Picture This

Picture This! -- Our Next Assignment

The Golden Hour
There's a time in the day favored by cinematographers the world over known as the "golden hour." It's when contrast is low and the light from a low-hanging sun streaks across the sky and onto a scene. It enhances portraits and landscapes alike and brings a color cast that requires no white balance offsets, as it is as warm as any Cloudy WB setting or warm yellow filter over a lens could supply. Unlike a dawn light, which can crisp up edges, the golden hour light is often diffused, due to the rays of the sun traveling through the dust stirred up by the late day's wind or the mere activity on the surface of the earth.

Our Picture This! assignment this month is to submit images that become enhanced by shooting late in the day with a warm cast of light over the scene. It's OK to tweak an image a bit, but try not to send us images made in "normal" light with a yellow cast created by switching white balance in your post-processing work. This shot was made in the late afternoon in New York's Central Park, which shows that the golden hour can even cast its magic over a big city.

© 2007, George Schaub, All Rights Reserved

Please Read This
It is important that you read and follow these guidelines. We need to follow this procedure because of the large volume of images we receive. If you have any questions, please e-mail us at: editorial@shutterbug.com.

1) Images sent to us cannot be returned. You retain complete copyright over the images, but do grant us permission to print your image(s) in the magazine and on our website, www.shutterbug.com.

2) Because images are not returned please send a quality print or duplicate transparency. We will not accept or view images on CD, ZIP, or any other electronic media.

3) Images will be selected on the basis of content and technical quality. Please mark your outer envelope with the topic of the month (for example, "Wide View").

4) Enclose a short caption with the image stating camera, lens, film and exposure, plus location. If you are submitting an image with a recognizable person we must have a model release or signed permission from that person to reproduce their image in the magazine and on the website.

5) Please submit no more than three photos for consideration.

Send your image and information to:
Picture This! Shutterbug Magazine,
1419 Chaffee Dr., Suite #1, Titusville, FL 32780.
Deadline for submission: June 15, 2007.
Images will appear in our September 2007 issue.
Our next topic: Keep It Steady--Tripods Only!
Deadline: July 15, 2007
Publication Date: October, 2007

Please note: We receive hundreds of submissions for Picture This! each month and want to be sure we properly identify each image we publish. Please be sure to attach your name and image information to the back of each submission.