Magic hour, magical images

According to the weather forecast here in L.A., tomorrow will be mostly sunny becoming clear in the evening with winds SSE at 7 mph. The sun will rise at 6:50 am and set at 7:08 pm. Sounds like the perfect day to shoot some pictures to me! For all you self-proclaimed shutter bugs or those of you just starting to experiment with photography, I provided you with the weather report to encourage you to take advantage of Magic Hour! Magic Hour is just that, the hour or so just before sunrise or sunset in which the natural light and therefore your photographs are simply "Magical".

This is the time when the sky and your photos go Technicolor. When the light blue sky turns to gold, to orange, red, pink, purple, faded layers of each and finally indigo providing your subjects and images with warmer light and colors. This much sought after and limited time is the result of a phenomenon called Alpenglow, which is when the Earth's shadow produces a scattering of red light across the horizon. And, trust me, the result is phenomenal! Magic Hour is an amazing time to shoot any type of photography. Because of the long shadows cast, landscape shots are amplified, as are all of the natural colors. Portraits are softened by the warmer light when you have your subject face the downward sun, which unlike overhead sunlight, doesn't cast harsh shadows. This is also the only time to capture those classic silhouette shots--where shots taken facing into the rising or setting sun, with your subject directly in front of the light, come out stark black.

Whether you decide to take your camera up into the mountains, the lake, the beach or to the city to get those amazing reflective shots of the skyline make sure to pack your camera in a snugly padded case or bag like the CaseLogic Compact Camera Bag. Or if you like to have options, attach an Easyswitch Lens Case which allows you to easily interchange lenses. However you end up spending your weekend, we hope it's a "magical" one.