The Blue Hour

 The afternoon drifted along about as slow as the lazy clouds moved across the late October sky. The deer herd I wanted to photograph were slow to appear and never really came close enough to offer any kind of decent photo op. As the light began to fade, I slowly made my way along the outer edge of the cornstubble field heading back home. Across the way, the sun dipped below the treeline that stretch across a good portion of the west end of the field and I paused for a moment to see if a sunset might develop. It just wasn't working as the light turned into mostly a diffused and muted gray. Sometimes, most times actually, I would just simply pack up and keep on going. On this trip I employed a technique I learned many years before; I turned around and looked in the opposite direction.

 

To my pleasant surprise, a few slivers of clouds were being highlighted by the last remnants of the sun's rays and cast a pale pinkish orange glow across the sky. The remainder of the clouds reflected a bluish and contrasty tint. I framed a few images, then captured a series of overlapping vertical images that were used to create a panoramic photo. That composite turned out so subtly dramatic, I used it to create a mirror image...and the rest is history.

What made that image work is the prevailing blue light, cast by the late hour of the day. The composition is quite simple and the pink highlights added just enough complementary color to create a memorable moment of light. The Blue Hour can often provide some of the most dramatic moments of light and do it with such subtle textures as to provide some of the best and often overlooked photographic opportunities.

The Blue Hour most often occurs just before sunrise or just after sunset, however it can occur at other times as well. Overcast or rainy days and shady locations, can provide very natural bluish light. My favorite is the early and late light opportunities. 

Capturing effective exposures with blue light can also be enhanced by manually adjusting the white balance to a more bluish tint value. Use caution when doing this as you can also really create a ghoulish look if you are not careful. Just normal daylight white balance ranges around 5000k works just fine for most situations. Auto white balance might also shift the natural blue light to more of a gray look as well. So...the point is, just experiment with what works best. Most of the blue light shots I make are made using ordinary daylight settings.

Blue Hour light moments are not always simply..well, blue. Sometimes they can be quite bold and filled with a more lavender or purple tint. This can often be very rewarding as it is the contrast of different light tints that make the image. When I do shoot in blue light, I will look for some kind of contrasting or complementary lighting situation. Complementary light is light were tonal values fall on the opposite side of the scale...like blue and red shades or green and orange shades.

And then there are the times where the image demands simplicity and just blue light will suffice for the composition. It just depends what you the photographer is looking for and what nature presents to you. Trust your instincts and most of all do not be afraid to try something different. 

Avoid backing yourself into or locked to a single way of looking at things. Not every photo must fit a list of "photographer laws". You, the photographer are in control of what you create. Not everything must look a certain way. Be creative. Experiment. Don't accept the ordinary.  Strive to achieve the extraordinary. Looking for and using blue light situations can often provide an extraordinary opportunity to exercise your creative instincts.

You do not have to capture nature the way you see it. Capture nature the way you feel it. Capture emotion and work toward achieving a visual impact. The Blue Hour provides for a major emotional and visual impact. Use it. Look for it. 

Contrasts of an Indian Summer: The Promising Colors of an Early Fall

 Half awake I listened to the rhythm of a much needed rain as it refreshes the morning. Behind the rain the air of distant thunder added its bass rumblings to the morning symphony. Seemed those rumblings came at exactly the right and precise moments during the performance as though a conductor pointed his wand to the clouds instructing the bass drums of nature to add their deep accents to the musical score. It is late September and the first hints of fall have already started to appear across the landscape. A splash of red, a subtle shade of yellow, even an air of orange here and there add their stroke of color across a pallet of green. It is precisely contrasts such as these that make the colors of an early fall so promising. 

Indian Summer it is often called when the mornings are crisp and vibrant yet elements of summer linger throughout the day, providing the kind of contrasts that teases us toward more refreshing days of fall. A leisurely stroll through the woods and along the edge of the cornfields behind where I live often reveals those first signs of fall-like color. It may only be a single leaf, but a leaf adorned in its full fall color splendor suspended within a shield of late summer greenery provides that single photographic moment. Sometimes and entire branch has already turned color and waves at the morning with the slightest of breeze. A short hike to a nearby pond will often reveal reflections of color amongst the random driftings of fallen leaves.

In a few weeks, more and more color will gradually appear, yet here in Kentucky it almost always seems like the full blown fall outbreak lingers. You see it coming, a little here, some there, and you believe it will never arrive, then suddenly overnight you step outside and the world is filled with the vibrancy of a New England fall. The color simply explodes across the landscape and before long, it is all too soon gone.

