Scotland Holiday day 3 Eilean Donan Sunset

Tonight, while Jan stays in the van with the terrible twosome I am going down to Eilean Donan  Castle to photograph sunset, hopefully.    It is about 20 minutes walk down the road from the campsite so I don't need to rush down too early.  I am going to shoot with the sun setting behind me first, hopefully it will illuminate the castle before it gets too low.

First we have all walked down to view the castle and walk the dogs, its about an hour and a half before sunset ,which is 9.50 ish

                                                   Our first view of the castle. phone image.

I have put the drone up , with hope for a bit of light on this side of the castle but its not looking like anything, there is too much cloud behind me over the mountains.  But it does look like its breaking so hopefully there will be some colour later.    The cloud is looking good down over the Loch, which may well colour up as the sun setts, but the best colour will be behind the castle so I may be better walking around there later.

                                                                9 frame panorama

           A 5 frame Vertorama , perfect for this view, and a tiny bit of colour in the background.

I have now flown around to the other side of the castle to get a shot to see what the sunset is looking like behind.  The cloud is patchy, thick in places so I am unsure how much colour we will get.

I have now decided to walk around to the other side of the castle , Jan has taken the dogs back to the van  . it is almost 9.40 pm and the sun is almost behind the mountains.  I need to be in the air at the best time to catch the best colour, if there is any.   There are about 8 or 9 photographers already here, a popular spot obviously.  I noticed this sign, this is how it should be, allowing people to fly when its quiet and safe ,instead of trying to ban drones completely at popular tourist locations like back home in England!

       Looking back at the castle , its quite murky in the distance , but the cloud is all moving slowly in that direction and it is clearing where the sun is setting towards the Isle of Skye.

The castle is now lit up , which is going to look better as the sky darkens. Unfortunately the infamous midges have arrived, tiny little buggers buzzing around my head!   Arghhhhhhh

10 minutes later and we have colour in the sky,  its not looking like a great sunset, but enough to get a couple good images. The sun is now behind the mountains .  The isle of Skye is clearly visible over the Loch in the distance.

A Vertorama  gives a great view across the castle and the colour showing over the calm surface of Loch Alsh.   and the sky is turning colour really quickly, and is getting very bright.    I need to get shooting with the dslr to get this while it lasts.

This view is looking really good, the tide is quite low unfortunately with dry seaweed all along in front of me,   luckily the drone can fly out low over to the water line which shows the reflections perfectly.

Now for the dslr, I have the Canon 5dsr with 100-400L   and I am shooting portrait frames left to right, which will be stitched together to form a panorama image.



                  8 frames in this panorama, taken 2 minutes after the above 2 drone images

Shooting at 400mm    a 2 frame merge to show the best colour, which only lasted less than 3 minutes.

Another 8 frame portait Panorama, Taken immediately after the previous image. this one is showing the blue sky above the colour, getting quite dark now so time to pack up. I only have less than 50% left on the last drone battery so not worth shooting any more from this side of the castle.

Walking back across the bridge towards the campsite the castle lights are much brighter on this side,  I go down to the small jetty and take this image with the long lens at 400mm on my 5dsr .

                                                              iso 100   6 seconds   f9

I have just enough battery left for a quick drone flight, to try and get a couple of images, it will be interesting to see how it will shoot in the dark , need to fill the frame with the castle light to get a decent exposure.

                               iso 200   1/4 second at f2.8    its not too bad for a flying camera.

                                                        iso 200   1/3 rd second.   f2.8

                     What a fabulous evening, tomorrow we go over to the Isle of Skye .

Prague at Night 2 nd January 2017

Continuing on from Morning adventure in the snow  
  The sun is setting and the lights are starting to come on along the river.  i am on the side of Charles Bridge looking across the river ,plenty of snow on the rooftops on the castle district.


                                  30 second exposure looking across to the castle district.

 I have now moved upstream of Charles Bridge , the snow is still on the wooded deflectors making a good focal point.
                                                                13 second exposure

    A slightly longer 30 second  shutterspeed gives a bit of movement as the water falls over the weir.

