Austin skyline at blue hour

Last weekend on Sunday I got up pretty early and took off to catch some early morning shots of the town.  Shooting downtown is probably my favorite place around here, and catching it early on a Sunday morning means you won't have anyone in your way - which is nice.  I immediately headed down to Town Lake (or Lady Bird Lake if you are newer to Austin), thinking I would get a skyline shot with the lights reflected in the water.  I had been thinking about sunrise before getting there, not really the blue hour.  But once I got to this spot and got set up, the darkness was fading and the blue hour was at hand.  I think the term "blue hour" is a bit of a misnomer, because it only seems to last a few minutes.  Nonetheless, it is a fabulous time of day and this one was remarkable.  I am beginning to think that blue hour (morning or evening) is even better than sunset.  We had some nice cloud cover that morning and I think it helped diffuse the approaching light and make this scene so beautiful. 

This is a 5 exposure (-2 to +2) HDR taken at f/14 and merged in Photomatix, then adjusted in PSE and Aperture.