Digital chronicle caputure_the_world_in_a_photo

Digital chronicle Capture the world in a photo

Regensburg (Germany) 23rd - 29th November 2013: November 23, 2013

At the first day of the Comenius-project named „Capture the world in a photo“ 18 students and 11 teachers from 5 different countries arrived in Regensburg (Germany). The Croatian guests by car and the Finnish, Polish, Turkish and Spanish guests by flight. The teachers had nice rooms in a hotel in the historic downtown, the students had rooms in a hostel quite next to the old town. In the evening the German teachers welcomed the students and teachers at the hostel and talked about the visit schedule and the next week.

November 24, 2013 On Sunday the students and teachers from every country came together in the hostel. There were also 10 students and 2 teachers from the vocational school “Städtische Berufsschule II Regensburg”. While the teachers talked about the next trips and choose the winner of the photo competition, the students had a quiz-walk through the city. They got a map with instructions and had to ask people to find the right way They also had to take photos of every building they found in the map. The students had a lot of fun together!

After having lunch at the hostel the whole group went to the old town to have a guided city tour through Regensburg. They learned something about the buildings, the people and the history of Regensburg.

Later on at the bowling center the students and teachers had a lot of fun together. Some of them had a lot of strikes and good points.

While the students had dinner at the hostel, the teachers came together with the German teachers at “Fürstliches Brauhaus”.

November 25, 2013 On Monday the students had to present their schools and countries. They showed some pictures of their city and explained important things about their culture. Another interesting topic was the school system. After lunch the headmaster of the school and the lord mayor of Regensburg opened the Christmas market at school. The students and teacher had the chance to stroll around it and buy some nice souvenirs. The students got their dinner at the youth hostel while the teachers had a free evening to go wherever they wanted to go. Maybe to a pub or just walk through the old town.

November 26, 2013 The day began very early! According the schedule the group went to Munich. At first they visited the BMW World and had a workshop about perspective and details, which was very interesting. The students and teachers walked through the BMW World and took a lot of pictures. They also visited the BMW Museum.

After lunch the project members had the chance to go to the soccer stadium named “Allianz Arena”. That was a good thing for soccer fans of the team “Bayern München”. And it was a nice place to take some good photos.

At half past four the group headed home and had some free time before dinner. Like the day before the students had their dinner at the hostel while the teachers could decide on their own where they wanted to have dinner.

November 27, 2013 On Wednesday the participants could learn some things about the workflow in a photostudio. They had four stations to go through. The first one was about the camera settings and how to use them. At the second station some students showed them how to pose for a good photo. The students from Regensburg took a photo from each student and teacher.

After that they learned something about retouching, brightness and contrast. At the last station they studied what kind of steps you have to do before printing. That included also the using of a printer.

Between the workshops everybody got lunch and coffee and cake. While the German students prepared the pictures for the exhibition, the other students and teachers had some free time for example to go shopping.

In the evening the students and teachers met to have a Bavarian dinner at the hostel. They had to eat without cutlery and with candlelight.

As a present each student and each teacher got a photo by himself from the workshop.

Each country got also a flag with signatures from all of the students and teachers who had been in Regensburg.

November 28, 2013 Four German students and one teacher had to wake up at 6 a.m. to prepare the exhibition at Café Lila. The other students and teachers met at 9 a.m. at the teachers´ hotel. Some German students and teachers walked with them to “Brauerei Bischofshof” to see how they make beer. After the tour they had lunch together at the Bischofshof restaurant. At the exhibition there were not just the participants of the Comenius-project and some German students. There were also the deputy mayor, a woman from the newspaper to write an article about this week and an immigration officer, who was very interested in this project.

In the evening the teachers had dinner with the headmaster of the vocational school in Regensburg.

November 29, 2013 At the last day in Regensburg the students had breakfast at the hostel and the teachers at the hotel. Later on they said goodbye to the German teachers and left to the airport or left by car.

