Within the photographic community the last hour of light before sunset is often called the golden hour. There are a variety of reasons for this. For one, at that time of day sunlight has to travel through more atmosphere so it appears softer and warmer in hue. Also, blue light gets scattered within the spectrum so the light from the sun seems more red. There are other factors, such as indirect light and lighting ratio, but perhaps it's time for a visual example?

These shots are from the large south swell that hit the East Coast about a month ago. Friday afternoon, the sun setting low, the swell rising fast and Steve Jones strikes gold somewhere south of Sydney.//STUART NETTLE