If you look closely at our photo shoots, you might notice that Alli and I often shoot during transitional times of day. The sun’s never high in the sky; instead, we get those Arizona pinks and oranges streaking across the sky, casting pale desert light across everything.
Sure, sunsets and sunrises here are gorgeous, but honestly, it’s less about the landscape and more about the quality of light. When we go out on photo shoots, we try to start around two hours before sunset. Being early isn’t just for fun–we get the time to find the perfect spot for our clients, whether they’re couples or families.
Sunset light here tends to be soft and even, which really helps to smooth everything over (and we don’t mean expressions or wrinkles!). The light at that hour flows over everything, almost how clean water softens everything underneath it. During the afternoon, sunlight can be quite harsh, especially here. Sunset, on the other hand, lessens the intensity of the light and changes the angle it hits everything at, so you get the desert sky with its pinks and blues and oranges, but you also get a creamy, golden glow over everything.
For families, it makes everything seem a lot cozier and picturesque.
For couples, it gives a halo effect to hair, making it look lustrous and soft, adding extra romance to the poses and candids we take of them. It makes things look dreamy, something we associate with romance!
There’s a use for every kind of light, but the afternoon variety, well… it ends up making people look almost raccoonish! Light from above makes objects cast shadows on anything beneath them, and shadows that fall in concave places make them look even deeper. That light you get at sunset softens everything up and helps you look your best.
Just a little piece of trivia for you–we hope you found it interesting!
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