Quick photography tip: Capture the deep moody blues of twilight

by Jatin Valabjee

As the sun rises in the morning, the sky is brilliant with hues of lavender and crimson. At noon, the sky is a glowing light blue, offering opportunities to photograph your subject against a clean background. As the sun begins its slow descent to herald in the evening, there is a brief window of magnificient photographic opportunities that are gone in the blink of an eye. Twilight.

Why is twilight such a desirable time to grab a timeless photo?

• As the deep blue hues of twilight are fleeting, we are not used to seeing the sky in these colours. Your viewer will look twice at this unusual scene.
• As night falls, the sky becomes pitch dark and at times uninteresting. A deep blue sky minimises “dead space” in your photo.
• I have found that cityscapes with a twilight backdrop work beautifully, as the yellow glow of the office window and street lamps complement the dark blue sky.

This photo I took of a city block in San Diego, California, is given a mystical, other-worldly feel by the deep blues of twilight.

Download a massive version of this San Diego cityscape at free wallpaper downloads.