Night pier in the town of Koserow, Balt autumn 2022
Preparing the trip
The Baltic coast is especially photogenic. After a summer visit to the Polish side of the Baltic (Leba, Gdansk, Rowy) and based on the photos of colleagues, you will realize that autumn or spring will be a much better time for you as a photographer. Why?
- In the summer, you’ll be fighting the hordes of other visitors. There are simply so many people that they will crawl in front of your lens without mercy. Planning a shot is often impossible even in the evening.
- After all, autumn or spring will add a “gloomier”, harsher mood to the photos, it is the Baltic after all.
- It’s windy even in summer, but photographers who love long expeditions will find their way in autumn or spring.
As photographers, you have two options. You can go to the Baltic with a photo expedition or you can plan it along your own axis. The first option is great for those who don’t know the locations, don’t want to go alone, or want to learn from more experienced colleagues and instructors. It’s a hassle-free choice, it just costs you a little more of your blacksmiths. I recommend, for example, FotoŠkoda (Czech Photo Travel, photographer Jirka Šebek is fine, I had the honor).
The second option means more freedom in your photography, you get it cheaper, but you just have to take care of everything. It is ideal if you arrange with some other similar crazy or group (at least you share the cost of transport). I was lucky enough to arrange with two other photographers.
The date of the autumn photo expedition was set for 16/11/2022 – 20/11/2022. Destination Baltic, between the German and Polish sides. We agreed to leave at midnight, the idea was to be in the Baltic and photograph the morning sun. You can find accommodation in autumn without any problems, but we booked the date 3 weeks in advance. In this case, you don’t have the option to go according to the weather, so it’s a bit of a lottery bet.
- What not to forget? Warm clothes. Be aware that it is very windy near the sea, even if there is no wind 100 m from the sea. Be sure to have proper shoes, a hat (a balaclava is also suitable), gloves and several layers of clothing. Despite the heated vest and the weather around 5 degrees, I really hit the scythe.
- Photo equipment, I chose two photo bodies, but I had a relatively limited choice of lenses. I took a 14-30mm f/4 wide-angle lens, a fixed 21mm f/3.4 and a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto lens (true with a 1.4 teleconverter). All photos were taken from a Gitzo tripod. ND filters from VFfoto 64ND, 2000ND and Night Sky filter were used. I mustn’t forget the remote trigger either. Definitely don’t forget to pack a cleaning kit, multiple cards if you’re digital, of course a charger. It’s also handy to back up your efforts in the interim. I recommend to equip yourself with an umbrella (if we have rainy weather) – of course not for you, but for your dear darlings :). I recommend having a sunrise and sunset app on your mobile phone, I personally use Sun Seeker. Sun Seeker.
- You can search for accommodation using, for example Booking.com. We lived in the town of Ückeritz, ideally with access to the left or right coast by car.
- The journey after midnight is without problems, I chose it on purpose (during the day of the convoy around Berlin), and also for the morning photography. It’s just a bit more difficult, in the Czech Republic we also drove in thick fog. The journey is around 600 km if you drive from Prague via Dresden and around Berlin. Practically always on the highway.
- Food, restaurants are open, but not all. After all, at the specified time, these are not mass-visited places (which is fine for our species after all). You can easily buy breakfast in supermarkets, we lived practically next to a supermarket. However, I took packages of dried meat from Usušil & syn, you will appreciate it even during the journey in the car. Of course, I took coffee with me and used the preparation packages and teas from Norská móda on the spot.
- I estimate the total costs after budgeting and food to be approx. around CZK 6,000.
On the place
Photo capture parameters, camera settings
160 ISO
30 seconds
f/1,7
17,5mm
Other equipment: GITZO tripod, ND64 filters, Night Sky filter, self-timer, photographed in RAW format
Photo editing done
Photolocation
Taking Photo
Postprocessing
Publications
As you can see, this is an underexposed photo (we are moving in the first third of the histogram). However, the brightness component reaches almost to the highest value (here 245). I did not use exposure bracketing for the photo, a 30 second exposure was set.
Editing done in Capture One
- horizon comparison
- cropping
- basic retouching (distant light, dirt, etc.)
- basic photo editing, exposure adjustments, sharpening, contrast
Editing done in Affinity Photo
- application LUT GoldenHour Deep, rate 67 percent / LUT ČeskoslovenskáFotografie
View the photo before and after editing
GITZO tripod, ND64 filters, Night Sky filter, self-timer, photographed in RAW format
Others, photo presentation
I think the golden truth is that if you don’t print a photo, it just isn’t there. In any case, the publication of photos on social networks and websites can have an interesting element and that is the much-needed feedback. I used a different processing (postprocessing) than usual on the above photo. And so I was personally curious to see how the photography community would approach the edit.
Megapixel Gallery Community
I published the photo on my profile, which I don’t know why I had to create again, or I was suddenly without photos.
Link to: Megapixel Gallery
Getting comments. Received Megapixel Gallery Recommendation. Received a high rating for the published photo.
Social network Flickr
Social network for photographers. I used it passively to search for locations. But, maybe it’s a shame 🙂
Link to: Social network Flickr
Primarily an experiment, an interest. When reading the experiences of foreign colleagues, I noticed that they praise Flickr. Although I had an account based on it, I did not actively use it. I used their experience, procedures for managing the Flickr network and uploaded photos from the Baltic. And she became such a photographic nirvana 🙂
- less than 11,000 views in about a day, even though I’m just starting out on the profile
- 427 faves, just like
- 61 comments (admittedly, some are my answers), but the reaction is pleasing
- I was mainly asked by several administrators of groups (such flick curators) to list the photo, it would be a pleasure !! * Finest Photoart * !! Admin Invite only
- photo made Flickr’s pick of the day
Conclusion
Photography is actually a hobby for me (even though I accept and implement various orders), an incredible means of “clearing the head” and landscape photography as well as an opportunity to “exhale” in different places and at times (morning, evening) when you usually enjoy an incredible calm landscape.
And if you already meet a kindred spirit on the spot, you not only have a nice chat, but also collaborate, for example.