ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

A Dash of Purple in the Night Sky

Updated on September 16, 2013

Enhancing Evening Hues of your Photos

Dusk, nightfall or nighttime are genres that are often neglected by the photographer.

Although the colors of the coming of the impending darkness are simpler and have pastel variations, they are still very beautiful and make some beautiful photos.

This website is a collection of some of my own photos, which have been slightly enhanced to emphasize the various shades of purple. This can be done easily using Photoshop and I have included a mini-tutorial below.

I live in Arizona and the evening sunsets, on many nights, have these shades of color. My own backyard is a canvas that changes, depending on the weather and the atmosphere.

I hope you enjoy this trip down lavender lane.

Flickr Commons

A Purple Arizona Nightfall
A Purple Arizona Nightfall
Girl pointing at sky
Girl pointing at sky

"Daddy, why is the Sky Purple?"

That is actually a very good question!

I would much rather answer that question than any about the facts of life. In fact, if you are asked about babies, just look up to the sky and say, "Wow, look at that purple sky; do you want to know why?"

The answer is "scattering." While the atmosphere does not absorb light, the molecules scatter it. Actually, the sky is more violet than blue and putting it simply, blue is easier for us to see.

The spectrum that we can see is covered by the colors of the rainbow. There are other colors, we just can't see them. Green has a low frequency, which makes it easiest for us to distinguish. Blue also appears easily to us. Violet colors are a little more difficult for us to discern.

I believe that many people love violets and purples because they are not as common to us and we love to see things we are not used to seeing.

Flickr Commons

Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix - A little mood music to play as you browse

Get "Purple Haze" Here - Download in MP3 Format

Purple Haze
Purple Haze
Yeah, I know. The purple haze he speaks of is not the same as the haze in the sky. However, you can interpret it however you wish and I prefer to think of it as the perfect music for a moody Fall sunset..
 
Purple Twilight
Purple Twilight
magnifying glass
magnifying glass

Magnifying the Colors in your Photos using Photoshop

There are various ways to enhance or emphasize colors in your own photos using Photoshop.

I am going to emphasize one simple way to do this and you can do this for your own photos.

First, use your eyedropper and click on the color that you want to emphasize in your photo. For instance, if you want to use green, click on a nice green color in your photo.

Next, go to the MODE drop down in Photoshop and select the "black and white" setting. This will make your photo black and white.

Click on the "color replacement" tool and paint over the features that you want to replace with green color and any other features that you want to have a green tint. I leave the rest of my photos as black and white. This technique draws the eye to the color enhanced features.

Flickr Commons

Full Moon with a Dusky Hue

Full Moon with Purple Sky
Full Moon with Purple Sky

Do you like a Purple Sky?

What is your favorite color of twilight sky?

See results

Cumulus Clouds at Twilight

Purple Clouds at Dusk
Purple Clouds at Dusk

The Moon peeks through the Mesquite Tree

Sppoky Fall Moon
Sppoky Fall Moon

Kid Rock Sings about the Purple Sky

Half Moon with Lavender Highlights

Lavender Half Moon
Lavender Half Moon

My Cat with a Purple Moon Glow - He was feeling a little colorful that night so he wanted to get in on the act

Purple cat
Purple cat

Purple Rain by Prince - A little more purple in the weather forecast

Purple Rain in MP3 Format - Available at Amazon

Purple Rain
Purple Rain
Well, we can't talk about weather unless we include rain. This song was very popular and has been remade several times. One of the new versions was at this year's American Idol.
 

More Cumulus Clouds with the Sun Giving it the last Highlight of the Day

Cumulus clouds at twilight
Cumulus clouds at twilight

Wheat Field Under Clouded Sky - Vincent Van Gogh - 1890 - Fine Art Interpretation of a Lavender Sky

Wheat Field Under Clouded Sky - Van Gogh
Wheat Field Under Clouded Sky - Van Gogh

Purple Stratus Clouds at Dusk

Stratus Clouds at Dusk
Stratus Clouds at Dusk

The Super Moon

The Super Moon
The Super Moon
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)