The Travelling Mushroom: Photography Tips

St. Peter's Basilica

St.Peter's Basilica is an enormous Late Renaissance church which is located in Vatican.
This church was design by four famous artist. They are Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Carlo Maderno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

So, why this church is very special ?
This church is one of the largest churches in the world. Therefore it has known as the most famous Renaissance architecture. If you want you know and learn about renaissance architecture details, you must come and observe this gigantic church.

Secondly, for Catholics people. This church is considered one of the holiest Catholic sites. Hence, many people and tourists describe this church as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".

Then, the most important thing about this church is the place where St. Peter was buried. Below the altar of this church of the basilica is St.Peter's burial. He is one of twelve apostle of Jesus. He has become a big piece of Christianity history. So this is also becoming one of the reasons why does this church become so famous around the world.

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Vatican

Tips :

If you are planning to visit this church for traveling purposes, I would recommend you to go out from this church before the devotions begin. It gonna be so hard for you to go out from the church and the city after the devotion begins as they gonna close some street access and the situation will be also exacerbated by how crowded this place is.

Secondly, I really don't recommend you to use flash inside the church as it will disturb the others who come to worship. I hope you gonna understand and could respect each other because this is a holy place.

Rating :

Excellent

I love to get extra destination on my itinerary. It isn't far from Rome and offer tourist the to see and feel the most famous Late Renaissance building. Moreover, for Christian people,while you are visiting this church, it's gonna be better if you pray here too.

Inner Part of Duomo di Milano

One of my reader asked me to write about the interior of the Duomo di Milano. Actually, I was planning to did it before he asked me to. But to make him curious, I delayed this post for several months. Hahaha
So, this is it, the interior part of the Duomo di Milano, Italy. As I had told you before, that we couldn't take picture inside this cathedral. However, when I was coming in, I saw many tourists were taking photos inside this building. As I was not the only man who eager to take this cathedral picture, I encouraged myself to take some pictures with the risk of being reprimanded by the cathedral staff or even worse, the bunch of armies that guard this building.

When I came in this building, my first word is "wow". This building is awesome. Maybe for you guys who live around Europe, this building isn't special as I told you. But for me, a person who come from Asian. This building is very hard to find. Even if I could find one, it is not as wonderful as I saw at that time. So, what I saw inside?

This Cathedral isn't as busy as the one in Vatican. But this cathedral still exist in my top ten busiest church that I had ever visit before. As I rarely visit church when I travelling. Hahaha. Yet, seriously this church is quite busy and crowded even though it isn't Sunday. Many people come to the left side of this Church, turn on a candle and pray. I don't know what does it means as I am a Christian and and not a Catholic. And at the center of the building there are rows of chairs that I guess a place where people come and pray. I also prayed to Jesus at that time inside that cathedral. I told HIM that I am grateful to be blessed and got a chance to visit Europe that I had never imagine before. And it feels awesome. Then, moving to the right part of this building there is several rooms made of wood. My friend told me that it is a place where you could confess sins that you had done.

Duomo di Milano, Milan, Italy

For those who want to visit this Cathedral and want to take some pictures inside. I suggest you to respect the others who are worshiping. Do not using flash as it will disturb them. I know that the picture gonna be quite dark as you couldn't use your flash. But I had tried to edit it and it looks like picture above.

Rating :

Good

If you love photography as the same as me. This place gonna be a good spot to take some photos. But if you are going to take some photos please read my post first before you took some. Happy travelling !

The Living Water

Woops,

Hey dudes!

yaaa, today I'm coming in a different day than I should be.

I also didn't keep my promise last week.

I am really sorry for it.

I am really busy with my school final exams. Last week, I thought that I gonna finished my test as soon as possible. But I was wrong, I have to face my final exam this week. So I apology that I don't have much time to write. I hope you gonna understand.

Today, I am taking some of my time to write and tell you a story of mine.Actually, this is isn't an tourist attraction. I just wanna share you some of my experience while travelling and photographing landscapes. I hope you gonna learn something in the end of this story.Exactly, this story happened two years ago. I was in my first year of senior high school. At that time, I was not be allowed to drive because I should be seventeen years old to get my driving license. So a driver will deliver me wherever I wanna go. Of course with my parents permission. When we were going around a town we were got into a street that has markets on its roadside. The road called "Banyu Urip" or in English called Living Water. Along that road there are many semi-permanent buildings but it doesn't rule out possibility that there also exist a beautiful, big houses. Okay, houses in this street isn't too caught my eyes. But there is something that really draw my attention. In a vacant lot bounded by tarpaulins there lived a old, withered tree. I found that it was cool. I was determined to took its picture once I come back there. So here it is !

