Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve done a photo post. The malaise of late summer and all its complications has faded into the beauty of autumn and a frantic need to take as many photos as I can before my next surgery.

Ever since a friend posted a link to a blog with gorgeous, fantastic, stunning blue hour photos I’ve been obsessed with getting some of my own. The Photos that follow include my attempts at blue hour photography, a blurry yet pleasing to look at photo and 1 nighttime shot of Boathouse Row in Philadelphia. This week’s photos were taken in both south Jersey and Philadelphia with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

This is my first photo from the first morning I decided to try my hand at morning blue hour shots. It’s the earliest shot of the bunch. I love the blackness of the porch silhouetted against the blue of the morning sky and the red of the coming dawn. Not bad for a first attempt, no?

Even though the sky is more purple than it is blue in this shot I like it.

The same day that I was up early trying my hand at blue hour photos for the first time I also spent some time later in the afternoon outside taking photos. I took this one in my backyard facing west during what I now suspect must have been the golden hour. I guess I still had the camera on manual focus and forgot to you know actually focus the lens. *shakes head* I’m a mess. I suppose I should be grateful for my messiness because out of it came this happy accident. It’s blurry, yet oddly pleasing to look at. Go figure. I couldn’t have done this on purpose had I tried.

It rained the night of the full moon so I had to settle for this 99% full shot from the night after. I guess I lucked up having to take a moon photo the next night because it gave me the opportunity to take a photo of the moon on this most auspicious date, which by the way is dad’s birthday.

This next attempt at blue hour photography was shot using a tripod with my white balance set to tungsten so of course the sky is quite blue. (see next photo for more natural color)

This is the same shot but taken with the white balance set to cloudy, which gives a more accurate color of the morning sky.

As I said earlier, dad’s birthday was Friday so my beloved hubby drove us over to the city to see dear old dad and take him to lunch. After a late lunch he kindly drove me to the South Street bridge so I could take photos of the Philadelphia skyline during the blue hour. This first photo is the view looking south from the South Street bridge. I love the colors and the black silhouette of the factory. This too was shot with the white balance set to tungsten.

I am absolutely in love with this shot. I can’t believe it’s one of my photos. This too was shot with the white balance set to tungsten.

I like this one too. It’s a nice shot of the city with the Schuylkill Expressway and Schuylkill River. No, that’s not a comet or shooting star in the sky. My best guess is a reflection of a light or sensor dust (mine is in bad need of a cleaning). This photo was shot with the automatic white balance setting.

This! This is by far my favorite shot of the night. I’m going to frame this for myself and give another copy to my dad because he loves the Philadelphia skyline. This too was shot with automatic white balance.

And finally we visited Boathouse Row before returning home to feed the kitties. I’m really happy with this shot. Truly it is the only one that turned out from last night. The rest are a blurry mess. I think the get a really fantastic shot of Boathouse Row you’ll need a wide angle lens, which I do not have. We also were parked in a no parking zone by the side of the busy West River Drive. All photos were taken with one eye on the camera and one eye on the road praying there’d be no visits from Philadelphia Police Officers with ticket books in hand. *laughs* I mistakenly left the white balance set to tungsten so this too was shot with the white balance set to tungsten.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your tour of South Jersey and Philadelphia during the blue hour and beyond. Thanks for stopping by.

Love,

~  Carol Anne

To see more beautiful photos from around the world please visit Straight out of the Camera, where all photos are unedited and gorgeous. After that please stop by Sundays in my City to people sharing photos from their cities all around the globe. Tell them Carol Anne sent you!