all this stuff about shooting at "The Golden Hour" right before sunrise and right after sunset. Many homes have lots of tall trees around them or are in hilly areas. This means they will cast the longest shadows because even though the sun is not in the air, it's location still produces long shadows and in general the scenes are not going to be bright. Don't get me wrong, a home on the waterfront with a fairly open (not wooded) lot, might look gorgeous during the Golden Hour. Wondering what others have discovered works best as far as time of day when shooting Real Estate? I guess another consideration is what area of the country as in the North during the winter the sun doesn't get very high in the sky but I guess there's no getting around that.
Is The Golden Hour a Bunch of BS?
- Thread starter NadarDrone
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The golden hour is just 'after' sunrise and just 'before' sunset
Yes that's what I meant. Haven't had my coffee. Still, it seems to me the majority of real estate shoots, it's not a good practice to shoot at those times of day for the reasons I already mentioned.
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Depends on your ability to work with the light I guess. The whole reason for touting the "golden hour" as prime photography time is because side lighting is almost always more interesting since it casts shadows in pleasing ways - that and the actual warmer light temperature. Ask yourself if high noon looks better - likely not as it is a very stark and unflattering light angle.
You mention trees yet these are real estate shots. Can't you work with the shadows?
Shadows and highlights are used to bring out details - flat lighting is boring boring boring.
I guess what I'm trying to say is are you literally looking at the shadows in the wrong light (pun intended).
You mention trees yet these are real estate shots. Can't you work with the shadows?
Shadows and highlights are used to bring out details - flat lighting is boring boring boring.
I guess what I'm trying to say is are you literally looking at the shadows in the wrong light (pun intended).
Best looking pictures are at the golden hour. Contrast is not as sharp. Mid day pictures are harsh, not pleasing to the eye. If shadows are not wanted, then shoot mid day.
I think the OP wasn't inferring Golden Hour is never a good choice for a variety of situations just that it can easily be misused when placing to much focus/importance on it. Just if you are talking residential real estate marketing, there are many cases with homes in fairly wooded area or up against hills where Golden Hour doesn't work well. Rootman nailed it. Maybe the title should say ... BS in Many Situations? Instead of just plain BS.
Flat lighting does not infer a sense of depth. Dramatic side lighting (I e your magic hour) provides shadowing which conveys dimension especially in architecture. This time of day gives you the maximum bang for your buck as long as your shadows don’t get crushed and highlights get blown out...the only downside to magic hour. Especially on these drone cameras whose dynamic range is not great. Plus the color temps are (subjectively) a lot more pleasing.
Plus. What rootman said.
Plus. What rootman said.
When you consider working with realtors schedules, you have little choice on time of day with your shoots. My statistics indicate nearly 90 percent of my videos are viewed on mobile devices. Those in the market for a new home aren't giving a lot of consideration to the art quality of your video if they notice at all. Personally, I prefer cloudy bright days where shadows are minimized. The front of a north-facing home is simply going to look better then it would on a sunny day or anything close to sunrise or sunset. Color saturation can be bumped up in post leaving you some really good looking stuff!
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I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment "Those in the market for a new home aren't giving a lot of consideration to the art quality of your video if they notice at all". I was talking with a Realtor last week about "pricing" and quality of the images I provide. He said, "Allen, you're shooting Real Estate listings not National Geographic level pictures."
While that's true we put our heart into every shoot we do and this means getting the BEST possible images we can for our clients. We like to shoot around NOON or on overcast days to minimize shadows etc. While they add a lot of WOW when from the right angle etc they also take away a lot on every other shot of the house LOL.
As we do also. We are nitpicky with our editing and quality of imagery/music production making it obvious to the client their money was well spent.
For real estate photography, I would not consider the golden hour a good time to shoot. You want detail in your real estate pictures. The purpose is to inform and impress the viewer, not to produce drama. You need a lot of light to detail the information you are conveying.
If a property faces to the East (the customer will tell you which side of the property they consider to be the face) you will want to shoot that property in the morning hours. If a property faces West you want to do that one in the afternoon, when the sun lights that face.
I agree that around noon is a bad time to shoot because it is the time of least shadow with the sun high in the sky and shadows are short and more difficult to compare. Customers will be able to automatically determine the height of things by looking at the shadows cast by various trees and objects. This is a subconscious determination that we use in our everyday life. Photos with shadow give the customer more information than photos without shadow.
I like to shoot East/West a couple hours after sunrise/before sunset. South facing properties can be shot either morning or afternoon, and North facing may rarely or never be lit by the sun, depending on where you are in the world. I am in the northern hemisphere at 42 degrees latitude so if I want a North face shot the best day of the year for me to take that shot is June 22 when the sun raises at it's northern most arc across my area.
Every property is different and every customer is different, but these are some general observations.
If a property faces to the East (the customer will tell you which side of the property they consider to be the face) you will want to shoot that property in the morning hours. If a property faces West you want to do that one in the afternoon, when the sun lights that face.
I agree that around noon is a bad time to shoot because it is the time of least shadow with the sun high in the sky and shadows are short and more difficult to compare. Customers will be able to automatically determine the height of things by looking at the shadows cast by various trees and objects. This is a subconscious determination that we use in our everyday life. Photos with shadow give the customer more information than photos without shadow.
I like to shoot East/West a couple hours after sunrise/before sunset. South facing properties can be shot either morning or afternoon, and North facing may rarely or never be lit by the sun, depending on where you are in the world. I am in the northern hemisphere at 42 degrees latitude so if I want a North face shot the best day of the year for me to take that shot is June 22 when the sun raises at it's northern most arc across my area.
Every property is different and every customer is different, but these are some general observations.
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