For several years, one of my favorite blue hour locations has been Lake Ouareau, a short drive from Montreal. My LPM portfolio contains many pictures taken at this beautiful lake. One mid-November afternoon, the weather forecast was ideal: no rain, no clouds, no fog, and sunset was at 16:21.

Fifteen minutes before sunset, I was at the lake shoreline. I installed my tripod, camera, wide-angle lens and cable release. I composed the image with an 18 mm focal length. My composition was simple, with very few elements: water, foreground rocks, distant shoreline, and sky. The colours would be the principal subject. Twenty minutes after sunset, the scene was blue, pink, and quite amazing. I set my camera in aperture priority mode and used a small aperture and a low ISO. When I triggered the shutter, the camera was exposed for 2.5 seconds. Winter arrived a few days after I took this picture, and the lake froze.

This image of the same lake was taken at the blue hour before sunrise and published on my LPM portfolio.