Home Forums Gear Photography Photographing in Blue Light

Photographing in �Blue Light� or the Magic Hour.

Many photographers, especially those who shot film in the old days, talk about the magic hour or blue light. It is that time before the light starts to show the light of dawn or dusk has already disappeared on the horizon. I tend to like shooting it more in the morning due to the especially cool tones in the sky before any warmth lights the atmosphere. I find it very easy to do if you trust the meter of the camera. Often we try to out think our cameras and shoot in manual but I choose to shoot in Aperture Priority. I typically will either shoot with Zero or -1 exposure compensation to get rich blue tones. I also tend to use Auto White Balance, but if that comes out too warm, I will move the temperature slider down to make it bluer when I process it.

You will need a sturdy tripod for the shooting and a cable release or self-timer on the camera. I try to keep the exposure around 30 seconds. To do this I will adjust the aperture and ISO of the camera to achieve that exposure. The great thing about digital is after you do a shot or two, check the LCD screen and make any adjustment needed to get the right exposure if necessary.

All of the images below were made using the Tamron 16-300mm Di-II VC PZD Macro lens on a Canon 7D. Call Joel at Camera Land before the end of the month to take advantage of a $30 rebate on the lens as well. Don�t forget to get the other camera items you need as well. Make sure you let him know you are a member of the Campfire for the best pricing as always!

Oh wow.. I'm in lust for the second one...

Post shot processing/editing?

Cocadori, this was the first time in 20 years there was water in the pond and Lupine blooming!

Fair Chase, On these the only processing I do is slight Clarity boost as well as slight sharpness. If the camera tries to correct for the blue, I will back it off to about 3100K, but I think the camera nailed it pretty well though.

You keep posting these photo's with Tamron lens and people using big prime's and playing down after market lens keep on doing that. I suspect that those people never tried an after market lens! Great stuff as usual!

One more though, I also hear you can't make a good photo without PP! Opp's!

It is nice what today's sensors can pick up after the human eye says to pack up the camera bag.

Today's sensors are great! People are cheating themselves if they never try one of the Tamron lenses!

#3 & 4 are outstanding photos.

I'm looking for a wide angle (even super wide) but not too much zoom and good in very low light. I have the 24-70 (love it) but there are times I wish I was even wider...

idea's?

Tamron announced the development of a 15-30mm f2.8 VC lens for full frame. They haven't released a price or date yet but it should be really, really nice to fill that range.

Thanks all for the kind words.

I have the Tamron 24-70, 150-600 and 70-300. I think the 24-70 gives very nice results, and the 70-300 is on par with the Nikon version.
It will be interesting to see how the 15-30 will compare to the Nikon 16-35 or 14-24.

The super neat thing will be having VC on an Ultra Wide!

I'm thinking I'll make the jump when they are available...