For this month, March 2022, the theme challenge is “Blue Hour”. This is the time of day referred to as twilight which is, approximately, the hour before sunrise and the hour after sunset.

Twilight is the duration before sunrise or after sunset between day and night. Twilight goes through 3 stages; civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight. For more detailed information on twilight please visit Wikipedia about Twilight.

In general Civil twilight is approximately 20-30min before sunrise and 20-30min after sunset. Civil twilight is the most favourable time within “Blue Hour” to take photos, because the light from the sun could reflect off any high clouds, if present, that are in the sky which can create result in a beautiful colourful light.

Civil twilight is also a great time of day to shoot at slower shutter speeds which allows you to create photos that show motion. This time of day is at a lower brightness of light which makes it possible to obtain slower shutter speeds without the use of neutral density filters.

Hopefully viewing the following images will provide some inspiration to pick up your camera and get you out there to create some of your own interesting images.

Here are some examples of the colourful light that occurs on the high clouds in the sky when lit up by the sun before sunrise or after sunset. Typically this colourful light occurs within the time period between 5min to 10min after the sunset and 5min to 10min before sunrise. As already mentioned with less light this allows for slower shutter speeds, and in these cases you can capture the movement of the waves as blurred action which shows motion in your image. the first image captures the motion as the wave is receding and the second image shows the water as the wave is coming in. It’s important to push the shutter at the right time and therefore best to use a cable release. You can also use a 2 second self timer mode but you have to push the shutter 2 seconds before the decisive moment.

A cell phone camera can capture amazing images as well during Civil twilight. The second image of the Moon is a Photoshop “composite” using a cell phone image of the clouds and a DSLR image of the moon taken with a zoom lens as the moon was setting just before the blue hour which was then combined in photoshop, this is why the moon looks large in the final composite image. This moon image, although not similar, was inspired by the scene of Luke Skywalker when on Tatooine looking at the twin suns in the Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope Movie.

Taking images during civil twilight combined with the right atmospheric conditions (land fog caused by cooling air temperatures) can create some dreamy landscapes as well.

Reflections can create interesting images as well. Look in all directions you never know what you’ll be able to capture.

Even when the magic colour in the sky doesn’t happen, take advantage of the low light for slower shutter speeds to create some long exposure images resulting in a dreamy landscape.

March still has cooler temperatures and we still need to be aware of the possibility of moisture accumulating on your camera equipment in certain situations. Please refer to last month’s February theme challenge – “Winter Scene” and scroll down to the paragraph on “Equipment Care” for more information on how to protect your equipment.

Students are encouraged to develop their ability to tell a story or invoke an emotion, as well as how to plan and troubleshoot while creating their images. As such it’s important to not only create the image but to also include a “title”, and write a short paragraph about; how they came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled them to make the image, and describe any techniques on how they overcame any obstacles.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out an instructional resource, below are a few YouTube video links to help with some hints and ideas.

Blue Hour Photography instructional aids:
■ Getting The Best Photos in Blue Hour: by Nigel Danson (18min 16sec)
■ The Blue Hour it’s the best time for Landscape Photography: by Gary Gough (11min 26sec)

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge, in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.

I apologize for posting this months challenge later than hoped, due to recent computer upgrades. For this month, February 2022, the theme challenge is “Winter Scene”. The content here is similar to the Feb 2020 challenge of Snow, Frost, or Ice.

Taking photographs in the cold weather has it’s challenges; keeping yourself warm and comfortable, being careful not to fall, and keeping your gear free from condensation are all important things to consider before going out. See below after the sample images to get tips on equipment cold weather care and proper exposure to get your snow white.

Snow and can create dreamy conditions and it can help remove distractions in the landscape. Go around your area and create some images of the conditions where you live. You can even take a few of the images and create a collage depicting winter life in your community.

With ice it’s a matter of catching the right light and angle to make your images more interesting. The changing conditions cycling through snow, rain, and refreezing as well as the impact the wind has on the final result can create something very interesting.

Taking images at sunset or sunrise when it is cold enough to freeze the ocean can help create interesting images as well.

Create some memories of subjects you see in your community under abnormal conditions such as this fishing boat in the ice. If you know the owner you can always share the photo with them as well.

Equipment care: Taking your camera gear from a warm environment to the outside usually does not cause any issues, however when going from the cold back into a warm environment is where condensation can quickly form on your camera/lens and this is where it can be harmful to your gear eventually causing spots on your external and more seriously the internal lens elements which eventually causes mold. Before going in to a warm environment from the cold, place your camera/lens back inside your camera bag (your bag needs to be padded with zipper closed) this will allow your gear to raise in temperature slowly and therefore condensation will not happen. An additional protection tip is to put your camera/lens in a Ziploc bag, this will allow the condensation to form on the outside of the bag and not on your camera/lens.

Stay Warm: To enjoy your time out in the cold dress in layers with thermal socks for your feet and gloves that allow you to operate your camera and keep your hands warm. If you are in icy conditions use crampons or cleats on your boots, they will keep you from falling so you don’t get hurt or break your gear.

White balance is best set for the weather condition; use sunny, cloudy or custom. If you are not sure use auto but the result may not be as good (depending on your camera) as my previous suggestions.

Exposure: The challenge in taking a photograph in snow, frost or ice conditions is getting the right exposure. If you let your camera automatically pick the exposure you will immediately see that the snow, frost and ice is more gray than white. This is because the camera’s auto exposure is based on 18% gray, which is the amount of light reflected from a 50% gray surface. To solve gray looking snow, frost and ice, set your “exposure compensation” at +2. If you see the “highlight alert” on your display then back off the exposure compensation by -1/3 at a time until you no longer see the “highlight alert”. You will then have the proper exposure for shooting with snow or ice conditions.

The same exposure technique goes for manual mode, set your exposure until your camera meter shows +2. Then take a photo and see if you see any highlight alerts, if you do then back off the exposure by -1/3 increments until you no longer see any highlight alerts.

Your final best exposure for auto or manual exposure is usually closer to +2 than +1.

You can review the blog articles on exposure compensation and highlight alert if you need help.

Students are encouraged to develop their ability to tell a story or invoke an emotion, as well as how to plan and troubleshoot while creating their images. As such it’s important to not only create the image but to also include a “title”, and write a short paragraph about; how they came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled them to make the image, and describe any techniques on how they overcame any obstacles.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out an instructional resource, below are a number of YouTube video links to help with some hints and ideas.

Snow, Frost or Ice Photography instructional aids:
■ How to take amazing photos in the snow: by Gavin Hoey (3min 53sec)
■ Landscape Photography Tips & Techniques, Winter Freeze: by Thomas Heaton (15min 55sec)
■ Snow Landscape Photography Tips: by Micael Widell (10min 17sec)
■ Landscape Photography in the Snow, Winter in North Yorkshire by: First Man Photography (11min 5sec)

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge, in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.