[night86mare] Krakow, Poland

[night86mare]

Beautiful place, with beautiful people. I think this has been a city I enjoyed the most in my Europe travels so far. What I hated was the huge amount of badly paved pavement, really screwed with my ankles. There is so much to do, so much to see, so much to explore though, be it the Jewish quarter, the Old Town with the Cloth Hall, day trips to Auschwitz or Zakopan in the Tatras mountain region.

Stayed in a hostel near the Kazimierz region, which is the Jewish quarter. I would say that costs here, being in Eastern Europe are much better than say, London or Copenhagen, for example. The Poles still use the zloty. This particular one was pretty good, had nice decor and comfortable beds, and very clean facilities. Free internet as well, with a computer provided, and the security is very good. Would recommend it, though I hear there are other hostels in Krakow which are good too. This particular one is Ars Hostel.

If you do wish to go to Krakow and need a plan, etc, do let me know. If you need a guidebook and I am back in summer with the one I got - it's a really brief one which excludes many things but it does have maps.. And I think I also have one with Zakopan, feel free to borrow. Just PM me and I'm sure we can set something up. Without further ado.. the pictures.

As always, all C&C welcome, please.

[night86mare]

#1

Came across this church which is very nearby the hostel I stayed in, is called St Bernandine's. I do think this is one of the most elaborate churches I have visited in Europe, and the gold here, is just breathtaking, along with the light.

When I was in there, there were some workmen placing flowers, I think must have been some sort of occasion, but I didn't get the chance to ask because they seemed to be quite engrossed.

[night86mare]

#2

[night86mare]

#3

[night86mare]

#4


A wider view

[night86mare]

#5

[labla]

Hey night. nice pictures but i think that the bg is a little dull and the whole colour, it's abit mellow. Is it because of the lighting in there?

[seefei]

nice reporting. any pic on the jewish quarter, zakopan, cloth hall etc.... thanks in advance

[flowerpot]

i guess you have gain quite a reputation, ppl expect nice pics from you all the time... Not that these are no good...

Originally Posted by labla Hey night. nice pictures but i think that the bg is a little dull and the whole colour, it's abit mellow. Is it because of the lighting in there?

travel pics are like that la...not necessary every pics must turn out superb...sometime timing and condition is not what we expected...wat matters is enjoy the travelling...

nice pics btw... im sure there will more nicer 1 soon...

[Yapster]

Originally Posted by night86mare #3

Well use of the distortion bro~

But this series, the lightings not so nice hor...

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by labla Hey night. nice pictures but i think that the bg is a little dull and the whole colour, it's abit mellow. Is it because of the lighting in there?

yes, the walls of the church are actually greyish.

the lighting tended to be a bit warmish.. had pretty good weather during the entire trip which was kind of a boon and a bane.. no clouds though. the virgin mary (? pardon me if i get this wrong, i am not particularly religious but i think it should be her, or some other female saint in #3 and #4) was very nicely lit but i could not find a good angle to capture the scene without including the mini-altar thing next to her (you see the golden rim to the left).

not quite sure if i should saturate the colors, this was pretty much untouched from raw.. relatively anyhow, just some shadow lifting, contrast and usm.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by seefei nice reporting. any pic on the jewish quarter, zakopan, cloth hall etc.... thanks in advance

in time.. i processed some because was waiting for my laundry to be done. is 430 am here.. just landed haha

jewish quarter had nothing much to shoot, mainly because i felt it was overly commercialised and refuse to pay money to see graveyards, etc..

the buildings around the area have been converted to restaurants, very touristy, but you will get more authencity here than in warsaw. warsaw's buildings were all destroyed in the war so what you will see in warsaw today is a reproduction in modern day terms.

zakopan - yes i have pictures from there.. the cloth hall and town square too.. though the lighting through this trip was pretty harsh, and not many pretty clouds to add drama. i think someone once told me that buildings would look like cutouts when placed in sun against a blue sky without clouds.. i think so too now.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by flowerpot i guess you have gain quite a reputation, ppl expect nice pics from you all the time... Not that these are no good... travel pics are like that la...not necessary every pics must turn out superb...sometime timing and condition is not what we expected...wat matters is enjoy the travelling... nice pics btw... im sure there will more nicer 1 soon...

