Seniors, Sunrise or sunset?

If you are looking to have senior photos taken, Charleston, South Carolina is, without a doubt a gorgeous place to do so! Our charming coastal city is known for it’s well-preserved architecture. If you’ve already decided on Charleston as the destination for your high school (or college) senior photo session, and we’ve chatted you’ve likely already read my blog post on Charleston Senior Portraits. Golden hour is hands down the most beautiful time for a session Downtown. However, we have two options a day when it comes to golden hour, sunrise? Or Sunset? I had senior sessions with both Kaybrie and Kayleigh in the same week, with similar weather just at different times. Below are those sessions and notes about why each worked so beautifully at different Golden Hours.

Why sunrise?

Oh sunrise, it is EARLY. In the summer time REALLY EARLY. Is it worth getting up before dawn to do your hair and makeup for your senior session? In my opinion, it depends on what exactly you want in a session. Are you looking for more iconic locations like Rainbow Row?

If so, I wholeheartedly recommend you choose the morning golden hour! This is one of the busiest spots you will find people in Charleston. Everybody wants a glimpse of Rainbow Row. Oddly enough, if you’ve never been, you might be surprised to see Rainbow Row is literally like every other street in Charleston. Including cars parked in front of the homes and lots of people milling about. Early in the morning though, its nice and quiet.

As you can see Kaybrie had the streets to herself! The early morning glow is so gorgeous in this area. Because this area tends to be so busy I usually will only shoot it at sunrise. As the sun rises over the Cooper River, this area is some of the first in Downtown Charleston to get sunlight. Shortly after it gets super bright and blown out looking.

If you’ve ever had an early morning session with me near Rainbow Row, you know how much I love shooting in front of this home. The way the sunlight hits it in the morning is just gorgeous!

But what time IS sunrise?

Obviously this changes throughout the year. There are days in the summertime we are meeting sometime in the six o’clock hour. As we get more into fall that pushes back to seven or eight am. Perks of those super early morning sessions in the summer are worth it though. First thing in the morning are when our temperatures are their coolest. It is also when our weather tends to be calmer. If you live here or have been here in the summer you know that an evening golden hour isn’t always promised. We often get an afternoon thunderstorm that may or may not be out of the way by our sunset session.

So the final Pros and Cons?

Cons:
Sunrise is early – It means getting up while it’s still very dark out go get ready. Means you might want a nice boost of caffeine before our session, but in many cases the Pros completely outweigh all of this!

Pros:
Quieter Streets – Most people are still sleeping or just getting up and getting ready to go for a stroll.
Cooler Temps – Especially in the summer this is the hour you will feel least like you are melting, especially with a full face of makeup. Also, our humidity, if we can get this session in before it really picks up, its a blessing on your hair!
Calmer Weather – Again, especially in the summer when afternoons and evenings are unpredictable morning is often safer.
You’re done for the day – Especially if you are here on vacation, this is a great option. You can check it off your list early in the day, you already look great and are dressed, you can go straight to breakfast or coffee and rest assured if it rains later, it won’t matter!!

If is does rain…
We always have sunset as a backup option! Some days are just rainy, but if you’re here in Charleston for a limited time, booking a sunrise session almost gives you a built in option to push it back to later in the day if it’s due to be rainy! That gives us ALL day to make your session happen!

Why Sunset?

Arguably the second golden hour of the day is just as perfect and beautiful as the first. Usually for sunset sessions I choose to move a little further down the Peninsula to a less crowded area so you can have some spots truly to yourself and have a little more privacy.

I like to start my evening golden hour sessions at White Point Gardens, near the Battery. I love capturing the giant live oak trees with the sun hitting them just right at golden hour in the evening. What’s gorgeous about this area of Downtown Charleston is being able to sneak in this nature scene in addition to including all the beauty of the traditional Downtown City vibe.

Parts of Downtown Charleston get hit with such a gorgeous golden glow in the evenings. Whereas I find sunrise to be a little bit of a soften glow, these late summer evening sessions truly can bring a vibrant golden hue to your session. After shooting under the live oaks Kayleigh and I walked up meeting street to capture all that is “Charleston”. Iron gates, lush windowboxes, even brick lined streets.

There is so much variety to be found South of Broad street. While some of these places may not be the most obvious (ie, not the Pineapple Fountain or Rainbow Row) they still scream Charleston Charm. If you plan to get into Charleston earlier in the day, ending that first day with a photo session can be super fun. It’s like taking a mini walking tour to places you maybe have never been and want to go back and explore later in your stay.

Pastels shoot beautifully anywhere in Charleston but I love how this area has some more muted toned areas to shoot around. This really allowed Kayleigh to be the spotlight, so pretty in pink. However, it goes without saying, putting her in front of pink was also the perfect Charleston shot. While Rainbow Row might be busier in the evenings, theres still the most perfect pink (and yellow and green) houses in gorgeous lighting in the evening.

What time do we start sunset sessions?

For a senior session, where I know we will likely have 2-3 outfit changes I generally start a sunset session 90 minutes prior to sunset. This puts us in some of the most ideal spots to capture some gorgeous glow as the sun goes down.

Cons:
Potentially busier streets – In most cases this just means we seek out a quieter area like Kayleigh’s session. It often mans we have more foot traffic we have to wait for or work around but it’s not too bad by any means.
Iffier Weather – Especially in the summer, we could wait around all day and plan for your session only to have a pop up thunderstorm that rains us out. However, outside of summertime these issues are much less of a worry. Also in the summer our temperatures really on’t begin to drop much until after the sun sets. So if you are here on vacation in July, morning may be your more comfortable option.

Pros:
You don’t have to wake up early to get ready – Evening sessions are great for pacing out getting ready. Maybe you wanted to schedule a blowout or makeup and booking an evening sessions gives you much more flexibility with booking with a salon, or simply taking your time at home or your place of stay.
You’re dressed and ready for a nice evening out to dinner – You’ve done yout hair perfect, you’ve done your makeup perfect, you’re likely in a cute outfit, go make that reservation for the cute Downtown restaurant you’ve wanted to try!

Final Thoughts on sunrise versus sunset

There is no WRONG option, Period! As you can see both are GORGEOUS and they are what you make of them! I can walk away from a sunrise session and be so in love with it and claim that’s “the best hour” and then go shoot a sunset the next day and completely change my mind. These two sessions were almost back to back on near identical days weather wise. As you can see both are equally as perfect! So, when you ask me, which is better, it really comes down to what are you most comfortable with from those Pros and Cons lists! Just know if we booked one, and it does get rained out and you had to switch to the other, it’s going to be great either way!