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The Golden Hour

The bitter cold bites at unprotected fingertips as you walk determinedly. The sun isn’t up yet. The rest of the world is asleep. Not you, though: you’re on a mission to capture that famed golden hour. That special time of day when the sun hasn’t reached the height of its power yet and is softer for it in your photographs, bathing your subject in the kind of light that creates a flurry of butterflies in your stomach.

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You found the spot some weeks ago. It had been raining and miserable but you saw the potential. If you make your way back to that exact spot, set your tripod up for the perfect framing, and wait for that magic moment, that soft crawl of sunrise as light floods the landscape in a royal red, you know you could have the best picture you’ve ever taken.

Tiredness weighs down on your eyes. Sunset would have been an acceptable time, but you had a vision and it had dragged you out of bed this morning despite the protests of both your body and partner alike. It’s worth it; it always is after such a long photography expedition, getting home and realising you’ve captured a fleeting second of utter beauty. Knowing it has gone, never to be seen again except in the still of your image. And maybe no one else will ever see it, maybe it will sit on your computer for months to come until you see it again and are reminded of that spectacular view once more, maybe then you will upload it for the world to see. It’s not important in the long run; Instagram fame isn’t the goal, you want to capture an experience in a way that memories never can.

Edinburgh sunset iStock_000068904463_Small

Finally, after a long trek you arrive at your destination and the sun is only just starting to peek over the horizon. You have time. Carefully you start to unpack your equipment, folding out your tripod and setting it up at just the right spot, untangling your camera from its neck strap and powering it up. A small sigh of relief escapes as you see the full power bar. You charged it last night, charged a spare even, but the worry had still dogged you as you made your way up here. With everything set up there is only one thing left to do: wait.

Time drags, it always does in these moments of anticipation and you find yourself fidgeting, eager to begin. Your eyes are trained determinedly on the horizon so as not to miss these precious moments. So, when it the red blush begins to spread you feel the jump in your stomach as you get to work.

You press down frantically on the capture button: you know you have time, you know this hour isn’t as fleeting as it always feels, but time still seemingly slips away into nothing as you work.

Faster than you can think the glow is fading, your heart thuds angrily in your throat; the hour is over. It will be back, you know this, the sun rising in the east and setting in the west is the only thing you’re really sure about in this life. But, you’re here now. The moment is gone unless you want to wait all day for the sun to disappear down into the horizon once more. You don’t.

Fingers numb you fumble with the cameras display buttons, almost toppling your tripod in the process and thanking whatever photography god is out there for your quick catch, finally hitting the menu button and bringing up your library. You hit next again and again. They’re okay; just okay. The acidic taste of disappointment starts to bubble up in your throat. You continue to scroll through until the last image finally fills the screen. You stop short, frozen in disbelief. You can’t believe your eyes.

That’s it. The perfect shot.

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If you’re on the hunt for that perfect shot, that golden hour, contact us to trade in your old camera for cash. We here at Camera Exchange are on a mission to get you the best price possible for your camera – whether it’s for an upgrade to capture these magic moments or not! Call us on 0208 371 179 where our friendly team are always more than happy to help!

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