Cesky Krumlov is a wonderful place for a photographer to visit. Many great views of the city, all within a few minutes walking distance from each other. So in this list, lets look at the spots I liked the most while being there.

Don’t forget to check out other available lists:

Also, if you would prefer to have a photographer guide in Cesky Krumlov, you can check out Johnny from Johnny’s Prague Photo tours, who now also offers tours in Cesky Krumlov. More about that on his website here.

1. Viewing platform near the castle

This platform gives you just the best view of the city center. It’s especially great for when you are trying to take a panorama shot. There is one problem with this location though, that it is closed at night. So you can get there from around 7 in the morning to sometime in the afternoon (I don’t remember there being opening times written on the door). The entry is free, and of course, you can use your tripod there.

View this location in Google maps. GPS 48.81211, 14.31228

2. Viewing platform in the city

This spot will be probably the first you visit as is right at the entrance to the center of the city. It gives a very nice view of the castle, and from what I have seen, they don’t close the gate to this place even at night. Be ready for it to be quite filled with tourists.

View this location in Google maps. GPS 48.81076, 14.31723

3. Over the staircase (Nad Schody) street

A really adequately named street, as to get there you have to go up the stairs from the city center. The view of the city, and especially of the cathedral in the middle is nice from here, just have a higher tripod, as there are bushes here and there in the way.

View this location in Google maps. GPS 48.80851, 14.31386

4. Parking area

Right when you are entering the center of the city, you will see a small parking area on the right side, that looks like its private and off limits. But it isn’t. Just go there, and you will even find benches under the trees. It gives another very nice view of the castle and the rivers bend.

View this location in Google maps. GPS 48.81075, 14.31926

5. Cloak bridge

Another very nice view of the city center, with one big problem. The problem are the very strong flood lights that you get right in your face. So if you want to get a photo from here, either do it during the day, or do as I did, include more of the bridge. Like this you will hide from the lights.

View this location in Google maps. GPS 48.81263, 14.31302

All these spots are very close to each other, and you can actually create a path between them, going from the 4th, through the 2nd, 5th, 1st and end on the 3rd.

The whole path is only around 2km.

Thats all for this list, don’t forget to check out all the other ones :)

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You may have noticed, that a lot of my recent photos (almost all of them) are mostly blue hour and night shots. I’m not that happy about that, but thats what my luck with weather was recently. It is either crazy sunny, or raining. And in those cases I can only take shots in the evening. But a little more diversity would be nice.

Todays photo is of the Liberty bridge in Budapest. This is a HDR from 4 exposures, created in Oloneo Photoengine, finished in Photoshop.

Technique: Manual blend, Number of exposures: 2, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones Adapter ver. IV, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 18mm, Aperture: 11, Middle exposure time: 13s, ISO: 200, Tripod used: yes, Location: 47.49182, 19.05069

Quick tip for Lightroom

A little tip I thought about when editing today :) You may have noticed, then when you sync the white balance between photos in Lightroom, sometimes you don’t get the same white balance on all the photos. The reason is simple. Lightroom syncs your selection, not the exact white balance. So if you chosen for instance Auto, it will sinc that, and calculate auto white balance for every photo. If you chosen As shot, all photos will have a white balance the same what they were shot in, and so on.

So what to do if you need the exact same white balance in all photos (which is mostly required for HDR photos). You need to switch to Custom white balance. That will keep the last used white balance settings, and if you sync it, it will sync the exact values for white balance.

From the castle

The new renovated areas of the Buda castle in Budapest give so many nice views of the city and of the parliament. You just needs a long enough lens, and its still quite far from it. But so worth a visit :)

This is a blend from 2 exposures, one main for most of the photo, second for the lights on the parliament.

Technique: Manual blend, Number of exposures: 2, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones Adapter ver. IV, Lens: Canon 70-200mm F2.8 IS II, Focal length: 130mm, Aperture: 10, Middle exposure time: 3.2s, ISO: 200, Tripod used: yes, Location: 47.49590, 19.04130

It’s quite interesting to take panoramas on places where I took none before. The views they provide are quite different to normal one shot photos. Same here. This is a view from in front of the Hungarian Parliament, including the Buda Castle and the Chain bridge. I went quite wide, as I wanted the whole bridge in the shot. Going more up or down would not help much, as there is just water and sky there.

This is a 3 tile panorama, each tile from 3 exposures. Combined first in PTgui and the blended manually in Photoshop.

Technique: Manual blend, Number of exposures: 3×3, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones Adapter ver. IV, Lens: Canon 70-200mm F2.8 IS II, Focal length: 123mm, Aperture: 7.1, Middle exposure time: 3.2s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 47.50477, 19.04471

It’s very rare to see the Chain bridge completely empty. But if you go there at 4am, you may have luck and be the only one there :)

This is a two tile panorama, created from 3 exposures each.

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 2×5, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones Adapter ver. IV, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 26mm, Aperture: 13, Middle exposure time: 5.0s, ISO: 200, Tripod used: yes, Location: 47.49951, 19.04669