Thursday 28 August 2008

Into the Blue Hour Around Albertina Palace


Lonely Cloud
Drifting into the Blue Hour

High above the Bristol Hotel,
between the Hotel Sacher and the Opera House.

" ... lonely as a cloud *
that floats on high ... "
View from the Albertina Palais

Dining at the DO & CO Café
Upper terrace of the Albertina Palais
The sun's set behind the "New Wing"
of the Imperial Palace (Neue Hofburg).
At the bottom left, under the row of trees,
the roof of the Hofburg's Art-Nouveau Palm House
is visible.
It was built at the beginning of the 1900s,
under emperor Francis Joseph.

Evening Sky
Reflected in the Imperial Palace's Palm House

Albertina Palace
Equestrian Statue

of Duke Albert of Saxony,
who became Albert of Saxe-Teschen
after he married Empress Maria Theresa’s daughter,
Archduchess Marie Christine.

*

The Blue Hour
"The blue hour comes from a French expression (l'heure bleue) which refers to the hour experienced between the hours of daylight and darkness (i.e., Dusk). The time is considered special because of the quality of the light at this time of day (also in photography; it is considered especially flattering for people with blond hair) and because in the summer, this is often when the smell of the flowers is at their strongest.
In Scotland this time of day and the attendant light quality is known as gloaming." **

*



Sky Watch Friday
Click here for a complete list
of all the participants
of this week's Sky Watch!

*

*) Quote
from William Wordsworth's poem
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" ("The Daffodils")
**) Quote
from Wikipedia.org
Click here for Wikipedia's entry.

53 comments:

  1. What a bizarre cloud! Love the Equestrian Statue photo....beautiful ribbons of corals in a blue sky as a background for the dark silhouette of Duke Albert. Have never heard the sunset time called the Blue Hour until I met you....it's a perfect description of your evening skies. Have a lovely weekend :)
    ~Allie

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  2. great series for sky watch. the 2nd photo is my favorite

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  3. Wondeful sky, and lovely buildings

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  4. Merisi: Those are some beautiful sky captures for SWF, nicely done.

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  5. Merisi, that first cloud is so incongrous - like a cardboard cutout. The buildings are quite gorgeous. My favourite of your images, though, is the silhouette of Duke Albert on his trusty steed.

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  6. It does look a bit lonely, doesn't it? I like your other shots; the reflections are really nice!

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  7. What gorgeous photos and so interesting! These are lovely and so crisp! Great job! Thanks for sharing them with us...

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  8. are those true? it looks like they are just from a photo....

    but its unique...

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  9. You capture that lonely cloud nicely! Very cool shot! Happy SWF!Drop by if you got a chance, HERE.

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  10. Such beautiful shots! Love that second shot!

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  11. This is a beautiful series of photos. Lovely Sky Watch!

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  12. I love the lonely cloud in the beautiful landscape. Great shots.

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  13. I'm reminded by a song.."When the blue hour comes"
    Wonderful shots of sky and architecture! Love the evening sky reflected and the silhouette of the statue.

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  14. A lovely series of photos, the silhouette of Duke Albert is superb!

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  15. Informative as well as great shots.

    It almost looks as if an alien spacecraft is hovering over Vienna.

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  16. Na schau'n mal, Da kleine Wokerl sitzt da un weiss net ob rechts oder links z'gan!

    Nicwe one Merisi.

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  17. Allie,
    isn't the Blue Hour just a perfect time of day?

    Tommie V,
    I like that picture too,
    the little cloud amid all this serious architecture looks as if had been lost, doesn't it? :-)

    Novas,
    these are original photographs,
    I took them last Sunday. ;-)

    Carletta,
    I have to look for that song,
    thank you! :-)

    Ivar Ivrig and Fishing Guy,
    Rose and Kelly,

    Thank you all,
    I am looking forward to see your SWF posts!

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  18. Nice one for Skywatch! Mine's up too hope you can drop by,,,,asking for you vote too... Thanks a lot! Happy weekend!

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  19. AriJa,
    I agree,
    that little cloud does look as if it couldn't decide which way to turn. ;-)

    Carletta,
    I have added a link to Utube, "The Blue Hour Comes" sung by Joan Osborne. Just click on the first picture. Thank you again!

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  20. Beautiful photos and a good explanation of l'heure bleue.

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  21. Love the first photo of that cloud! Beautiful...

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  22. Wow, the second one with the lonely cloud is a pearl ! and it is interesting to read about the blue hour. Have a nice week !

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  23. You're So right! What a lonely little cloud! Beautiful!!

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  24. The lonely cloud is definitely a great one! Lovely series of photos.

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  25. Oh, I love the "lonely cloud" picture -- superb!

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  26. I like the top one best - very unusual and a great photo.

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  27. Very beautiful view, Merisi! Thanks for the explanation of the blue hour, too. Such poetry!

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  28. A lovely series of photographs and enjoyed the other information too. All very intersting.

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  29. Very beautiful pictures, especially the second one. I didn't know about the blue hour! Thanks.

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  30. Love the lonely cloud! Beautiful setting. Mary

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  31. All shots are fantastic!

    Marvelous skies!

    Have a nice weekend.
    Santilli

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  32. WOW,WOW,WOW!! what a beautifully captures of the sky!! I like them all, the lonely cloud was nice!!

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  33. the lonely cloud is an excellent shot!

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  34. Just beautiful! The lonely cloud is my favorite.

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  35. Really cool take on the sky. Great job.
    Cheers

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  36. Beautiful the top loney cloud is fantastic! Great SWF shot!!

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  37. The silhouette shot is fantastic, it arrested my eyes. :)

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  38. Thank you all for your visits and comments! :-)

    I must confess that I was stunned myself when I spotted that lonely cloud. I was not sure at first whether is was some stunt. ;-)

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  39. I love the lonely cloud shot, and the silhouette photo the best. Nice touch for SWF.

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  40. excellent series of sky!

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  41. Great series of pictures and prose. I enjoyed this. :)

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  42. My fave is the cropped lonely cloud photo and the window reflection. Twilight is my absolute favorite time of day, emotionally and photographically as well.

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  43. Thank you all! :-)

    @ Sara Chapman,
    the first picture, with the lonely cloud center stage, is not a cropped image, i.e. I did not remove any parts of a picture to make for better framing. It is an original photograph instead.

    As far as the twilight time is concerned, I have been known to come home late, because the light was so gorgeous, and I wandered and wandered from one incredibly beautiful scene to be framed to the next. ;-)

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  44. I have once posted a Skywatch from the Albertina too, always a great view from there! Hppy Skywatching!

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  45. Such lovely moody photographs!

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  46. That first cloud looks almost painted!

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  47. That lonely cloud is beautiful! I came here through Paris Parfait. You have a lovely blog here.

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  48. merici, I love the lonely cloud photo! So Inspiring to look at it! Great BNlog out here! Thanks for visiting Cavite Daily Photo and I hope to see you often! God BLess!!

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  49. Gloaming - isn't it a wonderful word.

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  50. I love this first picture with the cloud

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