Photographers know that golden hour, the time shortly after sunrise and just before sunset, produces warm, glowing light that’s ideal for any genre of photography.

For our Golden Hour Quest, we asked for your best photos capturing the magical qualities of this time of day and we weren’t disappointed. We received a wide range of submissions: shining cityscapes, majestic wildlife, and warm and flattering portraits. In the end, it was the quality of light and breathtaking panoramic view in Rossano Ferrari’s landscape photo “Dolomites Sunset Time” that made it our winner.

Dolomites Sunset Time by Rossano Ferrari on 500px.com

What the judge loved about this photo: We had so many outstanding submissions for this Quest, but the winner knocked it out of the park with this gorgeous panorama of the Dolomites in Italy. There so many beautiful colours and tones in this photo, he clearly picked the perfect time and location to capture this majestic view.

Rossano shared the story behind the photo: I took the winning photo at Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The house you can see in the foreground is the Locatelli hut, where I slept with my son. I often drive to those places (about 5 hours away from my home) to look for interesting subjects to shoot. I was looking for a stunning sunset at Tre Cime di Lavaredo for a long time, and finally, I was lucky enough to find the best conditions. I took the photo around 8:30 PM, from a small and narrow ledge. At that point of view, there is only space for one person and his tripod. This photo is the result of an overview of 3 HDR shots horizontally.

Let the golden light of our finalist photos wash over you below:

Vasco da Gama II by Carl Häll on 500px.com

homesick by Taya Iv on 500px.com

Cordillera Paine by Luka Vunduk on 500px.com

Durdle Door Sunset by Chris Sweet on 500px.com

Untitled by Diego  Oliveira on 500px.com

Westerhever Lighthouse by Christoph Dopplinger on 500px.com

Raining gold sunset road by Linda Enkema on 500px.com

Sweet Sunrise by Manos Choustoulakis on 500px.com

sunrise by Mark Bridger on 500px.com

Dune 45. Sossusvlei by Xenia Ivanoff-Erb on 500px.com



Golden hour on the mountain by Andrius Šešelgis on 500px.com

Cefalù, Sicily by Alessio Michelini on 500px.com

Sound Of Summer by Stefan Petershofer on 500px.com

good morning fire by Heiko Podleska on 500px.com

King's River by Nathaniel Merz on 500px.com

Golden morning by Goran Ivkovic on 500px.com

The three bells' sunset by Roberto Perrella on 500px.com

First Rays by Billy Purta on 500px.com

Rakaposhi by Maqsood MK on 500px.com

Gladiator by Piotr Ciupka on 500px.com

Scoresbysund Morning Light by Hans-Peter Deutsch on 500px.com

Hat with a Cap by Urip Dunker on 500px.com

Godafoss Sunset by Terry Cluley on 500px.com

On The Edge by Mark Basarab on 500px.com

The Big Sunrise by Marco Balderi on 500px.com

Sunrise at the harbour by Paal Uglefisk Lund on 500px.com

Yosemite Sunrise God Rays by Shuo Seal on 500px.com

Asian fisherman by Panom Bounak on 500px.com