Night Light Photography - Charles Bridge at Night

by

  mcs

The Charles Bridge is a stone Gothic bridge that connects the Old Town and Mala Strana of Prague. Its construction was commissioned by the Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and began in 1357. Charles Bridge is one of the many monuments that were built during Charles' reign. There are towers standing on each end of the bridge. The Staromestska vez on the Old Town end (which can be seen in the picture on the right upper corner)and the Malostranska vez on the Mala Strana end. Baroque statues (a total of 30) began to be placed on either side of Charles Bridge in the 17th century. Now many of them are copies and the originals can be seen in the Lapidarium (a museum). The most popular statue is probably the one of St. John of Nepomuk, a Czech martyr saint who was executed during the reign of Wenceslas IV by being thrown into the Vltava from the bridge. The plaque on the statue has been polished to a shine by countless people having touched it over the centuries. Touching the statue is supposed to bring good luck and ensure your return to Prague. Charles Bridge is on the top of every Prague visitor's must-see list. It is also popular with Czech artists, musicians and souvenir vendors whose stands line both sides of the bridge year-round. A great time of day to come to the bridge is at sunset when one can enjoy a breathtaking view of the fully lit Prague Castle against the evening sky. During the Day and in the evening (the picture was taken around 9.00 PM) it is almost constantly filled with people. If you want to have it all to yourself, get there very late at night or very early in the morning. This bridge maybe known from a few recent movies, for example: "Mission Impossible" starring Tom Cruise: His boss jumps from the bridge "after getting shot" or "Triple X" with Vin Diesel, he ends up, all wet, on one of the wooden ramps in the water in front of the bridge. It was a very cold evening with very clear air, so I took a walk along the shore to snap some pictures. On my D70 was equipped with the Sigma 18-50 f2.8 EX DC and I used the lowest ISO 200 to get some clear and sharp shots. For getting a decent depth of field I used f8 and ended up with a 5s exposure I used Aperture priority). Unfortunately I didn't have my Tripod with me, so I used every support available: railings, poles, everything that could support the camera. I used the lens cap under the camera to get the desired angle of shooting. This shot was taken on the Mala Strana side just from under the beginning of the bridge, where I found the right pole. This side was illuminated by the green spots which gave the picture the nice color. The lens was set to 18mm to cover the bridge all the way to the Staromestska vez on the Old Town end. This way the bridge provided the diagonal lines, ending at the tower in the end. I did several shots, and ended up with this sharp one. The picture was shot in RAW mode and converted with Photoshop RAW-Plug in. After a minor Level adjustment and resizing it for the web, I did a slight USM-sharpening. And ended up with this Picture.