The students and teachers from every country had much time to talk, to learn something from and about each other and to get new friends. Everybody had a great time in Regensburg. Special thanks to Michael and Eduard!

Leppävirta (Finland) 19th - 25th February 2014: February 19, 2014

14 students and 10 teachers from Poland, Germany, Spain, Turkey and Croatia arrived at Leppävirta after a long exhausting trip. The students and teachers met the host families and the students were accommodated at their homes.

February 20, 2014 The students had to wake up very early to go to school with their hosts. They were in the same lessons as their host students. For example French, geography, math, Finnish, English, German and Russian lessons. After class everybody had an organizational meeting to learn some things about each other, see the visit schedule and get some maps. Also every visitor got a pair of gloves from an organization.

Between lunch and dinner the students were with their hosts in the lessons again and the teachers had a meeting to evaluate the second project task. The project members also had a night sky photography workshop to study camera settings and how to use a tripod.

During the dark the students could try to practice night sky photography but because of the cloudy sky it was not possible.

February 21, 2014 In the morning of the second day at school the hosts had lessons with their hosts again. At 10 a.m. everybody met and each partner had a presentation about his country, city and school. They also showed some pictures and talked about them.

In the afternoon about 40 students and teachers walked through the city to the skiing arena of Leppävirta. The exchange students and teachers could practice cross-country skiing, which was really funny!

In the evening the students stayed with their hosts to go ice-skating or just to watch movies and talk to each other. Meanwhile the teachers had a good dinner at the restaurant Mamma´s.

February 22, 2014 On the way to Kuopio the group had a break at Puijo Tower and tried to photograph typical Finnish lake landscape. But because of the cloudy weather it was not possible to photograph landscape.

In Kuopio students and teachers had the chance to visit Kuopio city center and market place and to go shopping or just drink a cup of coffee or tea.

In the afternoon the students stayed with their hosts and had a nice evening. They photographed night sky

while the teachers had a social evening with the teachers of Leppävirta Lukio; they also had the chance to have a sauna.

February 23, 2014 On Sunday everybody could stay at home in the morning. At 1 p.m. all students and teachers came together and visited the church in Leppävirta.

Later on some guys organized the exhibition at the civic center and all project members of this week could choose the winner of the photo competition named „Emotions displayed in a picture“.

In the evening the whole group went to the Taurus Hill Observatory in Varkaus to learn something about using an internet connected telescope to take astronomical images of the night sky. Unfortunately it was cloudy again. At 9 p.m. the bus arrived in Leppävirta and everybody went go home.

February 24, 2014 On the day before leaving the students were with their hosts in the lessons. Before lunch the students and teachers evaluated the workshops and every country showed some of their pictures. In the afternoon after the students stayed with their hosts and the teachers had an organizational meeting everybody went to the opening of the exhibition. One Finnish teacher and the major of Leppävirta said some words and the project members had a look at the photos.

At 6 o´clock in the evening the students and teachers of every country met in a restaurant in Leppävirta to have a nice last evening together. Some Finnish students and teachers had prepared funny games and discussions. All together it was a crazy and funny evening.

On the way home you could see stars!!

February 25, 2014 On the last day of this visit the students had the chance to choose between going to the lessons again or just meeting and talking to each other. Some participants had to leave in the morning, some in the afternoon. Others stayed one more day in Leppävirta.

The whole week was filled with nice trips, wonderful landscape and nice and friendly people. Everybody learned a lot about Finnish lifestyle and hospitality, got new friends in Europe and had a great time in Leppävirta. Special thanks to Reima, Mari and Leena!

Varazdin (Croatia) 5th – 11th November 2013: April 5, 2014

After a long exhausting trip the students and teachers from Poland, Finland, Turkey, Germany and Spain arrived at medicinska skola Varazdin. They met the hosts and their families. At home some of them had a traditional Croatian meal.

