Parliament and Elizabeth Tower Blue Hour Panorama

This is a Blue Hour HDR panorama of London’s Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower. HDR is a shortcut I sometimes use in lieu of ND filters to create a smooth water effect; the long HDR +2 exposure tends to create the desired blurred effect without the time factor involved with ND filters. It was the perfect time of day, as the lights on the bridge and on the clock became illuminated during Blue Hour. The blending of the HDR images created somewhat of a blue effect, so I decided to pursue it in my post-processing. I typically prefer to use the original sky; however, this was an extremely (and typically) boring London gray sky, so I searched and searched until I found a Blue Hour replacement sky that complimented and accentuated the coloring of Parliament and the Thames River.