Golden Hour Photography Tips
Why It Is Important To Shoot Romantics During Golden Hour
Michael & Kia's Wedding | Hudson Gardens Event Center Wedding | Apollo Fields Wedding Photography
Kia and Mike had a beautiful summer wedding at Hudson Gardens in Littleton, CO. I’ve shot a few weddings at this venue and it gets a great golden hour in the back of the property as the sun begins to set. I wanted to show off their romantics because I think these pics are a great example of why it is so important to build in couple’s portraits during golden hour away from your wedding guests.
Why Do These Need To Be Private?
I feel so strongly about taking time WITHOUT any guests, family, friends, wedding party, etc during golden hour to do photos. Why? Because the rest of your whole day can be a blur of people swarming around you. Vendors prepping, planners circling around you, guests hugging you, your weird uncle who won’t stop talking to you, your bestie who can’t be denied the selfie, etc. These can all be fun parts of the day and honestly, most of the socializing is great and a reason to opt for having a bigger wedding celebration.
But it is important not to lose sight of WHY you’re getting married. You are committing your life to your partner and this is a beautiful thing! This is what it is all about and you should absolutely take some time to be alone together. As your photographer in this moment, I’d rather be able to set this moment with you guys and then throw on a long lens and let you have your privacy. Talk together. Hug. Dance. Kiss, make out, or just be. It’s all fair game and I promise to be more of a person holding space with you than an awkward third wheel.
Why Golden Hour?
Well, first of all… what the heck is this “golden hour” you speak of so much? Let’s backtrack a bit. Golden hour is that time before sunset when the sun gets closer to the horizon. The light becomes more dynamic first, then if the weather and clouds cooperate, you’ll get a “fire hour”. This is that gorgeous, warm, amazing gold light that floods through the leaves and across water. This is the stuff of photographer’s dreams. It’s my catnip.
After the sun tucks itself behind the horizon line, the light will get very soft and flattering. Everything seems to calm for a moment (yet another reason for a private moment) and it is such great light for portraits. After this, “blue hour” will begin to creep in. The temperature of the light ‘cools’ off, which means it shifts from the warmer yellows and golds towards more blues and icy tones. Blue hour is also great to shoot in, and can be a fun opportunity to push creative boundaries a bit.
As a photographer and synesthetic, I am super — super — light sensitive. It’s really easy for me to understand that light has a temperature, a shape, an energy, and a tangible quality to it. Some lights to me feel like the ocean, some feel like flannel, some feel like strawberry short cake. It’s weird and I don’t expect my couples to totally understand this, but the good news is that you don’t HAVE to understand it! That’s what I’m hired to do, let me do my light thing and you’ll get beautiful photos my friends.
Why Is The Light So Important?
All of this is to say that the TIMING of your couple’s portraits is extremely important to achieve that beautiful, epic dreamy lighting. Golden hour is rapidly changing, and the good stuff only lasts a few minutes so this is why it is important to have a photographer who really knows light. For me, it’s THE most important technical part of getting amazing shots (I think the number one most important part is making sure you and your partner feel comfortable, are having fun, and walk away with an amazing experience).
The good news is, we can take as much or as little time to do these portraits as you would like. In a perfect world, we’ll have some time set aside in the timeline of the day that works around whenever the sun is setting in your location and date of your wedding and we can go out for 20 minutes to really enjoy the landscape and you can really connect with your partner before the energy of the reception really revs up.
How Do I Build This Into My Timeline?
The easiest answer is: Let’s take a look at what your timeline is looking like and when/where the sun will be setting for your wedding. I like to work backwards here and have just a little bit of flexibility. Remember, sunset is LATE in the summer, so you might already be into your special dances and everything when golden hour happens. On the contrary, winter weddings are often dark by the ceremony. Let’s figure out together how to carve this into your day without it becoming a hassle.
