When I began writing Concordia, the main driving force behind the story was the exposure of the character's emotional state. With time running out and only a few months to live, I really wanted the audience to feel what Emily (played by @vitaaaliyah was feeling. What better way to send that message than a dying sunset.
I knew that I wanted that natural golden hour glow. Capturing the sunset alongside the talent
was tricky and knowing when to begin shooting was even trickier. Thankfully I had an app on hand, that allowed me to check at exactly what time the golden hour would arrive. The app is called magic hour ( Recommended by the talented @mrpeterant This allowed for an image that could push the message very subtly but still have a powerful effect. The results were merely a combination of luck, good timing and a astute appreciation for composition. I wanted neither the talent nor the sunlight to take the center stage. I needed balance! Placing the talent in front of the sunset produced a lovely rim light, that still reminded the audience of the sunset but also brought attention to the talent.
Another method utilised was the reflection of the sunset. This would give me the same powerful orange glow but not as intense as facing the actual direction of the sun. A great trick to use when you want to keep a correct exposure on the foreground and background! By using the pillars (picture below) as a tool for composition I was able to limit the reflection of the sun, which again gave me the balance I needed, to not over shadow the talent! Using the environment to shape natural light is a great technique to use on location!