April 6, 2014 The students and teachers had to wake up very early to go to school with their hosts. They met all the students and teachers from the other countries. After lunch the group went by bicycle to “Drava River” to practice landscape photography. At 5 p.m. they arrived at medicinska skola and everybody went back home to their hosts. In the evening the students had free time with their host families. For example they visited a big garden with trees from around the world and a ruin. Or they just went to the city and enjoyed the evening in Varazdin.

April 7, 2014 After having breakfast in the families the students took the bus to school. They met at school at 10 o`clock. One point of the program of this day was getting to know each other a little better. The meeting began with introducing themselves in small groups (name, age, family, hobbies, etc.). In the same groups they searched for some well hidden and painted Easter eggs, which was quite a funny game for working together. At 11 o`clock, after every Easter egg was found, every country had a presentation about their school and city. After five different presentations it was time to have lunch.

One hour later the students and teachers borrowed bicycles and drove to “Drava River”, where they practiced landscape photography. On the riverside they`ve had a refreshing drink before they finished the school day at 5 p.m. At home the students had dinner with their host families.

April 8, 2014 On the fourth day the members of the Comenius project had to wake up very early to departure to “Trakošćan Castle” at 8 o`clock. The official part started with a guided tour around the castle where the group learned something about the history of Croatian photography and its inventor Drăsković of Trakošćan. Afterwards some of the Croatian students and their teachers had prepared a workshop about landscape photography (equipment: clothing, tripod, lenses, filters; settings; time).

Referring to that there was time to practice landscape photography around the castle and his lake. Some really nice pictures have been taken.

The time at “Trakošćan Castle” ended with a small coffee break. For the afternoon there was planned a climbing to “Ravna Gora”, where everybody could choose weather taking the long way from “Trakošćan Castle” or a shorter one just to the top of the mountain.

The students and teachers had a lot of fun to climb the mountain and talk to other members, but it was also hard to climb to the top. Everybody was glad to rest there and get some traditional food. With new energy they walked the way down to the bus, which brought them back to school. The joyful day ended at 6 p.m. Back in the families the students had a nice dinner with their host families.

April 9, 2014 On Wednesday the meeting time was 10 o`clock at school. All together they went to the Town Museum to prepare the exhibition of the best pictures of every country. The topic was “Nature”. Back at school everybody showed his best pictures taken the day before at the landscape workshop to the whole group. In the afternoon the students and teachers had some free time to go to the city to buy some souvenirs or to have some coffee. At 7 p.m. the exhibition finally has been opened with lots of journalists and even a small TV-channel took a movie.

From the exhibition the project members had just five minutes to go to the restaurant “Vartlec”, where they spent the evening with dinner and some funny games, country against country.

April 10, 2014 At the last day in Varazdin the group went to a museum, where they could see how Neandertalers lived thousands of years ago and they tried to make a handbag on their own only by using typical tools like sharp stones or needles made of wood. It was very interesting to see, how people lived so many years ago.

Later the students and teachers went to Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia. They had a sightseeing tour through the center of the city and had lunch in a pub in Zagreb.

After that everybody went back to Varazdin to have a drink and to enjoy their last evening in Croatia.

April 11, 2014 It was the last day of the project-week in Croatia. The participants from Poland, Finland, Spain, Germany and Turkey had to leave. They said goodbye to their host families and new friends and went to the airport. The week in Varazdin was wonderful. The students and teachers from Finland, Poland, Germany, Turkey and Spain had exciting, interesting and funny days with the students and teachers from Croatia. Special thanks to Saša, Nataša and Ivan.

Istanbul (Turkey) 12th – 18th October 2014: October 12, 2014

New meeting, new city, new people, same project. The Turkish, Germans and the Finn started with a walk through the city. They also had a traditional lunch. In the evening the Polish and Basque arrived in Istanbul and the whole group had dinner at a fish restaurant with very good fish and beef/chicken/meat balls. As it was a traditional dinner there was a group of guys making music.

