On that “Perfect Moment.” “Sometimes there’s that perfect moment when the crowd, the music, the energy of the room come together in a way that brings me to tears” John Legend. Covid-19 Safety Concerns The LCC executive advises against heading out right now. By staying home, you are protecting your life as well as the lives of others. If you are out and about though, remember to keep 2 meters apart, watch what you touch and wash your hands often (yeah, I know- I sound like your mom…).

May 2020 Theme- Blue . Definition: The is the period of in the or , when the is at a significant depth below the horizon and residual, indirect takes on a predominantly blue shade that is different from the blue shade visible during most of the , which is caused by Rayleigh . The requirement to have taken the picture at the Blue Hour has been suspended. Feel free to use post-production techniques in your editing software to add in the “Cool Blues.” Take out some of your old, Blue Hour images and work at enhancing them to best suit this theme.

Here’s some ideas:

Tim Shields critiques a number of pictures to describe what makes a great Blue Hour shot. Tim does a good job describing what works and what doesn’t. The video is about 15 minutes long but only the first 7 minutes is on the Blue Hour. Tim also touches on how some of the contributed photos could have been enhanced through simple steps in post production. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SWSeGWY8ww

Shutterstock has an article entitled Six Photographers on Shooting Enchanting Blue Hour Photos . The first couple of shots are so-so but keep going! The article does a wonderful job of telling the story behind the picture and walking you through the photographer’s thought process. https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/enchanting-blue-hour-photos At the bottom of this page there is a follow-up link entitled “10 Tips for Shooting Perfect Blue Hour Photographs.” Some amazing pictures here. There is one image by Stephane Bidouze; highly creative- with great leading lines, a great foreground subject and a beautiful reflection.

The Quintessential Guide to Blue Hour Photography : If you feel like travelling the world from the comfort of your chair, Jim Nilsen’s techniques were all shot in places we can only dream to go right now. Jim’s Photography, by itself, is worth the visit: https://www.picmonkey.com/blog/blue-hour-photography

From Phlog Photography . There are a number of videos you can find for both Lightroom and Photoshop directed at shooting the Blue Hour. I have attached a short (4 minute) video which shows how even the most basic adjustments can really make a big difference in your image. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svLv7qifdaQ The speaker has a bit of an accent but easy to listen to and watch.

What to Do, What to Do…

Admittedly, this is not the ideal time for outdoor photography. But what is available to us all now is time. Use this time to enhance your creative side. Maybe jump in and learn Photoshop/Lightroom or the software of choice. Maybe its time to jump into Macro Photography. This time can work for you!

Visual Pursuits is Here!!!

The executive from the Langley Camera Club is really exited about moving to Visual Pursuits as its club software. Within the next few days you will have an invitation to jump on in and learn all about it. The software is user friendly (for instance, I find it a lot easier to add a picture for Evaluation !) but as is any new adventure, it will take a bit to get used to. There are a whole number of videos within the software. These videos are specific to task and only run a few minutes each. Please get to know our new Virtual Home: Visual Pursuits!