What is and when is the Blue Hour in Photography

Have you ever heard about The Blue Hour in Photography?

Photographers use to describe specific parts of the day when the light has some special effect on their photography. The best known is the golden hour that almost everyone knows. The blue hour is this time of the day before sunrise or after sunset when the light takes on a strong blue hue or tone. It last about 20 to 30 minutes and will vary from location to location and depending on time of the year. To record it properly set your white balance on day light. Auto white balance won't record the true blueish light.

This morning hoping for a sunrise I set up my camera on the Eiffel Tower and capture those pics. By the way my hope for the sunrise vanished since the sky was getting rapidly very cloudy. Never mind, next time!

Below example of pictures taken during blue hour.

On this 21^st of April sunrise was due at 6:50 am and was supposed to hit the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

this first picture mixes city light with blue hour and was taken at 6:28am

This one taken at at 6:37 am

This one at 6:46 am, you can see the thick layer of clouds already on the horizon.

This one minutes later taken taken at 6:49am at a slightly different location shows already more light but still keeps the blue tone.

Or this one taken at 7:11 after sunrise keeps a slightly blue tone

By setting your camera on cloudy, you can of course reduce the effect 

or on auto white balance but of course it doesn't reflect the reallity.

but in the end it depends on what you want to show.

Hope you enjoy this explanation.