Golden hour and blue hour: the light behind great landscape wallpapers

Browse any collection of landscape photographs and you will notice how many were taken when the sun was low or already gone. Photographers plan their days around two short windows of light, the golden hour and the blue hour. That light also happens to make excellent wallpapers.

The golden hour

The golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset, when the sun sits low above the horizon. Its light travels through much more of the atmosphere to reach you than at midday. The atmosphere scatters the shorter blue wavelengths away, leaving warmer yellow, orange and red tones.

Because the sun is low, light arrives from the side rather than from above. Shadows grow long, textures in rock, sand and grass stand out, and faces and animal fur are lit softly instead of harshly. Contrast is gentler, so both bright skies and darker ground keep their detail.

The blue hour

The blue hour falls during twilight, when the sun is just below the horizon: before sunrise and after sunset. There is no direct sunlight, only light scattered by the sky, and it takes on a deep, even blue. City lights, lit cabins and the last glow on mountain peaks stand out against it beautifully.

Neither “hour” is really an hour. Their length depends on where you are and the time of year. Near the equator the sun rises and sets steeply and both windows are short. At high latitudes, especially around midsummer and midwinter, twilight can last for a long time, which is one reason Scandinavian and Arctic landscapes glow for so long in photographs.

Why this light suits a wallpaper

• Smooth gradients. Low-sun and twilight skies blend gradually from one colour to the next. Large, calm areas of sky give your icons and clock somewhere uncluttered to sit.
• Gentle contrast. Without harsh midday highlights, the image is easy on the eyes when you look at it all day.
• Mood without detail overload. Silhouettes of mountains, trees or animals against a glowing sky read clearly even at small sizes, such as on a phone lock screen.
• Dark-mode friendly. Blue-hour images are naturally dark, so they pair well with dark themes and OLED screens.

Spotting it in our collection

Look through our Sky & Weather, Mountains and Landscapes collections and you will find many golden-hour and blue-hour images. Browsing by colour helps too. The orange collection is mostly golden hour, and much of the blue collection was taken during twilight.