Photographing Blue Hour
I use to hate going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. As a photographer this time of year is the best. You can sleep in and go to bed at a reasonable hour. In November, in Maine, we are down to less than 11 hours of daylight a day. Popular photo destinations are empty. Only detail is the cold
Blue hour is for about 40ish minutes after the sun sets or 40ish before it rises. So, how do we capture amazing images during blue hour? First off, you need to be out at the right time.
For this technique, you will need a tripod since you’ll be using very long exposures. I recommend using a camera with full manual mode. This is because you will want to adjust the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed individually. Cameras with automatic modes oftentimes will struggle to adjust after dark.
Set your Setting First
1. Slow your shutter speed
First, slow your shutter speed down to 10, 15, or 30 seconds. This will allow more light into your camera so it can capture darker scenes.
2. Widen your aperture
Another way to let in more light without adding grain to the image is opening your aperture,
or f-stop. The wider your aperture (the lower the f-stop number) the more light you’re letting into your camera.
Increase your ISO — within reason for your camera.
Do a test shot or 2 to check what you are getting.
I usually start with these settings:
ISO 1000
f/4
10 second shutter speed
Use manual focus
Focus is tough. Often you can’t see much. I always use manual focus. I also started using my flashlight to illuminate the subject or something a distance away.
The foreground is going to look dark but be sure to shoot RAW images so that you are able to adjust this in post-processing.
If you find that your image is not properly exposed (too bright or too dark), try increasing or decreasing the ISO accordingly until you’ve found the perfect exposure.
On the Computer
Once you get home to edit your images, load your images into whatever post processing software you like. I use lightroom. The above photos are the same photo processed differently. Big difference is how much warming is added. I like both.
Reduce the highlights.
Increase the shadows (to add more dynamic range to your image).
Adjust the white balance. (Look at the warmth)
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