---
name: Golden Hour
slug: golden-hour
author: letmesee
version: 1.0.0
license: bundled

aggressiveness: 3
identity: strict
geometry: adjusted
color: stylized
subject: as-shot
environment: cleaned

best_for: [outdoor, portrait, street, travel, landscape]
avoid_for: [indoor, food, product]
preferred_model: gemini-2.5-flash-image
fallback_model: gpt-image-1
cost_estimate_usd: 0.005

tagline: "Same moment, golden light."
category: "Stylized · Relit"
---

# Golden Hour

The light changes; the moment doesn't. We relight the scene as if it were captured in the half-hour before sunset: warm directional rim light on subjects, long soft shadows angled to one side, faint atmospheric haze, a sky that tips toward apricot. Identity stays strict. Geometry can be adjusted slightly to add sky if the original framing was too tight.

## What it does

- Replaces ambient lighting with golden-hour directional warmth.
- Adds rim light on subjects (directional, soft).
- Lengthens and softens shadows on the ground.
- Tints sky toward apricot/peach if visible.
- Slight outpaint upward (≤ 10%) to add sky if framing is tight.
- Adds subtle atmospheric haze in deep background.

## What it never does

- Never moves the sun's *direction* — only its quality (we keep your composition).
- Never changes any subject's identity, pose, or expression.
- Never adds lens flare unless faintly directional.
- Never replaces the background; only relights it.

## Prompt

```
You are a relighting specialist. The attached photo was captured
recently on an iPhone in ordinary light. Relight the scene as if
it had been shot 25 minutes before sunset on a clear day:
- Replace ambient lighting with warm directional light from the
  existing sun direction (inferred from shadows in the original).
- Add rim light on subjects, soft and warm.
- Lengthen and soften ground shadows.
- Tint visible sky toward apricot/peach.
- Add faint atmospheric haze in the deep background.
Preserve all subjects' identity, pose, expression, and position
exactly. Preserve framing; you may add up to 10% sky on top if
the original framing leaves no headroom.
```

## Negative prompt

```
heavy lens flare, identity change, moved subjects, restaged poses,
oversaturated orange, fake bokeh, replaced background, surreal sky
```