October 13, 2014

Everybody had to wake up very early to have breakfast at 8.00 o`clock in the morning. The teachers had a short meeting where they discussed the schedule for the whole week. At 10.00 o`clock the group met in the conference room of the hotel. Every student and teacher got a bag with information and souvenirs from Gaziantep, which they liked very much. The Turkish group also prepared a video about the trips to Regensburg, Leppävirta and Varazdin, which was really amazing! Then the students had to conduct their presentations about their countries, cities and schools. The presentations were very interesting!

The Croatian guys, who couldn´t been there unfortunately, won the competition.

After a workshop about “Light in Photography” the group of students and teachers evaluated the “Freelensing Photos”.

Lunch was at a place near the university. From here the project members walked to the university with its fire brigade tower.

After that everybody had some free time to walk through the Grand Bazaar and go shopping.

From the Çemberli Taş (Column of Constantine) the group walked to Eminönü (harbor). It was a wonderful place to take some photos with the setting sun. At 8.00 o`clock in the evening twenty people went to a restaurant near the Grand Bazaar to eat typical Turkish specialties.

October 14, 2014 The day started with a very crazy bus tour through the city to Ortaköy. There the students could practice how to use the sun for good photos. For example photographing the big Boğaziçi bridge and the Ortaköy-Mosque at the coast. At lunchtime the group ate typical potatos with cheese, butter, onions, olives, sausages etc.

Then there was another mosque to visit, the Süleymaniye-Mosque. It is a big interesting mosque with a lot of good places to take photos, inside and outside. And you also have a really good look at the differences between the religion in Turkey and in other countries.

A big highlight for some of the students was the boat tour in the Bosphorus. They could see a lot of mosques and beautiful buildings on their way and they took a lot of good pictures.

On the way back the sun was very deep in the sky, another good practice how to use the light in photography.

After a short break the teachers had dinner in the Çiçek Pasajı while the students had dinner and some free time at the shopping mall. It was really a great day!!

October 15, 2014 In the morning everybody got a really good breakfast again. Then they went to a Panorama Museum about the conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453. You could also hear the noises from 1453 and the music.

There were also some cottages where you could find some information about Uzbekistan for example. It was a very interesting place.

At lunchtime the whole group went to the Sultan Ahmet Köfte to have meatballs, a very famous food in this restaurant.

Later on the students and teachers had some free time to visit the Topkapi Palace with its wonderful rooms and its courtyards.

They also visited the Gulhane Park, where they could take a lot of photos of parrots, cats and dogs.

Afterwards the participants of the project had dinner together at a restaurant, again with fish, chicken and Turkish music.

October 16, 2014 On Thursday the participants from Basque country, Poland, Finnland, Germany and Turkey visited the big impressive Sultanahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque.

It was an incredible experience to walk through this mosque. Everybody took some amazing photos of the arched roof and the mosque from the inside and the outside.

The next point on the plan was the famous Hagia Sophia. It has been a church and a mosque and now it is a big interesting museum.

The third station was the Basilica Cistern next to the Hagia Sophia. It is very dark down there so the students had a good chance to train photography in situations with less light.

Later on after lunch the group visited IFSAK (Istanbul Fotoğraf ve Sinema Amatörleri Derneği) for a photo exhibition. They saw some amazing photos. They also saw three presentations about Istanbul with very nice pictures from some IFSAK members.

Before dinner the students and teachers had some free time to go shopping at Istiklal street or to have a cup of tea or coffee at the Taksim Square.

For dinner the participants went to the sixth floor of Etiler Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School Practice Hotel. Fromm up there you have a wonderful view over the city at night. And another interesting workshop, how to take good photos at night time.

October 17, 2014 In the morning the Turkish teachers and students had prepared the exhibition of the Freelensing-photos at the lobby of the hotel. It was very nice to see the beautiful pictures again.

Until noon everybody had some free time to take some photos near by the hotel and for example to go shopping at the Grand Bazaar again.

After lunch they visited an interesting museum about history of photography. It was a good chance to learn more about the first photographers and their photos and some famous artists.

