Summer sunsets to warm your evenings
Turn to the side
When the sun shines from the side, this enhances shape and texture and is especially effective at golden hour when the sun's low. Stand where the light is to one side of you and what you're capturing and let the light work its magic.
Warm it up
If your camera has a white balance control, setting it to cloudy will make the colours appear warmer and will help bring out those golden hour tones. If you are using a phone camera there should be a filter to achieve a similar look.
Long shadows
Golden hour creates long shadows with a dramatic effect. At the beach, stand with the sun behind you and photograph your shadow stretching out across the sand. Hide the sun behind trees – their shadows will radiate out towards you in bold lines.
Use silhouettes
A simple but dramatic technique is to create a silhouette. Set the camera so that the sky is properly exposed and everything else will appear as a dark shape. It works best with something simple like a tree or windmill.
Make it sparkle
You can create an effect known as a sunstar, when the sun will appear as a star shape. To get this effect, set the camera’s aperture to a high number (f/16 - f/22) and make the sun as small as possible by partially hiding it behind something.
Spot bats in the lighter evenings
Among other summer wildlife, bats come out during the longer evenings – the extra hours at dusk could be the perfect time for you to spot bats that live locally. Tom Clarke, Land, Outdoors & Nature Engagement Officer at Purbeck Estate, has some tips for spotting them in your garden or when you're out and about.
'Bats are everywhere. Look out for them at dusk when the sky is clear. You'll see them in gardens and parks – hedgerows are great places to spot these nocturnal creatures. Either lie on your back on a blanket, or go for a slow walk, checking the gradually darkening sky for movement. If you have kids, let them lead you – they have much younger eyesight and are usually much better at finding bats in the gloaming than you are.'
Top bat tip: make your own bat detector. Pick a long stem of plantain or grass that has a seed head and wobble it above your head. Bats will come and investigate thinking that the seeds are insects to eat.
Dawns and sunsets for armchair viewing
Sunset over the creek at Newtown National Nature Reserve, Isle of Wight
Sunset over Sutton Hoo, Suffolk
Sunset at Brecon Beacons, Powys
Sunset over Upper Lough Erne at Crom, County Fermanagh
Sunrise over Whitburn Coastal Park near Souter Lighthouse, Tyne & Wear
Sunrise over Pillbox Pond at Sheffield Park, East Sussex
National Trust Podcast episode 79: Midsummer magic and mayhem
For millennia, midsummer has been steeped in tales of mystery and magic. It inspired the construction of great temples, the lighting of bonfires and was even said to have caused people to act in strange and surprising ways. In this episode, we explore the meaning behind the legends of the summer solstice. And we discover why so many people feel a mystical connection to this time of year.
Nature's palette – what makes the sky go red?
The phenomenon that results in red skies at sunrise and sunset is called scattering.
When the sun is low on the horizon the light travels through more of the atmosphere towards us than it does during the rest of the day. Because of the nature of the molecules, more of the shortwave blue wavelengths are scattered aside than other wavelengths in the colour spectrum, and the light appears red or orange to us.
The same effect occurs whenever light takes a long path through the atmosphere before it reaches our eyes. For example, if a layer of cloud extends almost to the horizon, the distant strip of sky that remains visible just below it will frequently look orange or red.
Curious about the weather? Check out How to Read the Weather by Storm Dunlop on our online shop.
