My Kind Of Blue

Tips, techniques, and plans for the best blue-hour images.

- Deborah Sandidge

THIS MAY BE STRANGE TO HEAR from a travel photographer, but I can make a case that location isn’t everything—light is. And I’d build my argument on the fact that the right light brings out the best in any location.

Some of the best light for photography comes along during the so-called blue hours—the moments before sunrise and after sunset when the sky shows off vivid, rich, beautiful blue tones.

In the evening I set up my camera and start looking for those tones about 20 minutes after sunset; in the morning, I arrive at the chosen location 45 minutes to an hour before sunrise. I’ll get the golden hour just before sunrise; if I want the blue hour, I need to be there well before that.

Because I want to be precise about my timing, I use an app called PhotoPills. It will, among other things, calculate not only the times for morning and evening blue hours but also the duration of each for specific locations.

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