Blue Hour, Loch Lomond

[brian15 (Brian Pollock)]

The island of Inchlonaig on Loch Lomond with the village of Luss and Beinn Dubh in the background. Taken at blue hour from Conic Hill across the loch.

The views from Conic Hill are spectacular and there are many opportunities for telephoto compositions like this. I have posted a wider shot of this same area but the light on this occasion lended itself it a tighter composition. Just above the frame there was a gap in the clouds providing the light source.

I’ve also uploaded a second image taken 30 minutes earlier close to sunset. I would be interested in which you prefer.

Specific Feedback Requested

Composition, white balance/ colour handling, processing generally.

I’d be interested in others’ views as to handling the blue colour cast shooting at blue hour - see my comments below. For example, how much do you embrace it/ fight it and what methods do you use? Here I have tried to remove it a bit from the land whilst retaining more of it in the sky water where it felt more natural to me. However, I lack experience shooting at blue hour so would welcome others’ views on how to process such scenes.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
112mm
f/8
2.0 sec
ISO 84
Single Frame

I haven’t shot a lot at blue hour and I found this edit quite challenging.

Firstly, setting the white balance. Auto white balance heavy combated the blue cast with 9000k which didn’t at all reflect the scene as it was. Resetting to a neutral starting point for my camera (5500k +16 tint) resulted in very deep blues. I settled on 6450k +17 tint which was to my eye a good compromise.

In processing I attempted to remove some of the blue cast from the hills/ islands (by adjusting the black point in the blue and green channel of a curves layer) in the whilst retaining the look and feel of blue hour, particularly in the sky/ water.

Other than that I’ve done some light D&B in the sky with curves; ever so slightly lifted the lighter tones on the hill side and lifted the snow capped summits a little.

[Kris_Smith (Kristen M Smith)]

Blue hour works better in person than in photographs in my opinion. So I prefer the second for the more natural color range.

[robertakayne]

I like the second photo better because of the pinks, and it seems lighter. Both are lovely.

[Nathan_Klein]

Hi Brian,

I prefer the second shot. Partly because of the colour balance but also because it has more contrast.

For colour processing when there’s no direct sunlight in the scene I tend to render the raw file fairly neutralally and mix and tune the colour in photoshop. I’m not scientific about finding the white balance. Often I will boost the saturation to full in camera raw and move the light balance sliders until the mix seems right and then remove the saturation and work with that.

The main tools I use for colour are Hue/Saturation layers, solid colour overlays, colour dodging and photo filters

[Eva_McDermott]

Another vote for the second image Brian.

[Harley_Goldman]

Another vote for the second here as well.

[brian15 (Brian Pollock)]

Thanks @Harley_Goldman @Eva_McDermott @Nathan_Klein @robertakayne @Kris_Smith

I’ve gone back for a fresh pass at the second image from scratch. This time I’ve started with a warmer white balance to eliminate most of the blue cast, I’ve then reintroduced it a little into the sky and water and reduced saturation to take the kick out of it, in particular, as my rework is a bit more contrasty.

I find working with challenging colours like this really hard on the eyes and probably something I’d have to come back to over several days to reset.

Any suggestions to improve on this or anything you don’t like, I’d appreciate the feedback.