Golden Hour Flowers - The Sequel

Taking time for some backyard macro photography during golden hour. 

I’ve previously written about my experience taking advantage of “Golden Hour” with macro photography. Well, I’ve done it again but this time, with some additional tools. 

What is “golden hour”? 

Golden hour is roughly the hour after sunrise, and the hour before sunset. During this time, the sun light is warmer and diffused (i.e., not so harsh), and provides the best lighting for photographers. 

When it comes to my macro work, I enjoy doing this at home with a fresh bouquet and I always prefer to do my macro work in a natural setting, with natural lighting. I am definitely a minimalist when it comes to equipment and approach, so taking advantage of the golden hour with my macro photography is super-convenient!

I had a small bouquet of flowers from a local farmer - some beautiful zinnias and a sunflowers - they were warm and embodied summertime. One afternoon/early evening, as I was watching the sunlight change, I knew that I not only had to rush out there with my flowers, but I wanted to add a little something extra - my Lensbaby Omni creative filters. The Lensbaby Omni filters are basically prisms and tools that attach to a magnetic ring on your lens. They allow you to stretch your image, create a “double exposure” type effect, and add prisms, color, and other special effects. They can also enhance the bokeh in your image, making for some dreamy results.

Pro Tip!

Always make sure your camera batteries are charged and ready to go, even when you’re home! You don’t want to miss an opportunity to take advantage of perfect lighting, or the perfect moment!

Here’s the thing to remember about golden hour: you have to move quickly! Take advantage of every. second. Move. Change your perspective. Appreciate every moment of that warm, diffused, glow.

For this “outing” I stuck with the original Omni pack: stretch glass, crystal seahorse, and the rainbow film. I basically experimented the entire time, moving them around and often times using a combination of two for most of my images.

For all of these images, I used my Canon 100mm f2.8/L Macro lens - it’s pretty much always on my camera at home because macro photography is my jam. I love flowers - I love examining them and soaking in all of their details. The variance in colors on the petals, the shapes of their petals, closed and open, and how the petals fall around the stem.

The filters, in addition to the macro lens, created some beautiful dreamy bokeh that screams “summertime!” I liked the contrast of the orange glow against the green grass, absorbing the sun. And most of all, I enjoyed just having fun with the Omni filters. There’s really no wrong answer - keep adjusting until you get what you want. And look closer at what you thought were mistakes…you may actually find something good!