A few nights ago I ordered a pizza for pickup and decided to swing by the library on the way. As I left the house, I noticed that the light was nice … quite nice. I went back in and grabbed an all-purpose camera.1
As I passed a city park, I noticed the trees were lit with gold. I promptly forgot all about the library and even the pizza. I began roaming around the park with my camera, doing my best to avoid kids, couples, dogs, basketballs and playground equipment in my quest to capture just the tiniest bit of that spectacular light.2
It wasn’t only that the light was stunning; the trees were also clearly right on the edge of spring, their branches still bare, yet covered with hundreds of buds.3 Photographers call this time of day golden hour. On a good day, it shows up twice: right after sunrise and shortly before sunset. I think you can see how it got its name.
But that’s not all — the sunset that day might have been even better than golden hour. Mother Nature certainly put on an outstanding show all around. And although the library had closed by the time the sun had set, I did eventually remember to pick up the pizza.
First rule of photography: You can’t get the shot if you don’t have a camera with you.
Second rule of photography: Spectacular light is fleeting, and it changes quickly and dramatically.
This was a classic case of being not quite in the right place at the right time. If you look closely at all three photos, you’ll see I was shooting high — I didn’t include the ground in any of them. Playground equipment and signs, in particular, seemed to be everywhere.
Lovely lovely lovely!