Panorama: Krakow's Main Market Square
Can someone please tell me what's wrong with this weather? It's either so sunny the asphalt melts, or it's raining cats and dogs and you feel like growing gills. My mountain plans for summer 2025 are pretty much ruined, and me? I'm sitting here crying because there is no single mountain post on the blog! The whole of July has been full of "I'll go to the Beskids in a few days" promises, followed by rainy disappointments. No offense, but I'm not an earthworm to go out after the rain!
But I'm not giving up! I told myself: "July can't be wasted, photos must be taken!" My lifeline was supposed to be Kraków's Main Market Square. So I tore myself away from my desk, grabbed my gear (and a new lens to test!), and headed out to conquer the city. Lens parameters? Oh, come on, the image quality speaks for itself, no need for fancy talk! To make things more interesting, though, I got a crazy idea – a handheld panorama! When was the last time I did that? A hundred years ago? Fifteen? I don't even remember anymore. I definitely took panoramas of the dunes in Leba, but that was probably in prehistoric times, like twelve generations of equipment and seventeen generations of experience ago. Shortly after the dinosaurs went extinct.
So, before I dove into snapping photos, I had to refresh my memory. And that's where AI stepped in! Within three minutes, I learned that for my focal length, I'd need 5 to 8 vertical shots. I gave it the aperture, wrote "I want everything sharp from 5 meters to infinity." And what did I get? A whole lecture on hyperfocal distance! And of course, the instruction to shoot in full manual, with exposure locked and manual focus. I absorbed the theory, feeling like the Albert Einstein of photography. I packed my backpack and headed into the city, full of faith in Einstein-myself.
About three hours later, I get home, upload the photos to my computer… and I'm stunned! Negative shock! First, all the photos are JPGs, not RAWs. And every photographer knows that shooting in JPGs is like playing a cassette tape, while shooting in RAWs is like conducting a symphony orchestra. Second, and perhaps even worse, all the photos are horribly blurry! So I check my camera… DAMMIT! In M mode, I really did only have JPGs enabled! And what's wrong with the sharpness? Well, I always, always shoot with AF. And today, with manual focus, I decided I'd set it once and be done with it. What a mistake caused by lack of experience! The focus ring just loves to happily shift when you just brush it with your finger... oh, it loves to shift!
Ultimately, there was nothing to do with those JPGs except delete them! So I packed my backpack for the second time, went to the city center for the second time. In the same shop, for the second time, I bought the same water. Then for the second time, I walked the same route, stopping at every spot – of course – for the second time. To repeat the same shots for the second time. Total déjà vu!
But it was worth it. Because in the end, the day, and thus the entire month of July, was saved. The photo exists. I don't know if it's extraordinary, or just not ordinary. But I really like it, because it shows Krakow's Main Market Square surprisingly wide. You'll admit there are few photos where both St. Mary's Church and the Town Hall Tower are shown in their full glory. It really is different, more interesting. And look how many details there are here. Enlarge the photo to full screen, and then click it again to enlarge it even more. Maybe we can count the bricks together?
