The Golden Hour, Bermuda, 2010

Before I took my EMT training course, I had only heard the term “golden hour” as it’s used in filmmaking. In cinematography and photography, the “golden hour” is the first hour after dawn or the last hour before dusk when the light becomes very fine. It has to do with the sun being so low on the horizon and because it’s indirect, it casts long shadows and there is some kind of filtering effect that adds colorful qualities and tinted hues. The evening “golden hour” often culminates in a beautiful sunset, but even when it doesn’t, there is usually a very rare atmosphere that makes everything look a little better. Filmmakers will spend hours, sometimes days preparing cameras, equipment and actors for a scene that calls for the “golden hour.” I’ve always loved the term, it’s beautiful to me, there’s something magical about it. Denis and I will sometimes just say it, if we’re on the beach at the right moment or the light is hitting a building in an old city, late in the day, “It’s the golden hour.”