THE MAGIC OF THE BLUE HOUR

THE BLUE HOUR IS THE PERIOD OF TWILIGHT THAT OCCURS WHEN THE SUN IS IN SIGNIFICANT DEPTH BELOW THE HORIZON SO THAT THE SUNLIGHT’S BLUE WAVELENGTHS DOMINATE THE SKY DUE TO THE CHAPPUIS ABSORPTION CAUSED BY OZONE. IT IS A STATE OF NATURAL LIGHTING THAT COMMONLY TAKES PLACE AROUND THE NAUTICAL STAGE OF THE TWILIGHT PERIOD. WHILE THIS PHENOMENON MIGHT SEEM DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, FOR A PHOTOGRAPHER THIS MIGHT BE ONE OF THE BEST NATURAL LIGHTING SETUPS THAT THEY CAN HOPE FOR. IN THIS ARTICLE LET’S LOOK AT THE MAGIC OF THE BLUE HOUR AND HOW CAN WE MAKE THE BEST USE OF THAT TIME.

- KASTURI PAWAR

Find the Blue hour

Blue hour is simply that time of the day which comes before sunrise and after sunset when the atmosphere has a deep, dark blue colour. Similar to the the well-known “golden hour”, blue hour is not really an hour. Its exact length depends on your latitude, time of the year, and weather conditions. It lasts for around 20 to 40 minutes but can sometimes be even shorter. The important thing is that the sun must be a decent way beneath the horizon, and the sky don’t have too many sunrise or sunset colours – mainly just blue.

Planning

While the blue hour gives us great opportunity, one of the biggest challenges with the blue hour photography is that it has a short frame to capture your images. So unless you are prepared, you may end up missing the shot you wanted to take.

This means planning is vital to make the best use of it. Your starting point should be what you are actually going to photograph. Is it a cityscape? Is it a famous landmark? Once you know what you are going to be photographing, you can begin to plot a few shot locations on a map. Using Google Maps street view, you can check your location to ensure that your view isn’t going to be obstructed. You are not going to have time to travel vast distances, so keep your locations around the same place. Don’t forget to also check and make a note of the time that blue hour will occur on that day. Apps like ‘The Photographer’s Ephemeris’ gives valuable information like the direction of light at different times of the day.