Up the Danube without a Tripod

I went for a stroll around Budapest to take my mind off the airport strike and the fact I might not get home in the morning (I did, by the way)... I walked North from the hotel (Novotel Danube, on the Buda side), over the Bridge at the end of Margitsziget (Margaret's Island, I think), back down the Pest side past parliament and then over the Chain Bridge and back up the Buda side.

A few things/caveats to mention:

1) It was quite cold. By the time I was half way round this trip I was starting to lose feeling in my fingers.

2) As previously mentioned, I don't have a tripod with me, so these are all hand held

3) My work laptop has The GIMP installed, but I only have a trackpad, so there is no trickery going on here. All the long exposures are "in camera", and it's a compact so they aren't RAW conversions. The only manipulation is resizing, crop and straightening. (So don't tell me about the lights being burnt out and needing to be dodge/burned - I can't do that with a trackpad!) I might get round to editing some of them over the coming weeks/months.

4) This article is lifted from my blog, which was written on the night, so apologies if the description keeps changing tense. I've tried to reword it but might have missed some bits I left my hotel and walked North to Margit Hid (Margaret Bridge). Crossing over the river and looking South looked like this:

This is the same view but moved right a bit. The Novotel is the blue building on the far right.

One of the most amazing things about this city is the grafitti. Every single piece of wall or flat surface is covered. And it's not "arty" grafitti, it's just (I presume) names and 'tags'.

Examples: This is part of the bridge:

I was quite chuffed with the long exposure plus flash method on these photos to get the foreground but also the context of the background.

This is the Pest side of the bridge. Reflections in the Danube and streaky cars on the road.

Continuing along the road got me to the Opera House. At least, I think that it is the Opera House...

Then turning onto a (deserted and a little spooky) sidestreet brought me to the back of the Parliament building, where there was a closed Christmas market (it closed at 8pm and I got there at about ten past)

Fantastic tree!

Then a tram went past:

Continuing South I got back to the Chain Bridge. By this point I was starting to get cold, and I really needed the toilet, so they blurriness probably gets worse from here on...)

Someone had put flags on the bridge tonight. Here's my attempt at getting a photo of a fluttering flag in the dark...

Underneath the end of the Chain Bridge is another fine example of some graffitti:

Walking back up the Pest side there is a nice church:

And finally, peering through a glass door I saw this:

The photo hasn't really come out very well. I loved this doorway because it reminds me of a cross between the Chernobyl level of Call of Duty 4, the Matrix (the de ja vu scene) and the film Nightwatch (which, if you haven't seen, you should immediately go and buy the DVD/BluRay, and all the books. They are fantastic). I really wanted to go in and take some more pictures, but the gate was locked...

Next time I go, I will take a tripod. Maybe I should convince my wife to go as a weekend away, rather than relying on work...

-- BenStephenson - 13 Dec 2008

13 Dec 2008 19:41:00 RodBird:

Terrific Ben. Wossa Trackpad?

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13 Dec 2008 22:18:05 JohnAshford:

Great! Re tripods: an option for places where security guards get awkward & you don't speak the language is to acquire a ski-pole or walking pole and a slight limp so you appear to need it. Leki make an extendable pole with a camera thread under the head and it converts to a handy monopod in seconds.

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14 Dec 2008 12:08:30 BenStephenson:

A trackpad is the little finger tip thing that laptops have instead of mice. I didn't have a mouse with me (the hotdesk I used in the office had one there already, so I didn't take my own).

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14 Dec 2008 16:56:23 RodBird:

Oh, right. I thought that was for storing paperclips in. The flag photo is great. I've ordered Nightwatch on DVD. Cost me £3.99 so it better be good.

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