The Charles Bridge is a historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. The bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built 1158–1172 that had been badly damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been “Charles Bridge” since 1870. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau) until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city’s Old Town and adjacent areas. This “solid-land” connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.

Feature Image Details

ISO 160 for 20 seconds at F16. I used a  Canon 24-105MM F4 L Lens at a focal length of 50 MM.

I shot the image from a pay-access tower overlooking the bridge. My tripod would not reach the window so I propped up my camera in the window and took a series of shots.

This is not a blended image, but I did edit out a large annoying ad on one of the buildings across the bridge.

I also had to remove flare in the lower left.

Blue Hour Discussion

Fifteen minutes to a half hour after sunset, the sky, city lights, and the ambient light all roughly balance. This ideal light lasts for cityscapes lasts 15 minutes to 20 minutes.

There is a blue hour before sunrise as well. The blue hour is roughly an hour before sunrise.

The blue hour itself, where the sky is an intense blue may last 45 minutes to an hour, but you will not have that must time to create a blur hour cityscape.

You need a tripod for these images. In this case, the overlook window provided a substitute tripod.

Equipment List

Those interested in my equipment and recommendations can find it here: Mish’s Equipment List.

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Coming up next: More Prague images.

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Mike “Mish” Shedlock