Weathered Tree, Surabaya, Indonesia

So, from this story we can learn that, even a old tree could be a "hook" for our inspiration. Although, it isn't looks important, it could have another meaning behind it. Of course, when you pack it with an interesting idea. Unfortunately, you couldn't find this weathered anymore as it has been cut down in rainy season to avoid it fall into the street.

General Information :

Atomium is a tourist attraction in Brussels, Belgium. Actually, it was built for the World Fair in Brussels 1958 that designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak. However, Atomium has become the symbol of Europe's Capital. This structure height is 102 meters tall. And as you can see, Atomium is divided into nine clad spheres. You are able to go up and see various view from the topmost sphere of the building. You will get a view when look to the north and another view if you look to another point. Unfortunately, many people told me that the price doesn't justify what we will get to see.

The view that you will get to see in the topmost sphere :

North : The whole of the Exhibition Park (Brussels Expo)
North East : If the weather is great, you can see Antwerp's port as well as its cathedral.
East : The Royal estate, Stuyvenberg castle and Brussels National airport (Zaventem).
From the South to west : the city of Brussels, from the high-rise buildings of the Northern Quarter (also known as Manhattan) to the imposing Koekelberg Basilica, Grand Place and the Law Courts. On the horizon, you can make out Charleroi and Neigem hill (Neigembos - altitude 100m).

My Story :

We continued our trip from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Brussels, Belgium. It took quite long to be delivered to Brussels. I was really bored in the bus craving to walk around. As time goes by my bus finally parked up and we got several minutes to examine around and have a short rest.

It was a good day to examine around. It is sunny day but wasn't too hot. I took out my sunglasses and my camera and started to take some pictures. My family went to the toilet. But I got something else to do that was more important. I went to walk around and take some picture. I got some information that this building was built in purpose for the world fair. When I was walked around In the building I found a coin souvenir which was cost around around 1 until 1.5 euros. I took out some coins from my wallet and also made one as a souvenir. Finally after made it up I went out and tried to took its picture. I found that this building is enormous! I should walk several feet to take this building picture as a whole. But my effort was totally worth it. I got something for you guys that won't you get anywhere else except in Brussels, Belgium. As I got home I found that Atomium provide the "Panorama". As I have told you before that panorama is an attraction that you can visit in Atomium. Unfortunately, I have got no time to get to the topmost of this building as we have to continue our trip. I found that many people capture wonderful pictures up there. But they also told me that the price quite expensive as well.

Coin Souvenir

Tips :

For those who wanna take this building photos. I suggest you to take it as a whole because it is quite meaningless if you take it part by part. Excepting, If you want to expose the detail part of this building. If you visit Atomium just go walk to the field that is located near the Atomium. I guarantee that you'll get its picture in a whole if you go far enough. By the way the field is quite crowded. So you should place your camera creatively to avoid too many tourist come into your photos. Haha. The way you place your camera also help you to create a unique angle. You might also should try to place your camera on your overhead so that your camera will get high enough to dodge these people's head. Hahaha

Atomium, Brussels, Belgium

Rating :

Fair

This building should be visit for you guys as it is an icon of Brussels. Moreover, this building also provide you a great view of Brussels from its topmost sphere. Yet, based on the Atomium website, adults should pay 11 euros to go up and 8 euros for students. Unfortunately, the price has the potential to discourage tourists to go up.

Belgian Painter

Today, I gonna give you some tips that I hope will be useful for you guys to take a candid photo especially when you are traveling around. So here it is :

Handheld your camera as a moment is come and disappear in a second. You won't have time to unpack your camera for your case as the moment will past as soon as you ready with your camera.
Turn off your flash so that your object won't feel awkward.
I recommend you to use your telephoto lens because the telephoto lens can take someone's photo unconsciously. As there is some people who doesn't want their face being in your photo. Using telephoto lens also helps to capture your object more naturally.
As the moment come and go quickly I recommend you to use the continuous / burst mode to increase the chances of success.
It always nice to capture the person with their activities as well to make the photo looks more alive.
If your object looks aware, do not put your viewfinder to your eyes as it will make the crazy.
Ask their permission before take their picture if it is possible. Sometimes there are some people who don't mind if you take their picture. However, it will be more polite if you ask their permission before take some picture.

In Belgium, I saw a painter in a crowd. I took a picture of him and it looks great !The painter cheerful smile and the enthusiastic little boy in front of the exotic buildings in Belgium is a great composition. I really grateful to met him as a fellow artist. In my country many painters didn't receive much attention from the government especially the amateur artists. I hope that in the future, the artist will get more attention from the government and society.

