The golden hour; you've read earlier posts about how the light is soft. Magical. Golden. There are actually two golden hours: the first being the hour after sunrise in the morning and the second being the hour leading up to sunset in the evening - both are my favorite times of day for portrait sessions. Except for in the summer.

In the hot and humid summers of the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex I'll often suggest morning sessions for pet portraits for the comfort of the dogs and to provide some variety of smiles; tongue out, tongue in and oh-so-serious looks (in the evening, every photo will often have a big 'ol lolling tongue hanging out - fine for a couple of pictures - but I like to provide more variety in a session).

Even though things do cool down a bit in the evening, the ground, rocks and concrete can retain heat from the day and keep things on the warmer side. There's often a 15-20 degree difference between 8am and 6pm in and around the Dallas area, so 85 degrees? Or 98 degrees? Which would you pick? At least in the morning everything has had a chance to cool overnight and I keep things moving quickly so we can wrap up in about an hour before the temps start to climb. 

That was exactly the conversation I had this week with Epic Animal Rescue when their adoption coordinator contacted me to photograph some new dogs to their program. We decided on a location convenient for the three foster families and then just needed to nail down the time of day. When I mentioned the forecasted morning and afternoon temps and humidity levels, everyone agreed: morning it is! We captured some beautiful images that I know will help this trio get adopted by the perfect families. 

The morning light; at a low angle in the sky, creating a soft haze of golden sunlight backlighting the pups, was a dream and we made some pretty dreamy images. I'd like you to meet Paco Taco, Yoda and Camo, available dogs for adoption from Epic Animal Rescue. 

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