Golden hour is the hour or so before the sun goes down. The light gets low, warm and soft, and people look their best in it. Every photographer talks about it. Getting it right at a Lake Tahoe wedding takes a little more planning than most people think.
The time moves a lot.
In Tahoe the latest sunset of the year is around 8:30 pm at the end of June. The earliest is around 4:40 pm in early December. That’s almost four hours of difference. A timeline that works perfectly in July will put your portraits in the dark in November.
The mountains get there first.
The sunset time on your phone is for a flat horizon. We don’t have one. On the west shore, in Olympic Valley and anywhere tucked under a ridge, the sun can drop behind the mountains well before the official sunset. On the east shore, places like Sand Harbor keep the light longer because they face the lake and the mountains on the other side.
I’ve shot at most of the venues up here, so I usually know when the sun is going to disappear behind which ridge. If I don’t, I go look.
I work it out with your coordinator.
This is the part most couples never see. Before your timeline is locked, I talk with your coordinator. We look at the sunset time, where the sun actually goes at your venue, and when dinner and toasts are happening. Then we build backward.
Most of the time it ends up being 15 or 20 minutes during dinner or right after toasts. Your coordinator knows the kitchen and when food is going out, so we pick a window where you don’t miss anything. Your guests barely notice you left.
On the day, I watch the light. When it’s getting good I tell your coordinator, and they get you to me. If clouds roll in, we wait. If the sun is going behind a ridge early, we go early. A good coordinator makes this easy, and I’ve worked with a lot of good ones up here.
I stay flexible.
The plan is a starting point. The light decides.
Britte and Steve eloped at Sand Harbor, then I met up with them later in the Olympic Valley meadow. I kept the timing loose so we could wait for the best light, and it paid off. You can see it here.
Ryan and Chloe got married at High Camp, 8,200 feet up at Palisades Tahoe, with Lake Tahoe stretched out behind them. The summer golden hour showed up in a big way, and we were out on the ridge right as the sun went down. See Ryan and Chloe’s wedding here.
A few things that help.
- Don’t put portraits at 3 pm in July and hope. Midday sun at 6,000 feet is harsh.
- Do a first look if you want more time together before the ceremony. Then golden hour can be short and easy.
- Fifteen minutes is enough. You don’t need to disappear for an hour.
- Let your coordinator and photographer talk early. Most timeline problems get solved in one call.
- Trust the plan to change. If the light is better ten minutes earlier, we go ten minutes earlier.
If you want help building your timeline around the light, send me your date and venue. I’ll tell you when the sun goes down there.
Keep reading: Lake Tahoe Wedding Light: What Your Photographer Should Know, Why I Recommend a First Look at Palisades Tahoe (For Every Wedding, Every Season), Wildfire Smoke Can Make Your Tahoe Wedding Photos Better, All my venue guides and Santa Cruz weddings.