Let's get the definition out of the way first ..... the blue hour is a period of twilight in the morning and evening during the civil and nautical twilight phases, when the sun is at a significant depth below the horizon and when the residual, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue shade.
Or … it’s when the sky looks a surreal and often stunning shade of blue.
Blue hour skies work well for images, particularly ones in an urban setting.
The Selfridges building at the Bullring in Birmingham is clad in hundreds of large metallic disks. This image is shot from the street, looking up and across one of the facades. I was trying to create a space age look.
Taken on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne looking towards Newcastle in England, UK. This is an iconic pedestrian bridge built at the turn of the Millennium. The deck and supporting arch tilt to allow boats to pass underneath. It takes about four minutes for the bridge to tilt from closed to open, so lends itself to a long exposure to capture the movement.
Cudillero is a small village in Asturias, Spain. Taken after a sharp up the hill climb following dinner (with local cider) in the square below adjacent to the harbour.
The magical, fairytale, disneyesque walled city of Carcassone, France. I used a tripod to take this image so I could photobomb it and create a focal point. The apparently unreal blue of the sky was real, honest. Just good timing at the height of the blue hour.
An image of the chateau in Najac France, taken from a distance in the main street of the town.
I don't think the subject needs an introduction. A long exposure of a few seconds, timed correctly, can capture the lights of the passing traffic, in this case including a double decker bus.
A popular photo spot known as DUMBO, in New York City, USA. As this image was taken post 9/11, the new Freedom Tower captured with the tall mast on top..
Spanish City was a permanent funfair in Whitley Bay, a seaside town in North Tyneside, England, UK. It opened in 1910 as a concert hall, restaurant, roof garden and tearoom. A ballroom was added in 1920, and later the funfair. Located near the seafront, the Spanish City has a 180 ft-long (54.8 m) Renaissance-style frontage and became known for its distinctive dome, now a Grade II listed building. The lighting projected onto the facade was part of a temporary art installation celebrating the funfair history of the building. It’s normally plain old white in colour.
Taken above the Central Motorway in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK, this image is created from a stacked series to capture the traffic trails on the roads at twilight. Some of the structures in this scene have since been demolished, including most of the walkway on the right hand side. My wife was kind and patient enough to pose looking down on the cars from the walkway, to give a focal polnt and sense of scale to the image.
The Nevis Range in the highlands of Scotland, UK, reflected after the sun had set in the Caledonian Canal near Fort William
