Mice007's blog

Taking the photo is only the first half of the process. If we have enough luck and good weather conditions the photo will be nice but it will also contain a lot of possibilities, especially if the camera supports and we used RAW file format. This feature is available in a few compact cameras but it is exists in most bridge and all DSLR cameras. For blue hour photos it is highly recommended to select this option. I’m using Adobe Lightroom to develop my images but I’ll try to give common hints so it will be possible to use it in all other RAW software too including the programs came with the camera.
Before we start the software it is a must to have your monitor calibrated. There is an easy and cheap way to do this using a calibration image (Click here to verify or calibrate your monitor). Of course this is not perfect but it can be enough for non-professional work. Mac users can calibrate the monitor using the built in calibration software, it is pretty good. As I saw on a screen shot Windows 7 will contain this feature too (finally).

So after you finished with the test screens and you can use your eyes again load the RAW file (or JPG) into your favorite RAW processor or image editor. The most important setting is the image brightness and white balance. To the best results with a RAW file you should fine tune the exposure correction until the sky turns into a dark blue color. If you need to apply more than 1 EV in any directions (-1 if the image was too bright, +1 if it was too dark) then you’re starting to over process your photo and this will result in a lower quality like increased image noise, overexposed city lights, bad colors. In this case next time you should be more careful when setting the on camera exposure correction before taking the photo.

After we found the right image brightness and our sky looks dark enough it is time to play with White balance. For the good results it should be around 4500-5000K. If you want to increase the blue colors in your photo try to reduce the color temperature but don’t forget to check the other colors and light sources. City lights are usually warm lights and produces yellow-orange colors.

If you have a JPG file then most cases you should look for Levels or Curves setting in your photo editing software. You can fine tune the brightness of your image by lowering the brightness of the dark colors.

On the left screen shot you can see the Levels setting for a blue hour photo. The left part of the histogram represents the dark colors of the image. For a blue hour and a night photo it is normal to have a graph like this. I’ve marked this area with red and you can darken your image by moving the small black button to the right. Also if you find the bright colors (like city lights) too dark on your image you should try to adjust the other side of the graph by moving the button – marked with green to the right. Just make sure to make minor adjustments to avoid increased noise and too bright (white) spots.

On the other screen shot you can see the Curves options. This works similar as the levels but you have to adjust a straight diagonal line into a curve to modify the image parameters. Put an anchor point on the lower left part of the line and move it down carefully to get a darker image and put an another anchor point close to the center of the line and move it up to increase the bright parts of the photo.
With these tools you can achieve a really good, dramatic photo.

First I wanted to write down everything about developing a photo in one post but just decided to publish this as the first part of the process to keep the length a bit limited. 

I hope it helped a bit to play with the results and get out the best of the image you took. Any advice or question would be appreciated so I can explain things more detailed if needed.