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 .......................... 

Prague in the Snow 2nd January 2017

Its forecast to snow sometime today , hopefully .  We are going to visit Letna Hill and the Metronome this morning since we changed plans yesterday.  There are a few snow flakes fluttering down as we leave the hotel and we walk to our favorite cafe "Arcadia"  Fabulous hot chocolate in twelve varietys.

 After hot chocolate and a caramel waffle we are on our way, and its started snowing properly now.
We have walked along the river to the bottom of Letna Hill, and its really comind down now!

                                                                            Selfie time #1

                                                                     The "Metronome"

            What a fabulous view up the river with all the bridges.  you can see the heavy now!
                            shot with 100 - 400mm lens , and hard to keep snow off the lens  .

                                      It has eased off a bit now giving clearer conditions.

                                                                           Selfi #2  :)

                                                               Jan found a swing  lol

                         Good viewpoint from up here , must come back at dusk one evening.

                                                             Close up of the rooftops.

 We have walked around to the back of the castle , past the valley gardens below the bridge into the castle rear entrance.

 Having gone through the metal detector at security gate we are inside below the Church,  there is a christmas market here and Jan has mulled wine and we have curled chips.

                                                                  In The Castle square.

         In front of the main square looking over the city , our hotel is just below us somewhere .

        After a rest i have run down to Charles bridge for a quick shoot, leaving Jan back at the hotel.

 The sun is setting , with lovely light across the castle district.     a long exposure of 30 seconds  taken on the bridge looks wonderful :)

The rest of today will be in the next blog as have too many images  ............................

New Years Day Petrin Hill - Prague 2017

New Years Day , we have slept in after the firework celebrations from last night ,  its a lovely morning with blue sky  and the trees over on Petrin Hill are covered in Hoar frost. it looks magical.  We had planned to go up to Letna to see the Metronome but having walked down onto Charles Bridge the Hoar frost on Petrin is too tempting to miss .

                                                 Charles Bridge and Castle on the right hand top.

                   But look at Petrin Hill!     Amazing!    we have to go up there instead of Letna.


                                             Shot at 400mm from the bridge handheld

     Sun on the Castle for a change,  but time to head back towards the Vehicular railway up Petrin.

I remembered on our way in to the city in the taxi we passed a series of statues on the main road below the Hill , so that's a good place to start from  , after a hot chocolate :)

              Here is the monument -    "Memorial to victims of communism"       info HERE

              Now to walk up through the park to the tower  , its very cold but pleasant in the sun .

                         The steep path zig zags upwards with great views through  the frosted trees .

                      We are at the top now , the Tower is not far over to the left through the trees.

            WOW!   this place always delivers when we visit   its Stunning  , blue sky and frost :)

                                     and there just happens to be a mobile chippy here   lol

Time to walk through the park back towards the castle now...............

                                                      Jan is not very good a hiding  haha

                                    Just look at this view through the trees i have spotted!

                    Its a nice walk down through the park and past the monastery back to the castle.

We have headed down past the castle and have ended up on the bridge downstream from Charles bridge,  almost time for sunset but its really cold now!

                                  Charles Bridge at sunset.  long exposure with Lee Big Stopper

                  After dark the Petrin Tower all lit up  , shot from our hotel room with long lens .

No fog tonight ,   its going to be very cold tonight and possible snow forecast for tomorrow.