One of the “problems” of taking a picture a day is that if you work for a living (like I do) you tend to take pictures at the same time each day – after work.  And when summer is over and the sun goes down around 6pm, all your pictures become sunset or night time shots.  Now this is not really a major issue as this time of night is considered by most photographers as the “Golden Hour”.

The Golden Hour is said to be the best time of the day for pictures outside.  Really the golden hour is usually thought of  as the hour before sunset or the hour after sunrise.  (Although many believe it’s the hour that straddles both).  So what’s special about this time of day?  Well the sun is very low in the sky and casts long soft shadows on people and buildings.  Also the sky takes on a colored (sometimes red) hue which many people find attractive.  Sometimes if the weather’s not that nice the clouds become more dramatic.

Tonights picture is a great example of this.  I shot the image at Carillon Point in Kirkland as the sun was going down.  Earlier in the day the clouds were pretty flat and boring, but once the sun was low in the sky the clouds took on a much more interesting look.  Luckily when I set up the tripod for this image nobody was around (that usually never happens) so I didn’t have to take anyone out in Photoshop.

If I had taken this picture 30 minutes earlier or later I wouldn’t have got the same shot at all, so it shows that hour is kind-a special.  So as the nights are starting earlier these days, you should expect a lot more pictures like this.

Today the guys wanted to play on some halloween decorations.