Golden Hour Photography

There's a reason they call the hours near dawn and dusk the "Golden Hours" - the natural light during these times just makes shooting so pleasurable. The light is soft, rich and it allows for longer exposures, which I really enjoy. While landscape shots look amazing in this light, I can't wait to shoot some portraits in it. I've offered to shoot folks for free at sunrise on the beach, but apparently none of my friends are early risers (I've become one because of our kid).

I took the shot below at Cross Farm Park in Lincroft at around 8PM. I took a number of shots that evening, but I feel this one is the best. As I sat in the tall grass of the park with my camera on a tripod, I kept thinking of the famous tabloid photographer, Weegee, whose motto was, "F8 and be there!" This was his answer when questioned how he was able to capture so many great shots. While I understand the utility of using a safe aperture setting like F8, it's the "be there" part that really resonates with me. If you want a good shot, you need to get out there and endure some discomfort sometimes, like being eaten alive by mosquitoes in this case. I also kept thinking about photojournalists in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and the precarious situations they navigate to "get the shot." Makes mosquito bites seem pretty trivial, really.

CAMERA: Nikon D80

LENS: AF-S DX Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

APERTURE: 13
SHUTTER: 3 seconds
LIGHTING: Natural with fill flash (TTL)
ISO: 100
RETOUCHING: Pushed the contrast a little in the RAW file.
SELF-CRITIQUE: I don't have much to say about this shot. I really love the colors and the way the flash made the street sign pop against the sky.