Photography Adventure – Gdańsk

With this being my first photography adventure blog post I thought I would start with the beautiful Polish city – Gdańsk.

 

All the photographs were taken on my Olympus Trip 35 using Kodak Portra 160

 

So back in February Myself and my partner Steve (Go check out his website https://www.stevefratson.co.uk) headed to Birmingham airport at 6am to catch our flight to Gdańsk via Munich. It was 0ºC in the UK and -5ºC when we arrived at a snowy Munich Airport, so we expected it to be colder in Poland, but not quite the -14ºc it was!! It was Around 7 pm when we arrived and although it was cold it was snowing which made the city feel almost magical! Our Hotel (http://centralhotelgdansk.pl/english) was right next to the train station so we didn’t have to walk and after a long day of travelling, we decided just to get food an head to bed.

On our first full day in the city w realised how beautiful it was now in the daylight and remaining snow. The city Its self is a seaport on the Baltic sea coast. The photograph below shows the river on which either side has exhibits from the Maritime Museum (Narodowe Muzeum Morskie). On the left, you have the Granaries and ‘SS Sołdek’ a post warship and on the right, you have The Crane (Żuraw) and the Maritime Culture Museum(with a small ferry allowing you to travel between the two sides). All of which you can visit for around 21 zloty, which is equivalent to £4.27.

Every corner you turn you discover more Culture from the little side street such as Mariacka lane (which has a cool little coffee shop called Drukarnia) to the architecture along Long Market (which was almost completely destroyed during WWII, and took many years to restore to its former glory) and is the region of amber.  There are even more modern additions such as the Museum of Second World War (definitely worth a days visit, as we didn’t have much time there and missed a lot.). In fact, WWII started in Gdańsk, when the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein fired the first shots at the Polish military post at Westerplatte.

The whole city is the perfect place to visit, as there is so much going on around you, lots to explore and everyone is so polite (most people spoke English, or had English menus which made things easier for us). I really wish we had longer in Gdańsk, as it was a place you could never get bored of, everything was very inexpensive and the food was amazing!!

We will definitely be going back maybe in the summer this time though to see the city in a new light, and so its s bit warmer. Overall Gdańsk is a little gem in Poland that’s a little less touristy but with a huge amount of culture to capture, and is definitely worth a visit!

 

Thanks for joining me!

 

 

What Photography Kit do I use?

Hey it’s me again,

So I thought I’d tell you a bit about my kit, as that’s what enables me to create the photographic projects I produce.

Cameras –

• Nikon D610
• Nikon AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR
• Olympus Trip 35
• Hasselblad 500 C/M
• Go Pro Hero 3 Black

Accessories – 

• Manfrotto 190 Go! Aluminium Tripod
• Seagate 1TB Hardrive
• Portra 400 35mm
• Portra 160 120mm
• Ilford HP5 B&W
• Lomochrome Purple XR 100 – 400 35mm

Studio Kit –

(excuse the mess of my studio kit, I put it away in a rush last week)

• 3 x Light Heads
• 3 x Light Stand
• 2 x Soft box
• 2 x Umbrella’s
• 1 x Wireless Trigger
• 1 x Barn door
• 4 x Colour Gels
• 2 x Background Stands
• 1 x  Background Crossbars
• 3 x Clamps
• 1 x Black backdrop
• 1 x White backdrop
• 1 x Green backdrop

Software –

•  iMac 21.5-inch
• Adobe Photoshop CC 2018
• Adobe Lightroom Classic CC
• Adobe Premier Pro CC

I mainly use my Nikon with the 24 – 85 mm lens, because its full frame is perfect for everything from landscapes to portraiture. It is also what I take all my commercial and client base photography on, due to the quick turn around needed for these type of shoots. My Olympus Trip and Hasselblad are the cameras I use for my project based photography, as I just love the quality film gives to my conceptual style and as many of my projects document historical locations it seems the perfect medium to use.

If you have any questions about any of my photography kit, feel free to comment below.

Thanks for reading!

The Journey Begins

Photography Credit – Steve Fratson Photography

Hi all, I’m Zoe Shayle, a 22-year-old Photography Graduate from Herefordshire

My passion for photography began at 14/15 years old when I bought my first bridge camera. I started taking photographs of landscapes from which I painted. From then on I pursued my artistic career path in photography through the courses Level 3 Extended Diploma in Art & Design and BA (Hons) Photography (both of which I completed at Hereford College of Arts).

Throughout the final year of my degree, I found my own niche, style and practice through conceptual projects including Mercia|Powys and Unearthing (more on those in a later post). After graduating with a 2:1, real life kicked in – with my photographic practice being placed on hold in order to earn money to create new projects.

But now I feel it’s the time to start a new project and some ideas are brewing which I plan to share soon. However, in the meantime, I will be posting blogs on all things photography in my life, from film developing to photoshoots.

Thanks for joining me!

A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know. – Diane Arbus

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