True Blue: Shooting landscapes in the twilight with the GFX 50S

Most photographers are aware of shooting at ‘golden hour’, but ignoring ‘blue hour’, the short time before sunrise and after sunset, can provide stunning results, as Mark Bauer proves.

By Mark Bauer

All photographers are familiar with the famed ‘golden hours’ around sunrise and sunset and it’s probably fair to say that the majority of landscape images are shot in these periods. The low, warm light is extremely flattering to the landscape, so it’s easy to understand why. However, it would be a mistake to restrict your landscape photography to these times, as you would then miss the magic of the ‘blue hour’.

The blue hour is the period of twilight each morning and evening when the residual sunlight takes on a predominantly blue hue. During this time, the sun is below the horizon, but it illuminates the upper layers of the atmosphere – the longer, red wavelengths pass straight out into space, while the shorter, blue wavelengths are scattered in the atmosphere. his results in images with a blue colour cast and saturated colour. The cool, blue tones in this period can create an atmosphere of mystery and romance – so if you like your landscapes moody, this is the time to shoot. Continue reading “True Blue: Shooting landscapes in the twilight with the GFX 50S”