Many years ago, when I was primarily a wedding photographer, I read the book “Fine Art Wedding Photography” by Jose Villa. He shared about a type of light I hadn't heard of before, which he called “Skylight.” He described it like this:
"I create my best compositions when the sun is setting. When the sun has just dipped below the horizon, all you have left is residual light in the sky. I call this excellent light 'skylight.' It’s not directional, so I can move around my subject a full 360 degrees. No matter what angle I shoot from, the light on the subject is exactly the same."
I actually disagree that it's not directional, because there is more luminance coming from the horizon where the sun just set (as you can see in the image above), but I love that about this kind of light!
So when is the best time to use this kind of light? I use it when I have a difficult location without good shade or when a client suggests a location, but the light in that location is not ideal for portraits when the sun is still strong. Once the sun dips below the horizon, you can go anywhere and have good light to work with!
But there are a few things to keep in mind…
- This is a low light situation, so your ISO needs to be higher than before the sun went down.
- This light only lasts 10-15 minutes before it starts to lose it's luster, so you have to work fast!
- You have to stay past your scheduled end time for the session, but it's usually worth the extra few minutes for this soft, dreamy light!
Try this out and share one of your resulting photos with me!