There’s a time of day when the most beautiful natural light makes it possible to take pictures that truly stand out. It is a fickle time, one that doesn’t always happen. When it does, it can go by in a fleeting moment – breaking the photographer’s heart – or it can linger for a gloriously long period of time – filling the photographer’s heart with joy and memory card with incredible images.
I chose this picture to illustrate this “crown jewel of light” for photographers because it is an illustration of how common pictures can be transformed into striking images when taken during the blue hour. While not formally defined and while it rarely lasts for an hour, the blue hour is the period of time after the sun has set and the beautiful pink colors of sunset are no longer present. It also occurs in the morning, but in my experience, the real magic happens after sunset. During this period, the sun is below the horizon and the light from the sun turns the sky a beautiful deep blue, as can be seen in this image.
I have a number of blue-hour images, so it was a challenge choosing which one to include in this post. This is a testament to the way the deep blue light enhances an image, especially a cityscape in the evenings when that light serves as such an amazing backdrop to the city lights.
I also chose this image of the Tower Bridge because of its relationship to the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, which are stored and displayed in the London Tower, after which the Tower Bridge is named.
When visiting a city, I make a point of scouting out locations where the light of the blue hour will enhance the image. Sometimes, as was the case with this image, it requires standing in a cold wind near water, which increases the feeling of cold, late into the evening in order to capture a crown jewel of an image.
It’s reliably been worth the wait, and the cold feet.