i do admit that this trip has not been exactly photographically rewarding.. i do not think there are any particularly wow photos actually. like hong kong there was the man on the pier that made the trip photographically complete for me, italy is just so picturesque.

i also think a bit rusty since has been a while since i shot. also did not do much street shooting in poland, easiest excuse is the bad pavement requiring actual focus on walking.. but somehow most people i saw on the street seemed to be tourists as well.

but you are right, i did enjoy krakow quite a lot. for the people i met - there was an american backpacker who took 2 months no pay from an aircraft engineering division, a polish political science student (female, amazing, not that i stereotype females but from my own life experience it is rare that they are interested in politics at all) working in a bar who just joined in our conversation with an iraqi studying in poland about american-iraq relations.. the list just goes on.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by Yapster Well use of the distortion bro~ But this series, the lightings not so nice hor...

would be due to non-directional light - shot around noontime, i suspect. and where there was light it was harsh.

[seefei]

thanks for the reply. sorry if i sound imposing in my first post. i am sure you will post those pix later !

*note down in my pad - "must have cloud when shooting building"*

[lastboltnut]

Good effort to shoot in such lighting. I believe tripod is not allowed huh??

But I think the focus for this piece is not on Jesus, but on the candle stand, is it delibrate? And there is a shadow casted on the lower middle, your shadow from the door behind you?

BTW, now you staying in Poland? Tot you study in UK?? Hmmm you seems to move around pretty much huh? So good.

Originally Posted by night86mare #1 Came across this church which is very nearby the hostel I stayed in, is called St Bernandine's. I do think this is one of the most elaborate churches I have visited in Europe, and the gold here, is just breathtaking, along with the light. When I was in there, there were some workmen placing flowers, I think must have been some sort of occasion, but I didn't get the chance to ask because they seemed to be quite engrossed.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by seefei thanks for the reply. sorry if i sound imposing in my first post. i am sure you will post those pix later ! *note down in my pad - "must have cloud when shooting building"*

nah, no worries, i think my style is perhaps a little disconnected.. i like to post as i process..

maybe it is better to process all, then post all at once?

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by lastboltnut Good effort to shoot in such lighting. I believe tripod is not allowed huh?? But I think the focus for this piece is not on Jesus, but on the candle stand, is it delibrate? And there is a shadow casted on the lower middle, your shadow from the door behind you? BTW, now you staying in Poland? Tot you study in UK?? Hmmm you seems to move around pretty much huh? So good.

hahaha , yes the focus is on candle stand. as to why, i treated this like a landscape, it was at f/8 so i thought it would be best to focus on the immediate element nearest to me. yes, i think that would be my shadow. there is no door though. the layout of the churches in europe are pretty typical, a lot of these altar things, with statues, etc or paintings lining the side. i'm sure you know what i mean..

no la, i just went to poland for a trip.. a friend was going and i was planning to go to cornwall but he asked if i was game so ok lor, it isn't a very common destination so might be fun.

well, budget airlines in europe are the bomb.. ryanair ticket from ldn to krakow airport was 30 pounds.. from warsaw to cop took some norwegian air setup that cost 30 euros.. and easyjet from copenhagen back to ldn was 30 pounds again. while i'm here, might as well bear the hunger, and eat grass to travel.

actually i'm thinking tripod might have been allowed here, but i did not bring it along. budget flights in europe have scant space for tripod with their limited hand baggage allowances.. too poor to check in luggage so.. everything in this one, the warsaw thread, and the copenhagen thread that will come.. including night shots, hand held. thank goodness for shake reduction and ever obliging nonphotographer travel companion.

[night86mare]

#6

[zero o]

Originally Posted by night86mare #6

Hey .... stop loading pictures already ... u make me wanna throw my camera away