After that the participants had some free time again. For dinner everybody met at the hotel and together the group went to a restaurant under the Galata Bridge. It was a nice last evening in Istanbul with fish, chicken, meatballs and Turkish music again.

October 18, 2014 After a lot of hugs, tears and goodbyes the students and teachers from Poland, Finnland, Germany and Basque Country had to leave Istanbul. Everybody was very sad, that they had to go.

The students and teachers from five different countries had an unbelievable week in Istanbul. The city is incredible, the people are so nice and the time there was just amazing! Special thanks to Hulya, Gülşen and Mustafa!

Beasain (Basque Country) 28th February – 6th March 2015: February 28, 2015

On Saturday evening 20 students and 13 teachers arrived at Beasain by bus.

After saying hello to some old friends, the students met their hosts and host families. They spent their evening at home. The teachers had an interesting evening at a cider house.

March 1, 2015 At 10 o´clock the whole group met at Igartza Palace to do some warm up activities. Afterwards the students from every country did presentations about their city, school and country.

Before the Basque students teached the participants how to do a HDR image, a tour guide showed and explained the historic site of Beasain.

For lunch the teachers went to a restaurant while the students had free time with their host families for the rest of the day.

March 2, 2015 It was raining a little bit when the project members met at school to take the bus to Pasaia.

After a short walk to the coast they visited Albaola, the sea factory of the Basques, where a lot of people are building a likeness of an old whale ship San Juan. They also did some sightseeing in the little town.

Before the students and teachers had lunch together in a restaurant in Hondarribi they walked through the city and had some sightseeing. From this town you have a look to the French coast.

Back in Beasain the students had free time with their families while the teachers had dinner together.

March 3, 2015 On Tuesday the group left Besain at 8 o´clock to go to Zarautz.

After taking a lot of photos at the sea while it was raining again, the project members split up in two groups and visited the photomuseum. There are for example a lot of old cameras. It was a very interesting place!

After a short break the group took the bus to Bilbao. There they had some free time for lunch and shopping before they visited the very famous and impressive Guggenheim Museum.

The guided tour through the museum with short explanations about every exhibition there was very exciting!! You got a fascinating overview about the Guggenheim Museum.

At half past seven the group arrived back in Beasain. In the evening the students had dinner together. The host students prepared that very well! It was a nice and funny evening.

March 4, 2015 Wednesday was a beautiful day in San Sebastian!

In the morning the participants walked along the beach to Peine del Viento.

They took a lot of photos of the buildings, the beach, the waves and the people.

After this amazing walk the group went through the old part of the city to a photography exhibition of Jose Manuel Ballester, a national photography award winner. He took some incredible photos.

For lunch the teachers went to a traditional “Pintxo” bar, while the students had picnic lunch together. In the afternoon everybody had some free time to go sightseeing or shopping or just to go to the beach again. With a lot of shopping bags the project members met at the railway station to go back to Beasain.

The students had dinner at home and the teachers went to a bar in Ordizia, a little town next to Besain.

March 5, 2015 On the last day the Basque students showed the students and teachers from Finland, Germany, Poland, Croatia and Turkey around the school and they had a look in some lessons. Afterwards the teachers had an evaluation of the project.

At 10 o´clock the guests went to Segura to have an interesting guided tour in this little town.

Then they had a look at an iron mine next to Zerain.

After some free time the project members met again at Igartza Palace to choose the winner of the photography competition. This time the topic of the competition was “Movement in sports” and the winner was Germany. At 7 o´clock in the evening the exhibition was opening.

To dinner all participants met at Artzaienea. They had a good dinner and a lot of fun with interesting conversations and traditional music and dances.

Afterwards some students and teachers went to a bar. It was a gorgeous evening with dancing and very nice people!

Time to say goodbye! The Finnish participants had to leave very early in the morning. The other students and teachers left Beasain at half past eight. After a lot of tears, lovely words and many hugs another Comenius week was over.