 A quick run over the bridge to take a couple images as the lights come on , then i have to get back to the hotel to pick up Jan.

 After dinner we are walking back to the river , the square below the bridge still has a bit of snow left and the small Christmas market is still open.  a long exposure has ghosted all the people out .

 We have walked upstream to the National Theatre , there is a small island where i can get a good view of the castle all lit up.

 There is Still snow on the island below the lights , the sky is crystal clear tonight and the castle looks stunning!

                In the distance , the Petrin Tower is very clear tonight  , shot with 100-400 mm lens .

                              A five frame vertical panorama shot with the 100 -400 mm lens

                                                         And a close up  , stunning!

Reflections in the river also , its getting very cold now, and i cant take my gloves off for very long.
Jan wants to head back now , i think its about minus 7 !!!!!   Brrrrrrrr.

                                           Looking downstream as we cross the bridge.

 As there are not too many people on the bridge, i stop to take a few long exposure shots , hoping to ghost out any moving people that get in the way , it has only partly worked , just too many standing still taking photos unfortunately.     But a great image despite a few "Ghosts"

 My final image for the day , and a cracker looking down the bridge through the arch to the church on the hill behind.

The end of a fantastic day .......................... 

New Year in Prague 2017

Its New Years Eve ,5.50 pm , Jan and myself have arrived in Prague for a short break over New Year and its FOGGY!!!!!!!!! Arghhhhhhh     that kind of ruins my plans for photographing the fireworks with the beautiful Prague Castle in the background.
 Any how, after taking the airport transfer taxi to our hotel  the "Residence Green Lobster"   Yes   what a name that it is !   We are on the top floor, and the lift , in which you have to keep the "up" button continuously pressed while its moving  only goes to the 3rd floor !    Mmmmm   don't think will use it again , rather walk up !     After settling in, we have gone out to find a restaurant, the hotel is right below the castle so we know the area from our last visit and find one quite close.After dinner   its now just after 10 pm , so we are going to walk down over Charles Bridge and through to  "Old Town Square"  where the Christmas tree and Markets are , we must keep moving as its still 2 hours until midnight and its currently minus 6 degrees!!!

                       On  Charles Bridge , long exposure ghosted out most of the moving people.

 Its really busy already , with fireworks being set of all around  , we have arrived in Old Town Square , here is the view with the Astronomical clock on the corner of the square.

 Its packed with people , with bangers going off all around and there is a rock concert underway on the stage in the far corner.

I am just taking a image of the Fabulous Christmas tree when a couple of big fireworks are set off , and i caught one in my long exposure shot :)

Time to leave here and go back to Charles Bridge i think , getting a bit too crowded here and with bangers being thrown probably Not the safest place to be , even the police have face guards  lol 

                                                                 Mulled wine for Jan :)

Back over the bridge and a quick stop to watch the fireworks that are now being set of with greater frequency in the square we have just left.

Over the bridge and down onto the river side to take a shot of the bridge.   the fog is clearing slightly but that will get worse as the fireworks go off in greater numbers.

 We have decided to stay on the bridge for the display, the castle is shrouded in fog and would not be very visible in my planned location up river on the opposite side .  standing on the bridge people are letting of big fireworks in the distance and from the next bridge down river.

The atmosphere is fantastic ,  bangers going off everywhere and large Chinese lanterns are rising up and Falling from the bridge!   Oops

Its almost midnight , the bridge is completely packed , as is asfar as i can see.    These fireworks are a bit early!

                                                                 " HAPPY NEW YEAR"

                              Load of river cruise boats have moored to watch the displays.

                                                              Fog getting thicker now :(

Fabulous celebrations in Prague , fireworks are being set of as far as we can see .  Leaving the bridge i want to go down by the river and shoot the bridge in the fog and hopefully get a few explosions in the frame too.

                                                                    "Charles Bridge"

                                  A long exposure has caught one of the boats as it passed .
There are people throwing fireworks into the rive next to me , and on the ground less than 6 ft away , have to get out of here , this is not safe!

Its about 2 am now, time to go back to the hotel , its been a very long day.....................


                      Images shot with canon 5dsr & 17-40 L on Gitzo  traveller tripod