Words are wonderful, but photos can tell quite a story.
I get so many magnificent pictures from you and through them, you take us places we would otherwise not have a chance to visit. Some photos are taken in the middle of the night while most of us are sleeping, while others capture hard to access places.
Many of us snap photos with our phones but there are still some avid photographers out there. Warren Hoeg has an amazing eye and frequently submits stunning photos. The other day, this one caught my eye.
As always, the composition was lovely, but the photo was enhanced by a special light that is limited to a magical time of the day known as the blue hour.
The blue hour - from French l'heure bleue - is the period of twilight when the sun is well below the horizon and lingering, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue shade. You might be thinking the sky is blue and, yes it is, but the blue from the blue hour is different than the blue of the sky - caused by Rayleigh scattering.
During the blue hour, the sky has a deep blue hue with cold colour temperature and saturated colours. In the cities, buildings are still lit and streetlights on, making it an ideal time for urban and city photography.
In the evening, the blue hour coincides with the end of the civil twilight, just after the golden hour. In the morning, it coincides with the initial part of the civil twilight, occurring just before the golden hour.
The golden hour? That’s the period of time the colour of the sky goes from red and orange to yellow or, as its name suggests, golden tones, having a warm colour temperature. Lighting is soft, diffused and with little contrast since the sun is low in the sky. This soft lighting produces very few shadows and is ideal for landscape photography.
I often get pictures from people who say, ‘I don’t know why, but there’s something special about this photo.’ Whether by fluke or design, lighting can make all the difference in the world.
As I was putting the finishing touches on this column, a friend informed me that Cape Breton musician Fred Lavery wrote a lovely song titled Blue Summer Dawn. And coincidentally, 40 years ago this week, the album it was on “First Impressions” was being recorded in a studio in Hamilton, Ont.
album was engineered by none other than Daniel Lanois and produced by Paul Mills (who produced Stan Rogers’ albums). Bruce Timmins played the guitar on the album, Allie Bennett was on bass and Gordon Lightfoot's drummer – Barry Keane - was on drums. Quite a cast and a lovely piece of vinyl to have in your collection.
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Cindy Day is the chief meteorologist for SaltWire Network
