The Golden Hour

Photographers call the hour after sunset and the hour before sunset "the golden hour."  Seems like it should be "the golden hours" doesn't it?  Well, let me save you the embarrassment of calling it the wrong thing - it's "the golden hour."  Anyway, together, these two hours are called the golden hour because of the warm orange glow pictures have when taken during these time periods.  It's not the only time you can take pictures outside, but many people (especially landscape photographers) would argue that it is the best.

Not only do the colors look great, but having the sun low in the sky provides good options for lighting.  If the sun is to the left or right of your subject you can get some pleasing shadows that give your image depth and dimension.  If the sun is behind your subject, you can get some neat back-lit effects - glowing hair included.  Having the sun shining directly on the front of your subject is rarely desirable.  Consider the following examples:

Black Friday

Amazon has the Nikon D40 selling for $441.98 (free shipping) and the Nikon D3000 for $449.88.  These are both great deals on great cameras.  This would be a good time to order Christmas presents.  The Canon Rebel XS is only $457.98, for you Canon folks.  Amazon has deals going on all week, so click the link above to save some money.

White Balance and Mood

If you don't know what white balance is, read here.

White balance is typically used to make the colors in your pictures look accurate.  The goal is to make white things look white and all the other colors look like they do in real life.  However, white balance can also be used to change the mood of your pictures.  Changing the white balance can make pictures seem warmer or cooler (some may say harsher.)

Most of your camera's white balance settings change how blue or orange your image appears.  (The fluorescent setting does not fit in this category since fluorescent lights are greener than other light sources.)  Because of this, intentionally using a WB setting that is not the most accurate can make your picture seem warmer or cooler than it actually was in real life.  Consider the following pictures:

This shot was taken on a gloomy, overcast day.  And it looks like it because the WB was set for cloudy.

This shot was taken a moment later with the WB set to shade.

Notice how much warmer this image looks.  It may not be reality, but it's a nicer picture to look at.  Try experimenting with your WB settings so you know what they do to your pictures.  Then when you want to make a slight color adjustment to you pictures, you can use your WB to do it.