This is the Charles Bridge, the most prominent and famous building/structure in Prague. It's what Tower Bridge is to London, or the Petronas Twin Towers is to Kuala Lumpur. It spans the Vltava River, connecting the Old Town to the Little Quarter. It is a fully pedestrianised bridge, filled with camera-clicking tourists (like me!) and peddlers and artists selling their wares. It is flanked on both sides by religious statues, though through wear and tear many of these are copies.
One of the legacies of being under communist rule is that Prague has a superb transport system consisting of the underground Metro, busses and trams as above. The same tickets (which are sold according to time blocks, rather than number of trips) are used for all three systems. The best thing is that system is based on trust - there are no ticket turnstiles or bus conductors. This snap was taken in the quiet streets near our small hotel which is located in the outskirts of Prague.
This is a snap of the Old Town Hall Tower located in Old Town Square, built in 1364.
It snowed in London! Not much, but it's still snow, and those of you who have stayed in London would know how rarely that happens. The above snap is that of our back "garden".
I prefer this snap though. Snow-covered selipar jepun. Now THAT'S a rare sight!
A little teaser from our Prague trip. To the uninitiated, Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic. A country known for its communist rule in the past when it was known as Czechoslovakia, but now famed more for its respected football team. It is one of the oldest well-preserved cities in Europe, and many a Hollywood blockbuster has been filmed on its narrow cobbled streets (XXX, The Bourne Identity, Underworld, Van Helsing & Mission Impossible to name a few. Click here for more.)
The photo above shows the River Vltava (don't ask me how to pronounce it!!), which is the prominent feature of Prague, running through the heart of the city. Snapped the photo from the top of Vysehrad, which is a rocky cliff looking over the river that provides stunning views of the city. A storm was brewing which explains the gloomy sky.
Do come back often, as I'll be posting more snaps from Prague from time to time.
We're going off to Prague (Czech Republic) next week, to "celebrate" the end of the exams and enjoy a proper holiday. Literally been buried in my notes since the first day of the Christmas hols! Really looking forward to the trip from a photography point of view. I'll have the opportunity to capture the history, romance and beautiful architecture of Prague. Hoping to snap a few keepers, which I would of course post on this humble blog of mine to share with you.
Got this snap on a cold winter's night on a Regent Street bustling with Christmas shoppers. Used a shutter speed of half a second, with the barrell of my lens pressed (ever-so-lightly!) against a lamp post for stability.
Merry Christmas everyone!
For this shot, I used my trusty ol' Tamron 17-50 at 50mm, wide open at f/2.8, and focussed on the red choc in front. Everything else is blurred away, shows off how shallow the depth of field (DOF) can be at this setting!
So I finally dragged myself to a park, something that I wanted to do ever since arriving in London. I really wanted to take some snaps of the autumn colours - brown, red and yellow leaves and the lot. Too little too late though. Winter's already here, and there were no leaves whatsoever left! Well, it is my fault anyway for not making the effort soon enough, and it is already December.
Anyway, the park I went to was Hampstead Heath, a popular park amongst North Londoners, and as it consists of few hills, actually has a good vantage point over most of Central London. I found the tree stump in the photo facing the bright late afternoon sun and thought it would make a good subject with the barenaked trees in the background.
I desaturated the original photo in Photoshop, and added two layers to the resulting image - one to add the dreamy look via Gaussian blur, and another to add a slight hint of color to the otherwise black & white image.
Staying in Harrow, which is Northwest of central London, this would be the view that I get on the train each morning to class. The NEW Wembley Stadium, the home of English football, is almost complete after much delay and controversy. It's got a distinctive design, especially with the gigantic arch. But call me old-fashioned, I still prefer (and deeply miss) the now-demolished twin towers of the old stadium.
Slightly misjudged the timing when going over to take this shot. Wanted to get a shot in at the early stages of sunset, but it was getting really dark when I got there. Opted for a HDR (High Dynamic Range) shot instead, combining 5 different shots at various exposures, and combining all 5 shots into one using Photomatix Pro software. Looks a wee bit grey and bleak, and this is due mainly to the fading light.
So far the furthest I've been travelling was to Nottingham for the Malaysian Games. Miserable outing really, both on and off the football pitch, and an experience I would not want to go through again.
Managed to take a shot of my trusty 'ol gloves though, by the side of the pitch. Shot at the widest angle of the lens (17mm on a D70s), with aperture wide open at f/2.8 to blur the background.
So after a couple of months in England, I finally went on my first ever photo trip over here! Decided to check out the Lord Mayor's Show, which is an annual parade through the streets of central London to commemorate the appointment of the new Mayor of London. This shot is one of my favourites from the shoot. This spirited girl got caught up in the excitement of the day and broke ranks to wave at the crowd while her pals obediently marched on. Decided to draw attention to her in the photo by turning everything else except her into black and white. Certainly makes her "pop-out", doesn't it?
Well then, I've actually dreamt up the idea of having a blog dedicated to my photography hobby quite some time ago, when I launced the OzzyPhoto.com site. However, it never really got off. Until now, that is. Due to an important technical hitch (i.e. my miserable web-designing skills), I've given BlogSpot the honour of hosting my blog!
And something else has changed too. I've now been in London for the past couple months. Back to school for the better of my dayjob. Bucket-loads of new photo opportunities, if I can find the time amidst classes and coursework, that is. Really, really miss taking photos at weddings though. Well, who knows I might be able to be the official photographer at Prince William's wedding, eh?
Anyway, would appreciate it if you could come have a peek every once in a while. Cheerio!
