iN PHOTOS: Blue hour sets moody ambiance in Okanagan, Kamloops

On clear days at daybreak, and during the last stages of evening twilight, a natural blue light casts a calm and moody glow on urban and rural landscapes in Kamloops and the Okanagan.

Known as the blue hour, these periods of blue lighting occur when the sun is far below the horizon and the light’s blue wavelengths are dominant.

Different colours of twilight are created by atmospheric effects as the angle of the sun changes and the blue colour comes from red light being absorbed by the ozone in the upper atmosphere, according to timeanddate.com.

This photo shows Gellatly Bay in West Kelowna during blue hour. iNFOnews.ca/ Dean Pratley

The blue hour is an optimum time to take photographs, when even the most mundane buildings or rural landscapes can take on different looks, lighting and tones.

The photos in this collection show a wide array of scenery at blue hour, including cities, farmer’s fields and Okanagan Lake. 

If you have awesome blue hour photos you want to share, send them to news@infonews.ca.

Chichester Wetlands Park in Kelowna looks calm and moody at blue hour. iNFOnews.ca/ Neil Thacker

Okanagan Lake is pictured at daybreak in Summerland. iNFOnews.ca/ Courtney Robinson

The outline of a bighorn sheep can be seen against the hue of blue hour at daybreak in Kamloops. iNFOnews.ca/ Peter Sulzle

A barn with horses is seen at dawn on a rural landscape in Kelowna. iNFOnews.ca/ Neil Thacker

Dawn in Summerland has hues of natural blue light. iNFOnews.ca/ Lindsay Pearce