The Blue Hour
Imagine sitting near some boulders on a sandy beach. Waves crash lightly upon the rocks as the sun makes its slow descent over the horizon. A camera attached to a sturdy tripod stands along the edge of the shore, pointed towards the horizon. After what seems like hours of waiting, the sun finally disappears over the horizon, leaving behind a blue hue in the soon to be night sky. The time is finally right.
There isn't a lot of time to get the desired shot, so you have to be quick and precise. The chances of catching the exact same shot on another day are slim to none. After turning the camera on, you manually adjust the lens so that the crashing waves and the blue horizon are in focus. Once you feel like everything is just right, you take a few steps back away from the tripod so that you don't accidentally bump into it. You push and hold the button on the remote trigger that is plugged into the camera, and hold your breath as you hear the sound of the shutter opening. Thirty seconds pass, and the camera clicks as you release the button.
Walking back up to the tripod, you carefully check the viewfinder on the back of the camera to see how the shot turned out. Sadly, it is hard to tell on such a tiny screen if the shot turned out well or not, so you decide to take a couple more shots just to be on the safe side before night falls upon you.
My journey into photography started the day that I stumbled upon a photography scavenger hunt on Google+. I thought that the idea sounded like a lot of fun, so I signed up. Those of us that signed up (beginners and professionals alike) were all given the same list of ten words. We were given free reign on how to interpret each word, and we were given a deadline of about two months to get all ten words finished.
My first ten entries in my first photography scavenger hunt were laughable at best. I didn't own a photography editing program (the go to program is Photoshop), and I was shooting with a point and shoot camera that my dad had given me as a birthday present one year. I didn't have any skill other than being told that I had the "eye". I had a lot of shortcomings in the beginning, but I was having so much fun that I didn't care if I was good or not.
Shortly after my second photography scavenger hunt, I bought a beginner's professional camera. I think that is when my skill as a photographer started to really improve. I started out taking pictures like this:
When I got my new camera, I was learning new skills and terms. I was able to take pictures like this:
It wasn't until my fifth round in the photography scavenger hunt that I finally managed to catch the attention of the judges (all of which were professional photographers). Ribbon won second place.
Song won third place.
My winning streak was very short lived, but the very idea that professional photographers were finally taking note of my work was amazing and thrilling. I had made it a personal challenge to be recognized by one specific judge, and I finally happened in my ninth round with an honorable mention. We were given the item Selfie: Your Opposite. What I ended up with was this:
The confidence boost from being recognized by professional photographers, and from my friends and family telling me just how good I was lead me down the path of starting my own photography business. In the end, it was a failed project, but I gained valuable experience in the long run.
In the last photography scavenger hunt that I participated in, I managed to get another honorable mention for my entry for Violet.
As my journey into the world of photography continues, I know that I will have the confidence, sooner or later, to try my hand at taking pictures during the blue hour. Until then, I'm going to try to perfect the skills I have learned up to this point.
This was taken in Florence, Italy, during the blue hour before I even knew what the blue hour was.
There isn't a lot of time to get the desired shot, so you have to be quick and precise. The chances of catching the exact same shot on another day are slim to none. After turning the camera on, you manually adjust the lens so that the crashing waves and the blue horizon are in focus. Once you feel like everything is just right, you take a few steps back away from the tripod so that you don't accidentally bump into it. You push and hold the button on the remote trigger that is plugged into the camera, and hold your breath as you hear the sound of the shutter opening. Thirty seconds pass, and the camera clicks as you release the button.
Walking back up to the tripod, you carefully check the viewfinder on the back of the camera to see how the shot turned out. Sadly, it is hard to tell on such a tiny screen if the shot turned out well or not, so you decide to take a couple more shots just to be on the safe side before night falls upon you.
My journey into photography started the day that I stumbled upon a photography scavenger hunt on Google+. I thought that the idea sounded like a lot of fun, so I signed up. Those of us that signed up (beginners and professionals alike) were all given the same list of ten words. We were given free reign on how to interpret each word, and we were given a deadline of about two months to get all ten words finished.
My first ten entries in my first photography scavenger hunt were laughable at best. I didn't own a photography editing program (the go to program is Photoshop), and I was shooting with a point and shoot camera that my dad had given me as a birthday present one year. I didn't have any skill other than being told that I had the "eye". I had a lot of shortcomings in the beginning, but I was having so much fun that I didn't care if I was good or not.
Shortly after my second photography scavenger hunt, I bought a beginner's professional camera. I think that is when my skill as a photographer started to really improve. I started out taking pictures like this:
When I got my new camera, I was learning new skills and terms. I was able to take pictures like this:
It wasn't until my fifth round in the photography scavenger hunt that I finally managed to catch the attention of the judges (all of which were professional photographers). Ribbon won second place.
Song won third place.
My winning streak was very short lived, but the very idea that professional photographers were finally taking note of my work was amazing and thrilling. I had made it a personal challenge to be recognized by one specific judge, and I finally happened in my ninth round with an honorable mention. We were given the item Selfie: Your Opposite. What I ended up with was this:
The confidence boost from being recognized by professional photographers, and from my friends and family telling me just how good I was lead me down the path of starting my own photography business. In the end, it was a failed project, but I gained valuable experience in the long run.
In the last photography scavenger hunt that I participated in, I managed to get another honorable mention for my entry for Violet.
As my journey into the world of photography continues, I know that I will have the confidence, sooner or later, to try my hand at taking pictures during the blue hour. Until then, I'm going to try to perfect the skills I have learned up to this point.
This was taken in Florence, Italy, during the blue hour before I even knew what the blue hour was.