Is there anything better than shooting at golden hour? Not much, I’d almost put money on saying that. But sometimes it’s just not feasible to get your clients to go outside at the crack of dawn or end of the day. Sometimes we just don’t get to choose what hours we shoot in.
And that’s where the mastery of artificial light comes in. By learning how to manipulate light exactly how you want it, you can pretty much recreate any sort of lighting situation you want, golden hour included. In this Adorama video, Ab Sesay walks us through his process of recreating Golden Hour with a studio flash.
What are the characteristics of Golden Hour light?
Golden hour light is distinct for its warmth, soft shadows, and directional nature. As the sun sets or rises, it casts long shadows and creates a natural glow that tends to flatter skin tones and create dramatic highlights. To replicate this in the studio, you need to focus on:
Directional light: Mimicking the low angle of the sun.
Warmth: Setting colour temperatures to around 3200-2700K.
Soft diffusion: Creating a smooth light-to-shadow transition while keeping the source direct and natural.
Background and set design
The set design plays a crucial role in achieving an authentic golden hour look. For this shoot, Ab says he envisioned a fashion editorial in an old factory with chipped paint and worn textures. To build a fitting background, he used two gravity hand-painted backdrops positioned at a wide angle to create a soft corner.
A trick he uses to maintain a clean seam between backdrops is to roll them from the front, not the back, similar to how you’d prefer toilet paper to unroll!
The main light: spotlight for direction and warmth
The key to replicating the sun’s warm, directional light is using a spotlight. Ab chooses a Nanlite 720 paired with a 36° spotlight attachment. This gives a hard, focused beam that mimics the sun’s low position during golden hour.
To soften this hard light and make it appear more natural, he used Rosco Tough Silk diffusion. This diffusion helps scatter the light, simulating sunlight bouncing through a window. Adjusting the edges of the spotlight’s beam can create subtle changes in shadow quality, either making the light seem closer or further away from the subject.
Adding warmth with gels
To capture the rich, amber glow that often characterizes golden hour, Ab added a warming gel to the main light. This gel creates a warm gradient at the bottom of the frame, simulating the sun just above the horizon. By adjusting the gel’s position, you can control the intensity of this warm glow, making it an ideal tool for shaping the overall mood of the image.
Bouncing light for a natural feel
Next, Ab introduces an FS 300C to bounce light off a V-flat. This creates the effect of sunlight reflecting off a wall, gently filling the shadows on the model. For golden hour lighting, it’s crucial that the bounced light remains warm, so he sets the FS 300C to an even deeper amber tone than the spotlight.
Bouncing light also allows for a soft fill when shooting from various angles, adding a natural glint to the subject’s eyes. You can also adjust this bounced light to function as a secondary main light, though this may reduce the natural feel.
Fill light for softening shadows
An important part of replicating Golden Hour is keeping soft, natural shadows. For this, Ab used a Glow 8×8 frame fitted with TRP Magic Cloth. This cloth diffuses light more effectively than standard silks or grids, ensuring the fill light eliminates harsh shadows without overpowering the scene. A Nanlite panel light was used as the fill light source, providing a wide spread of cool light to balance the warmth of the direct beams.
Replicating golden hour light in the studio requires attention to detail, from the colour temperature of your main light to the angle of your bounced fill. If you don’t have access to all the equipment used, don’t worry—there are plenty of workarounds. Use a 10° grid or homemade snoot for tight beams, bounce light off a wall instead of a V-flat, or even hang a bed sheet for diffusion.
Enjoy experimenting with the light and being able to create golden hour whenever it suits you!
