A couple more from our excursion to the wetlands last weekend. I was very happy to see for the first time a Least Bittern. This small heron was patiently standing in the duck weed covered water and watching out for little fish. It is absolutely amazing how far they can stretch their necks while hunting for food in the muddy waters.
I like to interrupt my series about the wonderful city of Prague for another "Nature clicks" post. Because of all my recent traveling I haven't been in the Green Island Wetlands along the Mississippi here in Iowa for five weeks now. Yesterday was a special day for me because my neighbor Boris and his son Alex joined me on the trip to the wetlands. It brings a total new momentum to the adventure because six eyes see much more than only two. As a result we found at least three new birds I haven't seen in the wetlands before. It was young Alex who discovered the Great Crested Flycatcher first. This photo was not easy to make because of wind and the bird was constantly moving to a different perch. I didn't nail sharpness 100% but I believe it is still worth to be shown here. We had a lot of fun watching out for birds and critters together and time went by very quickly.
I like to continue my little series about Prague with views from Europe's busiest pedestrian bridge, Karluv Most (Charles Bridge). It connects the Old Town quarter with Mala Strana (Lesser Town) and the Prague castle, the biggest castle in the world. That it is also the most visited castle in the world can easily be found out by just walking across Charles Bridge. It is impossible to make a picture without having lots of people in the frame. The only way is to shoot just above peoples heads like in the photo above. A dark sky with nice clouds and the buildings illuminated by the low evening sun made for a great color contrast. I used the tele end of the 24-120 for this image. It compresses the view over the bridge nicely and the churches in the background appear much closer than they really are. An image I always wanted to make.
The bridge is lined by 30, mostly Baroque, statues mounted to the balustrade on both sides of the bridge. It is supposed to bring good fortune if you touch the plagues below some of the statues. I have seen people waiting in line for doing this, it must be true... This young man thought so too and gave me the chance for this shot in best light. I'm usually very hesitant to make pictures of people I don't know (you probably can tell by browsing through my picture galleries). In Prague everybody runs around with a camera around their necks and shoots whatever comes across. It is easy to blend in, even for me... ;-)
Charles Bridge is not just an architectural highlight in Prague it is also a place where art is performed, displayed, and sold. Dozens of artists try to make a living and offer their paintings, drawings, jewelry, and other handcrafted things to the millions of tourists that walk across the bridge every year. Musicians and other performing artists gather good crowds all the time. By just listening to or looking at the people you can tell that the visitors come from all over the world. Bus loads of tourists with their guides make navigation sometimes not easy. The trick is to wait patiently for your chance to make a particular image. If you wait too long someone may have walked into the frame already... More to come.
I actually wanted to write about the famous Charles Bridge in Prague today but a question in my last post from Brian, a cool guy from Germany, made me change my plans. Let's talk about beer and food instead... ;-)
Yes Brian, I have been in the famous "Pivovar U Fleku". I wanted to show my wife Joan where all my bad habits started... (just kidding... :-) ). This was indeed a place I have visited many, many times in my younger years. I haven't been there for more than twenty years but not much seemed to have changed since. The beer was still good and the food looked better than ever. We had a great time.
It is really not difficult to find good places to eat in Prague. Many restaurants are in very old and charming buildings. Most menus are in Czech, German, and English language and it is easy for tourists to find their way around. There are places for every price level and beside international cuisine most restaurants offer still the traditional way of Bohemian cooking.
The Bohemian brewing traditions are very old and famous and a real beer connoisseur must have Prague on his bucket list. The best places to enjoy a good beer (pivo) are the small micro breweries and pubs (pivovars).
The avid readers of my blog knew already I wouldn't start this little "travel impressions series" about our trip to the capitol of the Czech Republic Prague with a "postcard view", if there were not some special ingredients involved. One of them is great light and the other one are the wonderful clouds over the scene. I usually don't care much for this kind of image unless the light sets it apart from the usual tourist snapshot. For those who have never been in this beautiful city, this is a view from Prague's most famous bridge, the Charles Bridge, over the Moldau River to Stare Mesto, the Old Town of Prague. I can tell you, this city is photographers heaven. You can shoot all day and never run out of interesting views and details. I will show you during the next few days just a few of the things that drew my attention. I hope all friends that watch out for nature photography only get something out of this too..., so please stay tuned!
A few more pictures from my home town Bautzen. Again, I focussed on views that you may not find in the brochures of a travel agency. The photos were made on three different days. We were walking through the old narrow lanes in the old part of town in search for light and perspectives.
This water tower is actually one of the newer towers in town. It was built in 1877 within the ruin of an old church. Many other buildings and towers are more than 500 years old.
My home town Bautzen has many landmarks and they have been photographed probably millions of times. The Old Waterworks on the left and the church Saint Michaelis are probably among the most recognized ones. It is almost impossible to find a new angle or view but playing with exposure and the remaining light of the day made me create an image that I like and that you may not find in the postcard stand of the local tourist information... ;-)
No, I didn't give up nature photography. I just work my way through the photos from our trip to Germany and the Czech Republic and of course, I like to share some of my images with you.
Back home now I have always an eye on what's going on in the front and backyard of our house. We were blessed with great light between 8 and 9AM during the last two mornings. The Eastern Phoebe, I had written about already in my post "Nature clicks #98" a few weeks ago, was posing again right in front of me. It is such a cute bird. I hope you don't mind to see it again here. It is fun to watch how it suddenly takes off and tries to catch insects and then returns to its perch or moves on to another one.
It is sometimes tempting to make the same shots that you may find on the postcards sold in the local tourist information office of a city. I can tell you, I know them all in my old home town Bautzen, Germany. They have not changed since I can remember. As many other cities, Bautzen has its classic views that are liked by the tourists, and that's not a bad thing. As a native I feel I have to make a different approach if I want to offer an interesting view of my "old play ground".
It's the detail I'm interested in. I grew up in the old part of town and I really claim to know every stone in this city. Nevertheless I still can find shooting angles I have never thought of before. New details have been added by people that make a living in this town and some new ones are just as good as the ornaments of the old times.
If you know my galleries at pbase.com you may know that I have a foible for sign boards (click HERE if you don't but like to have a look at it). This is not really a board but comes with the same idea of promoting a business. A goldsmith in the old town of Bautzen put this frog with all its jewelery over his store front. Killer light just before the sun disappeared behind a roof of "Heringsstrasse" made me do the click.
A detail that has been added to one of my favorite restaurants is this blacksmith work in a window. The place is called "Mönchshof", which can be translated to "monks yard". Sorry, but food and ambiance will beat almost every place here in the US... ;-)
Another detail that caught my eye is this old horse trough located just around the corner at another medieval pub and restaurant. It has been affectionately restored although nobody really ties a horse anymore to the old metal rings.
Downtown Bautzen was already decorated for the annual spring festival "Bautzener Frühling". This event lasts three days and is filled with music, art, entertainment, and lots of food and drinks. Every year a flag contest is part of the festival and the best flags get awarded and will be used for the city's decoration during the next years.
The tower on the east end of Reichenstrasse is called "Reichenturm" and used to be part of the city fortifications. Its lower part was finished in 1492 while the upper part was added about 1718 during the time of baroque architecture. The tower is actually leaning by 1.44 meters but has been finally stabilized in 1954.
I grew up in the old part of Bautzen and it is always a great joy for me to see how the historic buildings have been restored from damage during WWII or how they are preserved from the normal influence of the weather. In my opinion, this is tax money well spent. As a photographer in particular it is not difficult to like this...
