Golden Hour Maryland Lifestyle Newborn Session

Mom, dad, baby and dog looking at the camera, while sitting in a field at sunset

What is Golden Hour?

In photography, a term you hear a lot about is golden hour…but what exactly is it? Golden hour is the time right before sunset or shortly after sunrise when the sun’s low position in the horizon creates a gorgeous golden glow that is very flattering and is perfect for all types of photography, including family photography sessions. Because the sun is so low, you don’t have the harsh shadows that you would see at high noon, for example. There is also a red and orange glow that adds a softness to the images. A lot of photographers, myself included, love to schedule sessions during golden hour to take advantage of the gorgeous light.

When is Golden Hour?

Golden hour is the hour right before sunset or right after sunrise when the sun is low in the sky. Depending on the time of year and where you are located, it can be a bit longer. On long summer days, the length of time you have that golden glow is much longer. In winter, as the days grow shorter, the time for that gorgeous light can be cut short by quite a bit.

Golden Hour Lifestyle Newborn Photography Session

For this lifestyle newborn session, we had absolutely gorgeous light for the entire session. We had a fun time documenting the arrival of their new baby girl. Mom’s goal for the session was to capture a moment in time. She wants to be able to bottle up as many memories as she can of her baby girl and this session was going to help her do just that. Before she had her baby girl, she had been documenting memories with their fur baby, who they had adopted four years prior. She wanted to document images of all of them, not only for themselves, but to also share those memories with extended family who haven’t been able to meet baby girl because of the pandemic. Not only were we able to document great images during the session, we also had fun designing a custom photo album and a gallery of wall art (gallery wrapped canvases) for everyone to enjoy for generations to come.