Photographing Lucern

Lucern is without any doubt a paradise for night photographers!

On my trips around Switzerland I have had the chance to talk to many locals, especially on the long train rides. It is perfect to practice my French and also to get more information about locations that I am visiting. In one of these many conversations I got a hint that Lucern is absolutely magnificent at night. 


I haven't thought much about this tip when planning my trip, but as coincidence happens, I arrived in Lucern around 9 pm. How convenient, right? The train station is right at the lake, so as soon as I stepped out of the train I was able to understand what everyone was talking about. The main buildings of the city are all illuminated providing a plethora of colours reflected on the water. With the very calm wind of that night, the waters were still allowing perfect mirrored images on the lake and river surfaces.


I started photographing on the main bridge called Seebrucke. On the east side, the buildings of the Grand Casino Luzern and Hotel Montana were my first capture. The hotel being higher up on the hill has a more elongated reflection with strong hot colours with the blue neon being the cherry on the top. 

Image 1 - Grand Casino Luzern and Hotel Montana 

  
Then, I moved further west, still on the east side of the bridge to register the reflection of the Hotel Palace. I wished I had been right in front of the building to take this picture, but I did not want to venture into the Ufschotti park area alone that late at night. L

Image 2 - Hotel Palace

I crossed the bridge to the north west side and from there I could work on Lucern's trademark, the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrucke) and Water Tower (Wasserturm). It is impossible to miss it, and it is an absolutely amazing site to visit. I started with the traditional shot and worked my way around it looking into different angles to register all its beauty and remarkable lines. It is said that this monument is the most photographed in the country and I do believe so.

Image 3 - Chapel Bridge and Water Tower from the traditional angle

Image 4 - Chapel Bridge and Water Tower from the back side

Image 5 - Chapel Bridge and Water Tower - exploring the lines

Later in the spring, the city places flowers all around the bridge. So, this is one more place that I have on my list to visit again. I love how I can always find an excuse to return to places! 
The inside of the bridge is splendid. This is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe. Hanging on the columns heads are a series of 17th century triangular paintings. Unfortunately, in May of 1993 a fire destroyed part of the bridge and the paintings. The bridge has been restored but the paintings were lost forever. Blackened wood and paintings are a constant reminder of this tragedy to the city of Lucern. 


The many columns and repetitive pattern allow photographers to use their imagination. I was getting tired by this point, and I still needed to check in to the hotel, so I did not spend the deserved time on the inside of the bridge. Make sure you don't make the same mistake I did. 

Image 6 - The inside of the Chapel Bridge

Further west from the Chapel Bridge, there is the Jesuit Church (Jesuitenkirche) that offers a new reflection photo opportunity. I moved around the margin of the river until I was able to compose the image with only the church. I was really pleased with the crisp result of the reflection and the 2 inverted triangular shapes created by the building position. 

Image 7- Jesuit Church mirrored on the river surface

I decided to include some foreground on the image and take advantage of the almost still water that allowed the anchored boat to be in focus despite the long exposure. It was getting late and time to call it a night. I still had to find my hotel and prepare for an early sunrise shooting the next day.

Image 8 - Jesuit Church with foreground and river reflections

In the morning, as forecasted it was cloudy and drizzling. I decided it would be a waste of time to go too far away from Lucern, so I found a nice spot at the Ufschotti park now a little bit less threatening with the first rays of lights from dawn. It was far from a fantastic sunrise, but I got some nice moody images from across Lake Lucern.

Image 9 - Sunrise across Lake Lucern

Image 10 - Sunrise across Lake Lucern

After breakfast, I walked downtown where I had taken all the night pictures to find out that the magic was gone. I really preferred the city at night when the lights enhance all its exquisiteness.

It is still a beautiful traditional European city, but all the enchantment for me was taken away without the added reflection. I spent some more time around the city where the number of bicycles parked are astonishing. They are everywhere around the train station. There are bike parking lots and then overflow parking lots. hahaha 

Image 11 - Bicycle overflow parking lot

Before jumping into a train for my next adventure, I noticed a couple of Red Crested Pochard Ducks. They are not in every location around here, so I thought it was worth the effort to capture them. The male is on the image bellow, but the female was a little shy, she did not like paparazzi and just swam away. 

Image 12 - Male Red Crested Pochard Duck.