Artists Life, Brussels, Belgium

Rating :

Fair

As not every tourist love art. I can't give too much to this kind of attraction as it is too subjective for me. But I really love it this photo above. It capture the activity and the mood at that time and be able to tell what was going on. Furthermore, I don't suggest you to buy one as it will be hard to carry as you will take a long flight and I believe that it will burden you during your flight time.

Being Mobile In Netherlands

Can't bring your bulky DSLR ?
maybe a pocket hybrid camera is the answer.
But there is another alternate rather than using a pocket camera.
It is more simple and mobile.

It is mobile phone!
Hahaha

I took several picture using mobile phone while I was in Amsterdam. I borrowed my father's phone. Maybe I better don't tell you the brand and the series as I am not going to promote any brand right now. Because I believe that every phone, even an old mobile phone is able to do this simple steps.

Try to capture everything that you go pass by. As you might get tons of them are failure. Use your burst mode if available.
Select some photos that aren't too bad. Then start to imagine what are you going to do with these photos.
Try to retouch them as slightly as you can. Nowadays there is so many editing application for mobile phones which is quite helpful while you can't reach your laptop. But try to make them stay natural.
Crop is usually be needed when you are using the mobile phone camera because it usually only focused in a point and become blurred in the other part of the photo. After you cropped it, you could add some blurred affect to relieve the blurred part which is unable to be cropped. You also could add some filter effect to make your photo tone more interesting if you like to.

So this photo below is one of several photos which was taken using a mobile phone while I was traveled to Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam Cityscape, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rating :

Good

Amsterdam cityscape is really great. You won't find this kind of atmosphere in other place. It is really peaceful, isn't too crowded but still provide some public transportation such as bike which is really popular right here. Some small rivers adorn this city and has become an icon as Amsterdam is highly related with the dam.

Windmill, The Heart of Netherlands

As we traveled by bus, it was normal for us to spent several hours sit on the bus that will bring us to our destination. As I was bored at that time. I tried several times to capture something but it was failure. Maybe you are facing the same problem as me. So today, I am going to give you some tips that I hope can be useful for you guys.

Set your camera shutter as fast as it could. But remember to adjust it with the light atmosphere around you. The brighter it is the faster you can use.
Aim carefully the object. Place your camera as close as you can to the window.
Turn off your flash to omit reflection
Sit next to the most clear window of the bus. If necessary, you can clean the window before you enter the bus
Do not afraid to try. Take as much photos as you can.
It will better to change your lens mode into manual focus so that you can focusing more accurately. In case to take a good picture blurred the window and focus to the object.
Bring a circular polarizer which is really help to reduce reflection.

As an example, this photo below was taken by me from the bus. It was a traditional windmill that has been hard to be find because it has been replaced by the modern one. As an information, windmill is a machine that helps the people to produce rotational energy by convert the energy of the wind. And those rotational energy were used by the people in the past in purpose to milling grain. So here it is!

Windmill,Amsterdam,Netherlands

Rating :

Excellent

Even though there is no specific place to see the windmill in particular. However windmill has become a part of the Netherlands and scattered in several places in Netherlands. But nowadays it's quite rare to find this type of windmill. So come, feel and see the fraction of the Netherlands that you won't get anywhere else.

Photographing The Unknown Temple

When we went to Mt.Sorak, we were delivered by a gondola. Everybody busily took a photo in the gondola. But I have a different mindset, my aim is to have a different viewpoint photo than others so I could get a unique photo of Mt.Sorak. But I suddenly realized that we were too close to the mountain so definitely I can't took it's picture on the whole. I felt so dumb at that time.

I've already set my camera off because I've failed to take it's photo as we were too close and also the window of the gondola made my photo bounce back. Surprisingly I found something very interesting. There is a building surrounded by trees in the forest.

I think that it's a cool building. As time goes on, my curiosity grow bigger. So that I asked my tour guide related to my photo.Then she answered that it' Sinhheungsa Temple and we had visited that temple right after we visited Mount Sorak.

Sinheungsa Temple from the gondola

So here is some photography tips when you are in the gondola to Mount Sorak :

1. Get in to the gondola faster than others and stay next to the window

2. When taking photos don't use your flashlight to avoid reflection

3. After several minutes inside the gondola, you'll find a temple. Recognize that it's the Sinheungsa Temple.

4. You need to retouch your photo by adding some contrast level as sometimes the photo which is taken through a window is quite "foggy"