Filming Locations in Vienna: Castle Kreuzenstein

Vienna ist not only the most livable city for almost a decade. It‘s also a beautiful film set for some quite well known films. I‘m planning to photograph and write about a few of those film sets I‘ve discovered.

One of those film sets in (or near) Vienna is Castle Kreuzenstein, a medieval castle dating back to the 12th century.

Caste Kreuzenstein in films

Castle Kreuzenstein ist roughly 30 minutes by car from Vienna. Alternatively, you can visit it taking speed trains S3 or S4 and followed by a 30 minute walk.

The castle originates back to the 12th century. It was almost completely destroyed during the thirty years‘ war. Rebuilt by duke Johann Nepomuk Wilczek in the late 19th and early 20th Century, it became a museum for his huge collection of medieval props.

While you can explore the outside freely, the castle itself is only accessible during guides tours. Check the official Castle Kreuzenstein Website for mor Info about the tours.

Here are some films shot at Castle Kreuzenstein:

• Three Musketeers (1993) starring Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland

• Season of the Witch (2011) starring Nicolas Cage

• Pillars of the Earth (2010)

• ABC Reality Show „The Quest“ (2014)

A more extensive list is in the IMDB and Wikipedia.

Here‘s a scene from Season of the Witch

Castle Kreuzenstein as seen in the film “The last Witch” at minute 14:53

There's one more hidden photo spot (that did not appear in the film). If you follow the path that leads around the castle to the right, you'll pass a small (locked) gate from which you get a nice view into the the castle moat

Castle moat at Castle Kreuzenstein

How I shot the photos of Castle Kreuzenstein

The best time for taking pictures there is around noon. At this time the sun is in a 90 degree angle to the castle. During the afternoon the sun moves around the castle lighting it from the front. Here‘s a screenshot from Sun Surveyor App [App Store Link] that I use to determine the position of the sun for my photography.

Determining best light using Sun Surveyor App

I used the Moment Wide lens (reviewed here) for all those photos. For the photo of the battering ram and the castle moat I mounted the Moment Superfish lens (reviewed here).

Castle Gate at Kreuzenstein shot on Moment

I ran all photos through SKRWT to fix the coaching lines and to make the lines as upright as possible. In this case, using a tool to fix perspective distortions as an undesirable side effect. Especially the top of the tower now looks skewed.

This can be fixed using a liquify tool in either Pixelmator or Adobe Photoshop Mix.

Know before you go

Castle Kreuzenstein as well as the Bird of Prey demonstration have different hours of operation depending on the season and day of the week, so be sure to plan your visit accordingly and check the web-site.

On weekends, the place can be quite crowded! So I‘d go there during weekdays, if possible.

And finally, there's a scene in the movie where Nicolas Cage walks along the coast of Styria (Steiermark), a county here in Austria. I'd love to photograph that, too. But unfortunately, Styria never had a coast. Not even in the Middle Ages. Ooops.

from iPhone photography & Traveling light blog http://bit.ly/2VyQQve

Read More

5 Photo Spots in Budapest to visit during the day and night

Visiting Budapest was one of those trips I’ve been postponing for years. Maybe because it’s quite easy to get there from Vienna. After a 2.5-hour train ride, you’ll arrive in the middle of this beautiful city.

Well, 2.5 hours only if your train engine doesn't break down as it happened to the train I was in.

Getting around in Budapest

Budapest has an excellent public transportation system. Lots of trams, buses and one of the oldest metros in the world. Google Maps, as well as Apple Maps, have public transportation lines and schedule. As I’ve planned this trip using Google Trips that I reviewed a while ago, it was quite convenient to get directions from one photo spot to the next using Google Trips & Google Maps.

You can buy public transportation tickets from vending machines in each station. Many of them accept credit cards, and I successfully bought a 72-hour ticket with Apple Pay, that finally launched in Austria at the end of April. Hooray!

As of April 2019, there’s no Uber and no MyTaxi in Budapest. But taxis seem to use another app that was formerly called taxify.eu and is now called Bolt but I didn’t try that. I used public transportation.

Vajdahunyad Castle

Vajdahunyad Castle was my first stop on day one. It's an “artificial” castle that was built for the Millenial Exhibition in 1896. It’s located in the vast City Park in Budapest. Before you enter the City Park, spend a minute or two at the Heroes’ Square right in front of it.

Vajdahunyad Castle is pretty amazing. Lot’s of different architectural styles were used when it was built. When you walk through the area, look up and pay attention to all the details of the buildings. Some parts are overgrown with climbers like the tower right near the gate or the back of the castle. A stunning view!

Rear of the Vajdahunyad Castle, Budapest, Hungary

St. Stephan’s Basilica

This is probably one of the two most famous basilicas in Budapest. The huge square in front of it provides enough space to zoom in and out with your feet and photograph the church from various perspectives. You’ll get a beautiful view of the church from the Budapest Eye, a Ferris wheel not far from St. Stephan’s Basilica.

St. Stephan’s Basilica, Budapest, Hungary

To photograph at least a part of the enormous Basilica inside, I used the Moment Wide and Moment Superfish lenses.

And just in case you wonder about the other most famous basilica. It's definitely the one at Fisherman's Bastion. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good photo there. Something was going on there, and the basilica and parts of the surrounding were closed.

Edificio Párisi Udvar

Too bad that I was too late (or too early) to be able to get inside this building. Edificio Párisi Udvar is definitely one of the most colorful and most beautiful buildings in Budapest. I loved all the details in the facade. From what I’ve read, the interior must be equally fantastic containing a considerable passage. As of April 2019, the building is being renovated and thus not accessible.

To get a good photo of the building, I went to the other side of the street and used ProCamera with perspective distortion fix enabled. So I got e perfect upright photo of this architectural masterpiece.

Edificio Párisi Udvar in Budapest, Hungary

Parliament in Budapest

I went there to photograph it twice. Once during the day and later at night. The perfectly balanced view of the building may be blocked by cruise ships that are docked at the river bank during the day. Fortunately, none of the vessels was there when I went there at night.

Parliament in Budapest shot on iPhone using Slow Shutter Cam App

I got this photo of the Parliament building in Budapest using Slow Shutter Cam App in Low light mode with a manual ISO setting and an 8-second exposure; that, of course, required the use of tripod; see thenight photography with iPhone page.

Chain Bridge

This over 175-year-old suspension bridge connects the Buda district with the Pest district. You can cross the bridge by foot or by car.

Just as with the parliament, it may be challenging to get a photo from the bridge from the river bank. When I was there lots of river cruise ships were docked, blocking the view from the river bank. Luckily, one of the ships departed around 9pm, and I could get this photo

Chain Bridge in Budapest at night

But there’s a viewing Plattform on the Buda side right above the tunnel from which you’ll get a great view of the bridge. I'll have to try that next time as it started to rain and I went back to the hotel.

More photos of Budapest

I usually upload a few more photos to my Flickr, Instagram and Facebook. See you there?

   

from iPhone photography & Traveling light blog http://bit.ly/30aLycV

Read More