Using the Sun as Your Key Light
When it comes to golden hour cinematography, there’s no better key light than the sun. But the sun waits for no one. You’ve got a small window to get it right…and if you don’t plan properly, you’ll miss it.
I recently shot a commercial for Land Rover Defender, featuring Olympic gold medallist Tom McEwen. The creative was all about that cinematic sunrise and sunset energy… natural, soft, golden light that elevates every frame.
Planning the Shoot
This is a brief plan I put together to get the shots
We didn’t have time for a traditional location recce, so I leaned on two essential tools:
Google Earth (the downloaded desktop version)…this has a brilliant sun tracer built into the app that lets you study the landscape, light direction, and terrain in advance
SunCalc to cross-reference and calculate the sun’s exact position at any hour of the day
If you’re a cinematographer shooting in natural light, these tools are non-negotiable. I used them to plot where the sun would be during our most important scenes… and sketched out reference shots to match.
This kind of pre-visualisation saves you hours on the day. You don’t want to be guessing where the sun’s going to fall.
On Location: Get There Early
We arrived two hours before camera roll. That gave me time to walk the locations with a sun tracker app on my phone…I personally use Sun Seeker, but anything that lets you overlay the sun’s path onto your camera’s view will do the job.
One of the planned shots didn’t work on the day. The background felt wrong. But because I’d done my prep, I knew exactly where else we could go… a spot I’d flagged beforehand that wasn’t even on the official shot list. We moved fast and got a much better result.
That’s the payoff of proper planning… it gives you flexibility without stress.
The 6 P’s
A mate of mine… ex-police…once told me something I live by:
Perfect Preparation Prevents a Piss Poor Performance.
You don’t get a second chance with golden hour. The sun rises, the sun sets… and it doesn’t care about your schedule. If you’re not prepared, it will beat you.
Tips for Golden Hour Cinematography
Use SunCalc to plan your sunrise or sunset framing
Use Google Earth to visualise your location and light direction
Arrive at least 90 to 120 minutes early
Have a backup location already in mind
Use a sun tracking app like Sun Seeker or Helios Pro
Shoot wide when you can…golden hour looks incredible in wide frames
Don’t rely on the light to carry the shot… you still need composition and story
Final Thought
If you're shooting natural light… especially for commercials or branded content…the sun is your best friend and your biggest challenge. Make it your gaffer. But respect it.
Because when golden hour hits, you either get the shot… or you don’t.