Lighting can make or break the kind of food photos you click. Professionals swear by natural light, adventurous photographers are ever ready to take risks in artificial light and make it work. But have you ever experimented with food photography during the golden hour?

For those who don’t know about the “golden hour”, it is the hour after sunrise and the one right before the sunset. During these times the sun is low in the sky, producing a soft, diffused light which is much more flattering than the harsh midday sun that so many of us are used to shooting in.

You won’t find a lot of people tell you to shoot food in that light. Some might even advice against it. But you won’t know unless you try, right?

So what possible food items you can shoot in the golden hour?

1. Cocktails and mocktails: The colours and beautiful shape of the glass do look great in normal natural light, but during the golden hour, the colours might not look bright. That is the time you can focus on the composition and texture of the drink and the youthfulness of the glass.

2. An outdoor meal: Ever planned a picnic meal for your kids and friends in the garden or the park? If yes, then you can shoot that during the time before the sun sets. Or you can prepare the dinner a little earlier and set the table outside, just for the photos, and then take it in after you are done clicking.

3. Cakes and pastries are probably something you might not want to shoot in the golden hour, for the very simple reason that they are more classic and less or an outdoor food item. Their detailing, colour and texture does not go well with that kind of lighting.

4. Breakfast items, like breads, pancakes, coffee, tea, fruit juices, cereals et al are some of the food stuff which you can shoot in the morning light.