The term "golden hour" is most closely associated with film and photography. It refers to the kind of light that warms up a scene in the hour or so before dusk. Compared to "high noon," the lighting itself becomes its own character in the shot, creating a very pleasing, subtle and professional-looking image.

When I was just starting out with my Nikon D50 and still a little fuzzy about f/stops and iso and shutter speeds, I figured that I'd have the best chance to capture wildlife in  action if I set out at noon, hoping to avoid the dreaded "under exposure" that renders even an interesting or unique shot practically useless.

I knew little about the power of side lighting, back-lighting, or anything but "sunny" photography. In fact, for the first year or so,  I used Nikon's very helpful and reliable  "AUTO" or "SCENE" modes and let the camera choose the best exposure for me. From there, I worked up to the "ACTION" mode, where I could fall back on a sufficiently fast shutter speed to freeze birds (mostly gulls) in flight.

"naturally funny" nanpa exhibit gull diving head first into ocean

Now, I shoot on full "MANUAL" about 90% of the time, which gives me complete control over the scene. I made an effort to educate myself about the mysteries of all of those numbers and fractional numbers (f7, 1/250, etc.) and mastered spot metering, which was a breakthrough moment for me. I do revert to Nikon's "ACTION" mode in certain situations. ( I refer to it as the "bigfoot" setting; invaluable for that fleeting moment where you need to document the scene without fumbling for the best exposure. Here's a great example of a situation where there's no time be "artistic:"

When it comes to situations where I want to document a certain behavior or feature of an animal, direct sunlight can be helpful, but doesn't produce the kind of subtle tones that you'll get in the "golden hour."

Downy woodpecker male with prominent eye and bill