From Gold to Blue

8:08PM: Blood moon at Brighton beach.

Golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset, a time when the sky has an orange tint. Blue hour, on the other hand, is the short period right before sunrise or after sunset, when the sun is below the horizon and the indirect sunlight casts a strong blue hue across the sky.

6:21PM: Serenity.

It was during the Easter holidays when I took a train down to the Brighton beach. My original idea was to document the transition of colours in the sky from golden hour to blue hour in the beautiful Brighton seascape. The forecast wasn't looking optimistic when I left London, and the weather looked just as gloomy when I arrived. I spent some time at the Royal Pavilion, thinking the original idea is probably not going to work out and that I'll be turning a lot of pictures into black and white because the weather was abysmal.

And then the clouds went away. And the sun came. It was unbelievable.

6:40PM: Sunset and crepuscular rays. The derelict architecture in the background is the West Pier. Closed in 1975 and damaged by severe storms and fires, the West Pier has been left deteriorating for over forty years. There are however plans to rebuild this Grade 1 listed pier; it remains to be seen if it could be restored to its former glory.

I took a stroll down to the beach, and everyone has come out to the beach because the sun was out and the day has turned fairly warm. I spent some time initially on the west side of the beach, as most families were setting up shop closer to the Brighton Pier at the east side. I then spent the next 2 hours moving slowly from west to east, taking pictures and enjoying the sea breeze.

6:54PM: Brighton's famous pebble peach. In the background we have the iconic Brighton Pier, a pleasure pier with a domed amusement arcade and several thrill rides. It is the only non-derelict pier in Brighton since its rival West Pier closed down.

All the pictures presented here have a fairly long exposure time — most at around 20 seconds, and the Hoya 10-stop neutral density filter comes in very handy. It virtually produces no colour cast to the picture. The long exposure is crucial in smoothing out the sea waves, producing an ethereal and mythical atmosphere to the images.

7:44PM: Brighton Pier close up.

7:54PM: Blue Hour.