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Behind the Scenes · 5 min read
Chasing golden hour on the Swahili coast
Twenty minutes of perfect light, twice a day. How we planned a whole documentary around it.
By Baraka Mwakyusa ·
On the coast, the best light lasts about twenty minutes. It arrives just after the fishermen leave and again just before they come home. On Tides of Kilwa we built the entire schedule around those two windows.
Plan the day backwards
We started each call sheet from sunset and worked backwards: where does the boat need to be, where does the camera need to be, and who needs to have eaten by then?
You don’t find golden hour. You’re either already standing in the right place, or you’ve missed it.
Small crew, natural light
Four people, two cameras, one reflector. A small crew can move when the light moves — and nobody on the beach stops working to stare at you.
The middle of the day went to interviews in the shade, sound recording and, honestly, sleep.
