Mission 6 - Destination Blue hour!

New mission! Your mission should you wish to accept it is to capture the magical BLUE HOUR!

Costs £2 per person!

What exactly is the blue hour you may be asking... twice daily the Sun moves above and below the horizon line i.e. it rises and sets! It's the moments once it’s below the horizon, on a cloudless day, the sky can turn completely electric blue in colour! It's sometimes referred to as the ‘Golden hour’ or ‘Magical hour.‘

http://www.bluehoursite.com/

l love taking shots of the 'blue hour'. It's something which every photographer l think should master! I find exploring the setting Sun much easier to carry out rather than exploring the rising Sun. It's not exactly 1 hour and it varies throughout the year but see it more as a guide than anything... The Winter Sun sets early and quick i.e. around 3-4pm and the Summer Sun can set really late 9-10pm. Idea being is, that being a photographer you need to keep an eye on the Sun. It changes each day and it's not always best when its high in the sky!

Have a look at one of my shots on flickr (will try and upload more stuff when l get time)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54220346@N03/7513584216/

Some photographers like to wake up at obscene times to capture Sunrises i.e. 3am for instance and other photographers such as myself like the evening Sun. (ps. I’ve done the morning Sun and believe me is a lot less enjoyable waking up so early and photography is certainly about having fun!! So l won’t be doing too many extreme morning Sunrise shots !!!) What we will be doing is capturing the evening Sun, the colour blue (and Orange) and with lots of reflections and so forth. Also note that London has it’s own ambient lightening i.e. street lights and orange city glow, it’s really fascinating. Why have a normal pale blue sky when you can have a electric blue or Orange sky! This is without any special effects, filters or any other added extra editing such as Photoshop.

Equipment (optional)!

A tripod! You can get these quite cheap (anything from £10 upwards) but l would suggest that if your thinking of getting one then investing in something solid and that can support your camera. You can also get certain blue hour shots from mobile phone cameras, l’ve tried it and it works quite well. It’s obviously easier if you have a tripod though! For anybody thinking of investing in a tripod l would strongly recommend a brand called Manfrotto and something carbon base! These things can be heavy and lunking one around for 2-3 hours can be strenuous so getting something lightweight and strong is a good idea. Don’t worry though we won’t be going too far around with equipment.

ISO

If you don’t have a tripod then you may need to boost the ISO to higher levels to make the camera more sensitive to low levels of light. Try experimenting with ISO of 400 and moving up to higher levels, say 3200+? Note this will make your photo more ‘grainy’ but you can use a faster shutter speed! You need a wide aperture for this or a low F number.. (Around F3.5 or lower)!

Flash

Flash! Keep all flashes off! Fatal mistake is taking shots in the dark when capturing Blue Hour and using a flash. Unless your using it as a fill flash meaning you got something or someone standing pretty close to you and you want to capture them in the darkness with the blue hour l would suggest you keep this switched off! Tourist use flashes on just about anything when it gets dark outside. Hoping that this session that you might start to learn to control the camera more so and not go into auto flash mode :-)

Aperture!

If your wide angle panoramic shots then a narrow aperture (F16-F22)! Why is this you may ask? A narrow aperture and gives you what’s known as starburst effect on photos from streetlights. If your shooting people then you may need to adjust to a wide aperture (F1.4-5.6). However having a narrow aperture does mean a long exposure time and slow shutter speed.

Shutter speeds

Varies quite a lot from 1/60th to 30 seconds or greater. Have a go at testing to see what you like best. Photography is a lot about trial and error. One person may like what you have done another may not. There is no wrong or right. If your using a slow shutter i.e. 5 seconds or longer. You could try shining a torch on close range things to get those items lit up in the shot. You will need a tripod if your going to try long exposure.

For those using mobile phone cameras.. just bring yourself along and snap away.. you really will be surprised with what you can come out with!

The date l have selected is the weekend when British Summer time ends (28th October). Exact time of Sunset is 16:46 and 37 seconds! So a little bit of prepping up for us and pitching up to find a good spot to take a shot is essential.

Tip for photographers. Try aiming away from the Sun set if you can. i.e. look at the Sun and turn 180 degree and shoot away from it and then try shooting towards it (also try shooting 90 degree from the setting Sun). You will find the setting Sun has different colours! If you shoot directly towards it then the Sky can be brighter where the Sun is setting and fades into the blue hue towards the edges of the shot. Once the Sun has set aim directly towards the city lights of London i.e. the Orange hue. This is a great colour to capture!

Meeting point: Waterloo station, South Bank exit! Check the map link below! Left hand side of the map near kiosk 43! (Costa Coffee)

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=30064783229

Route: We will be heading towards Hungerford Bridge, Victoria Embankment, Westminster Bridge and then along the South Bank. It’s a little bit touristy l know but there is so much you can take just along this stretch of the riverside.

Mission targets

Target 1 : Blue hour sky shot!
Target 2 : Yellow/Orange city sky shot!

Hoping to meet at 4.15pm and will head off at 4.30pm to the riverside.

Pub afterwards to be confirmed!