So we’ll figure out when sunset is and then think about the direction of the light and the layout of the venue. Oftentimes, I’ll have one eye on shooting the wedding and my other eye on the light. When it is “just right” I’ll come and snag you guys! It’s the one time during the wedding that when I say “GO”, we really need to go! Haha, but it is without a doubt one of my favorite parts of shooting weddings and oftentimes, my favorite pictures of the whole day. (Think album covers, people) Yes, yes!!!
Colorado Wedding Photography: Heather Huie with Apollo Fields
Littleton Wedding Venue: Hudson Gardens
Hudson Gardens Winter Wedding in Colorado
Mary & Brad's Winter Mountain Colorado Wedding | Hudson Gardens | Apollo Fields Photojournalism
Springtime weddings in Colorado can mean flower blossoms, cherry trees blooming, tulips sprouting, or blizzards. Mary and Brad got a little bit of everything on their wedding day in March at Hudson Gardens. The day began with full blazing Colorado sun, and by the afternoon had grown ominous and cloudy, then the skies broke into rain, which became hail, which became snow. It was crazy, but sort of perfect for them because they got SO many different looks for their photographs. And Mary, especially, wanted snow. So when the sun went down and we finally got these big huge snowflakes, we couldn't help but to run outside and snap some dreamy romantic snow pictures.
I loved the modern and simple touches of Mary's lace wedding dress. Personally, I've always loved lace sleeves, I think they are so classic and surprisingly sexy. Less isn't always more, and I just love the way that a delicate sleeve can flatter our brides. Her veil was also simple and classic, it was so fun to photograph through because of the shapes and textures that it creates, and her updo looked great with it on and off. Modern boho braids showed off her blonde highlights and beautiful cheekbones.
Their friends and family gathered for a sweet and heartfelt ceremony. We got to snap fun photos of their friends all gathering together to celebrate and toast their new journey, while kids got to run around and play, and a big fireplace kept everyone toasty as the weather began to turn. A cozy dinner and then dancing wrapped up their perfect night together, and everyone had such a great time coming together to celebrate their love.
Hudson Gardens is a great venue for weddings year round because they have acres of countryside gardens with awesome mountain views. There is a quaint red barn in the back of the property, which is one of my favorite rustic looks. The farmhouse feeling on one side of the property is perfect for country brides and the cabin in the front of the property is a warm and rustic mountain look. When the weather is nice, they have plenty of space to celebrate outside, among the trees and flowers and gardens. With manicured paths and woodsy retreats, there are so many different looks that can be photographed at this venue!
Hudson Gardens Winter Wedding
The day started out as many Colorado days do in March: A strong sun brought the daytime temperature well into the 60s and I got to ride my horse outside before heading out to shoot Mary and Brad's wedding.
By the time the afternoon rolled in, so had ominous rain clouds that lingered, but stayed at bay while Mary and Brad arrived at Hudson Gardens with their family and bridal parties. They say that rain on your wedding day is good luck, but Mary had her heart set on snow instead.
Here's what I love about shooting in Colorado though. By the time the night ended, we seemingly had all of the seasons in one day. Soon after the ceremony, the skies opened up into a hard rain that felt like every element of spring, which was right around the corner, as the little flowers that have recently popped up through the mulch have suggested. Then, for just a moment it seemed, the rain turned to hail, and then as soon as it started, morphed into big beautiful snowflakes. Mary got her wish.
Her elegant and timeless dress was so flattering, and classically beautiful. I am a sucker for lace dresses with sleeves because I just think they photograph so well, especially when they flow on the bottom without being this big cumbersome and heavy dress. Mary was able to dance and move effortlessly in her wedding gown. And her veil was light, simple, and classy.
The cabin at Hudson Gardens is cozy, with big fireplaces that were adorned with eucalyptus and other woodland greenery. The floral design was modern, with little roses peeking out around the bolder flowers. The gardens are beautiful, even in the off-season. It seems rare to find cactus growing around the evergreens, but feels natural there.
The big red barn in the back of the property rounds out the property to remind us of the working landscape and rural nature of a garden. With big open fields and manicured tree lines, we just loved this space for bride and groom portraits. Rustic details weren't forced in this setting, and the wedding guests had an amazing time celebrating and dancing the night away with their friends.
