A photographic element comprising at least one silver halide emulsion layer in which the silver halide has been sensitized with a first blue sensitizing dye having a .lambda..sub.1 less than or equal to about 475 nm and a second blue sensitizing dye having a .lambda..sub.2, wherein .lambda..sub.1 is longer than .lambda..sub.2 and .lambda..sub.1 and .lambda..sub.2 are separated by an energy gap, .DELTA.E, which does not exceed 0.12 eV, where .DELTA.E is defined by the following relationship: ##EQU1## wherein .lambda..sub.1 is the wavelength in nanometers (nm) of maximum absorption of a silver halide emulsion sensitized with the first dye and .lambda..sub.2 is the wavelength of maximum absorption of a silver halide emulsion sensitized with the second dye, with the proviso that neither the first nor the second dye contains selenium.