All of the students and teachers from Poland, Turkey, Croatia, Germany and Finland had a great time in the Basque country. The host families and the students were awesome and made the guests feel like home in the Basque country. Special thanks to Pixu, Miryam, Maite, Imanol and Annabelle!

Sierakowice (Poland) 19th – 25th of April 2015: April 19, 2015

It was the last trip of the Comenius project “Capture the world in a photo”. On a sunny Sunday twenty students and twelve teachers arrived in Sierakowice. The teachers went to their hotel in Chmielno, while the students met their host families. After a lot of hugs the students went to their host´s homes and spent the evening there.

April 20, 2015

On Monday everybody met at school and got a guided tour through the school ZSP W Sierakowicach. After a nice hello from the headmaster of the school, the teachers had an official meeting and the students did a scavenger hunt. They had to build groups and got different instructions, what to take photos of.

Afterwards the whole group decided about the winner of the photo competition. Before they got lunch, the students had to do their presentations about their countries, cities and schools. For lunch the students had very good pizza and the teachers went to a good restaurant.

At 3 o`clock p.m. the project members met to build pinhole cameras. They also learned how to use them. It was very interesting!

At 3 o`clock p.m. the project members met to build pinhole cameras. They also learned how to use them. It was very interesting! In the evening the teachers met at Helenka Renia to have dinner and the students had dinner at their host families. Some of them also met at a lake to sit next to a bonfire and talk to each other.

April 21, 2015 The group met at 10 o`clock in the morning to go to Łeba. After lunch next to a lake they started to hike to the moving dunes. It was a really nice way through the forest.

The way ended at the impressive moving dunes, which move fifteen meters per year! But they look wonderful! Climbing to the top was some kind of hard, but also funny. You had a great view from up there. The students and teachers took a lot of photos and enjoyed the sun and the view. Here the students had to take their photo with the pinhole cameras.

Then they had a walk at the beach back to a meeting point, where they took little busses to get back to the entrance of the national park. The beach was very beautiful and the guests didn´t expect something like this.

In the evening the students met at the house of one of the Polish girls to have barbecue. It was a very interesting and nice evening! The students hat their dinner at the hotel.

April 22, 2015 On Wednesday the students and teachers started at 10 o`clock with hiking to a lake in Kamienica.

After eight kilometers by foot they arrived at the lake and had a bonfire and barbecue there. The project members could also play games or go bowling.

The students spent their afternoon and the evening out with their hosts.

April 23, 2015 The opening of the exhibition of the competition photos was one of the most important parts of the project week. The coordinator of the project, the headmaster of the school and some other important supporter of the project spoke to the students and teachers and a lot of other visitors.

For lunch they got a delicious buffet. At free time in the afternoon the students went to a hotel to go bowling and swimming. In the evening all project members had an official dinner at the teachers´ hotel. The winner of the competitions in this week got their prizes and there was also a DJ for dancing.

April 24, 2015 On the last day in Poland the students and teachers went to Gdansk to have a guided tour through the wonderful city and through the museum about the second world war.

In the afternoon the whole group went to Sopot at the sea. It was a beautiful place! They had some free time to go shopping or just sightseeing. Everybody really enjoyed this day!!

For the last evening some students went to a Polish disco for dancing, some others just had pizza and some nice talks at home. And it was the first time in this week to say goodbye to old and new friends.

April 25, 2015 Saturday was a very sad day. It was the day of saying goodbye to good friends and to this project. After a lot of tears and hugs the students and teachers traveled back to their own countries.

It was an amazing week in Sierakowice with all of the students and teachers from Poland, Turkey, Croatia, Germany, Finland and the Basque Country. The guests felt very well in their host families and in the hotel. The activities were great and very well planned! Special thanks to Dawid and Ola!

Dear Friends, it has really been a great project. But it was not just because of the beautiful cities and landscapes and those many amazing pictures you took; the most important reason, that made this project so special were these many wonderful friends! It was a pleasure to meet all of you! You are the best and I hope we are going to meet again, sometime, somewhere.