Charles Bridge is over half a kilometre long and rests on sixteen arches. But if you try to photograph it from the bridge itself, the frame usually holds only a bit of the paving, the nearest statue and the back of the person in front of you.
From the bridge you shoot Prague. You shoot the bridge from the bank.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go onto Charles Bridge with a camera. It’s exactly there that good photos of the lamps, statues, stone details or people heading for Malá Strana are made. The long row of statues and the paving lead the eye straight to the bridge towers. But if you want to show the arches, the stone structure and its place on the Vltava, you have to move away for a while.
Stay closest on Kampa. Go down to the river and walk along the bank on the southern side of the bridge. From here you see the bridge from the side, its piers and the Old Town houses across the river. You don’t have to fit the whole structure into the frame. With a 35mm lens you can use one arch, a piece of embankment and a person by the water. The bridge will still be clearly recognisable, but the photo won’t look like a postcard bought on the way from the metro.
On the opposite side of the bridge, the bank at Hergetova Cihelna offers a different view. You get here from Cihelná street. From here the bridge points towards the Old Town and you can add the surface of the river, boats or birds by the bank to the frame. There’s no need to climb right down onto the stones by the water. The water level changes, and no good shot is worth wet shoes or your gear falling into the Vltava.
You gain more distance on Mánes Bridge. Charles Bridge is no longer the only thing in the frame here. Around it appear the river, both banks, the towers and part of Malá Strana. With a 35mm lens you show the wider centre; with an 85mm you can pick out a few arches, the bridge tower or a group of people on the bridge. So the same spot offers both the overall view and the detail without you having to cross to the other bank.
Further still is Střelecký ostrov. From its northern tip the view opens towards Kampa and Hradčany, but Charles Bridge is already fairly distant. A longer lens makes more sense here. The bridge becomes part of the Prague panorama instead of filling the whole frame. In summer tree branches may get into the view. You don’t have to automatically avoid them — sometimes they can frame the photo nicely.
There’s one more option where you don’t step back from the bridge but get above it. From the Old Town Bridge Tower you see how the bridge crosses the Vltava towards Malá Strana and Prague Castle. The people who get in your way down below turn into tiny figures from above and show the real scale of the structure. There is an admission fee for the tower and the opening hours change over the year, so check them before you visit.
Light plays a part too. The sun rises on the Old Town side and sets towards Prague Castle, but the exact angle shifts during the year. So there is no single spot that is best both morning and evening. Decide whether you want light on the stone, or the bridge and towers against a bright sky instead. Then choose your bank.
And the crowds? Right on the bridge they’re a problem if you’re expecting empty paving. From a greater distance they stop being in the way. On the contrary, they show how long the bridge is, where it leads and what an important route across the river it still is. So you don’t have to get up at four in the morning every time you want to photograph it. You just have to change your spot.
So next time, don’t head straight in among the statues. First walk around the bridge, look at it from both banks and try several different distances. Only then step onto it.