The wildlife appear to understand a change of seasons is almost upon us. The deer will spend a great deal of time meandering across the fields with their now months old fawns following close behind. A migratory songbirds begin to appear in and amongst the trees adding a newer song to the already syphonic interlude that is Indian Summer. Sometimes I will find a place to just sit for a while to listen to the sounds of the approaching new season. Change is in the air, a change not only visible, but one where the feeling is obvious.

The contrasts of an Indian Summer and the promise it holds for what is to come, well...it is perhaps one of my favorite times of year to get out with my camera or to drift across the still waters of a local lake and absorb the first vestiges of change in the air.

First Day of Fall - 2023: Exploring The 'Narrows' on Barren River Lake

 Took about a month off to refresh and regroup. Guess I needed the time away as it seems I am always more enthusiastic about sharing some of my outings afterwards.

The weather forecast called for light and variable winds with sunny skies filtered through some high and hazy thin clouds with temperatures peaking out about 80 degrees. It was time to once again load up 'Camper' and head over to Barren River Lake. This time around, my destination was an area known as 'The Narrows'. Located sort of toward the upper end of the lake where a meandering arm of the lake snakes its way through the landscape. Characterized by tall rocky bluffs and tree lines ridges, the location provides some of the most scenic views on the lake. The Narrows is a long peninsula that pinches into a very narrow section with the lake visible on both sides before it widens somewhat before ending in the water. A popular campground and marina are located at the far end.

Not the first time I've been to The Narrows, but the first time to put my canoe in there and explore what it had to offer. Some of the best big sky photographs I've ever taken were captured in this area on the lake. With the early fall season showing signs of color changes in the trees, I anticipated new opportunities would present themselves. My plan; simply paddle and follow the bluffs until after mid-day, then retrace my route back to the put in, and take photographs along the way to document the day hoping that at least one image might be daring enough to define the moment. As it turned out, this is exactly what happened.

I parked in the gravel parking lot adjacent the marina. Required was a short forty yard hike to the water, well multiple hikes, to carry all of my gear down, which took a few extra minutes to complete. Within a few minutes of shoving off I saw the first of several Osprey's sitting atop an old dead tree near the edge of the lake. Seems I always have the wrong lense on my camera. When I need a long reach lense, I'll have a wide angle lense attached. When I need a wide angle lense, I'll have the long reach lense. Such was the case for most of the day as I constantly found myself watching Oprey's sail overhead and by the time I swapped out my lense, they were well out of range. However I did manage to catch a couple of marginal images. Did not matter though for I truly enjoyed watching them fly around and snatch a meal from the water.

The tree lined ridges showed hints of an early fall season. Most of the trees displayed their vibrant summer green, but there were scattered amongst the woodlands and along the edge of the lake the first signs of fall. Reds, yellows, and even a few oranges blended with the prevailing green. Their color contrasting heavily with the background. There are bluffs colored with a shades of gray from black to almost white stretching a good forty feet up from the waters edge. The early signs of fall hovered along their top edges and even grew out of the rocks. 

The lake being quite calm early on allowed wonderful reflections across its surface with the bluffs and ridges forming ghostly mirror like images of themselves. I love photographing such scenes. I found myself marveling at the sights and making myself a promise to return in a few weeks when the fall colors would be more developed. I visualized potentially an amazing scene with morning fog drifting near the bluffs and the ridges accented with brilliant fall colors all reflected on the calm surface of the lake.

The day progressed as planned mostly uneventful and I took several rest stops and checked out several potential camping locations. The hazy skies began to burn off by early afternoon and as I made my way back I did manage to capture a few big sky images. 

Oddly enough I collected a couple of stowaways inside my canoe. One was some kind of butterfly, black and blue with white spots along the outer edge of his wings. He was struggling on the water, so I plucked him from his watery tomb and placed him on top of my lunch box to dry out...and yes he did eventually fly away. Later on as I was unloading my gear I found what looked like a gecko inside my canoe. He was about four inches long, sort of gray in color with splayed out fingers and large head. Turned out to be what is called a Tropical House Gecko...a non-native species to Kentucky.

I ended up paddling right at 10 miles, a good day on the water. I will return in a few weeks as the fall colors progress, but this day turned out to be a delightful day afield. Come join me...I do believe you will enjoy the moment.