I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the participants and voters of the last technique challenge as it truly was an honor to win it. After looking over the preceding 83 challenges and weighing out a couple options in my mind I finally decided on “the Blue Hour”. The Blue hour is a period of twilight in the morning and evening when the sun is at a significant depth below the horizon and when the residual, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue shade. It is typically about 20 minutes in length (don’t let the title “hour” fool you!). The blue effect is caused by the way red and blue light wavelengths are diffused as the sun rises or sets. But in a more artistic sense, the lighting of the Blue Hour can range from a calm, tranquil mood to an exciting twilight glow. Whether you’re a morning person or a night person, it’s a beautiful time of day to grab your camera and tripod and go out to shoot.
Some tips for shooting the Blue Hour:
If your shots will be hand-held, you will need a wide aperature and high ISO.
If you will be using a low aperature, you will need a tri-pod.
Most pros recommend shooting ISO 100 to 400 with f/8 or f/11. And most recommend using a tripod too due to the low level of light. A tripod allows you to shoot with a lower ISO and avoid the noise level of higher ISOs.
I found some photographers who shoot the Blue Hour in manual, but most seemed to prefer Aperature Priority.
something to motivate me, i am often sitting in my living room during the evening bluehour thinking i need to capture that blue one day... do you think it matters if it is cloudy weather?
oh here is an answer... "If the sky is overcast then the duration of Blue Hour will shorten and in some instances the clouds can be too dense soas to wash out the complete Blue Hou"
@kali66 One of my photo books though has a gorgeous Blue Hour with clouds and the moon- so I think it just depends. Can't wait to see what you will post.
@ginaanderson Hi Gina- I think your photo is closer to a Golden Hour shot than blue hour. The Blue Hour is decidedly blue. The sun is below the horizon and most of the colors are gone from the sky. However there is still enough light to photograph (see the links above for info on how to do that). If you go to the pull-down menu and click on tags, then type Blue Hour in the search bar, it will pull up several examples from other 365ers. Also there are some great examples in the articles posted above too. That should give you an idea of what to look for. Although it's not a Blue Hour shot, this is a very nice portrait of the two of them!
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I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the participants and voters of the last technique challenge as it truly was an honor to win it. After looking over the preceding 83 challenges and weighing out a couple options in my mind I finally decided on “the Blue Hour”. The Blue hour is a period of twilight in the morning and evening when the sun is at a significant depth below the horizon and when the residual, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue shade. It is typically about 20 minutes in length (don’t let the title “hour” fool you!). The blue effect is caused by the way red and blue light wavelengths are diffused as the sun rises or sets. But in a more artistic sense, the lighting of the Blue Hour can range from a calm, tranquil mood to an exciting twilight glow. Whether you’re a morning person or a night person, it’s a beautiful time of day to grab your camera and tripod and go out to shoot.
Some tips for shooting the Blue Hour:
If your shots will be hand-held, you will need a wide aperature and high ISO.
If you will be using a low aperature, you will need a tri-pod.
Most pros recommend shooting ISO 100 to 400 with f/8 or f/11. And most recommend using a tripod too due to the low level of light. A tripod allows you to shoot with a lower ISO and avoid the noise level of higher ISOs.
I found some photographers who shoot the Blue Hour in manual, but most seemed to prefer Aperature Priority.
Need a little more info? Check out these links:
https://www.digitalphotomentor.com/5-tips-blue-hour-photography/
https://loadedlandscapes.com/guide-to-blue-hour-photography/
https://digital-photography-school.com/5-quick-tips-for-better-blue-hour-photography
https://www.lightstalking.com/blue-hours/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGxxCf1hdD4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8opucqiTPOg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3j4LwmfYz4
This challenge runs from 5/4/2018 to 5/25/2018. Only photos taken during that time frame will be eligible. Voting will take place shortly thereafter.
Tag your photos: technique84
Feel free to post your shots in the thread below too.
I look forward to seeing your entries!
Ann LeFevre @Olivetreeann