Blue hour at the State Theatre
Blue hour + neon = good times!
I'm a fan of blue hour - it's probably just about my favorite time of day to shoot. I just love the pending blanket of darkness that is starting to fall on a city, and the twinkle of lights as they come on and resist it. It's just beautiful.
So whenever I am traveling somewhere, I make sure that - if at all possible - I am out with the camera during blue hour (technically, it occurs twice a day - before sunrise, and after sunset; I am referring to the post-sunset blue hour in this post, though whenever possible I love the morning shootings too). Though you can get more dramatic light during sunset, the blue hour is just my thing.
On a trip to Minneapolis a few months back, I was out one evening, and after an amazing sunset down along the river (still need to process those shots, but this iPhone shot on Flickr should give you an idea of how awesome it was), I found myself back up in town and over by the State Theatre.
Once it was dark enough, those lovely neon lights starting twinkling, and I was firing away. The only challenge was having to run out into the reasonably busy street, set up with the tripod and frame the shot, fire off some brackets, and run back before I got run over. It took me a few attempts, but was well worth it!
And just because I can't really resist these things, here is one more version of that first photo. It was created in Topaz Impression. If you are interested in turning your photos into art, this product is my favorite.
You can read my review of Topaz Impression here, if you are interested in learning more about that product.
Thanks for stopping by!
Adjusted with Topaz Impression
