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A winter hiking experience
testing Lafuma's shift down jackets
I normally don’t believe in lotteries, giveaways or chance games in any form. The possibility to win is usually so small and you cannot influence it. Nevertheless, when I saw the giveaway at Nomadict in the beginning of this year – two down jackets from Lafuma – I just decided to give it a try. All I had to do was sharing it and tagging a friend ‘who needed a jacket’. I mentioned a good friend of mine whom I really wanted to give this jacket to; I felt he deserved it and truly hoped I could make him, and myself, happy with the jacket… I was waiting for the result with hope though without expectation at the same time.
"And I won! I could not believe it! I felt really excited about the entire experience."
My friend and I decided to head outdoors to celebrate, enjoying the nature and trying to create some nice visual content of the jackets. I wanted to express how happy I was and show my gratitude. Taking some outdoor shots of the jackets in Polish winter wonderland seemed to be the perfect way. I have looked at the work of my favorite photographers many times to learn about how they present a certain product, the angles the photos were taken from, where they put the focus and lead the eye to… There are so many factors to take into account when creating visual content for marketing purposes. The brand has to be represented correctly, the product has to be shown at its best and it should be an image that evokes desire and emotion too.
One day I would like to achieve this level myself. I keep learning from my idols and practising. Shooting the jackets of Lafuma was my first experience with commercial photography; it was a perfect professional exercise. When I got the jackets, I knew how I wanted to photograph them. I had visions in my head from the beginning. In the mountains, and in the snow; that would be the perfect conditions. The scene would nicely fit with the jackets and support the feeling and message I would want to convey.
Destination:
High Tatras mountain range
So, for our first adventure with the jackets we headed to the Polish Tatras, part of the High Tatras mountain range which is accessible from either Poland or Slovakia as it crosses the border. The Tatras are part of the Carpathian Mountains, the second longest mountain range in Europe stretching from the Czech Republic, crossing Poland and Slovakia, to Serbia, Romania, and Moldova. It was February and winter had taken over, so the Tatras were beautifully covered in snow. At first we wanted to go for a hard trail to the high parts of the Tatra Mountains, but unfortunately the day before our trip an avalanche alert was announced.
"For security reasons, we decided to rather hike the easiest and most touristic route in the Tatras; the trail to Morskie Oko, meaning “eye of the sea” in Polish."
It is an 18 km trail leading to the largest lake that can be found in the Tatra National Park, located in a valley surrounded by peaks of over 1000m high, Rysy being one of them with an altitude of 2499m.
Being tested by the strong wind and the massive snowfall
We arrived to Zakopane, the mountain town, and began hiking from the start of the trail. As predicted, the weather was rough. The strong wind and the massive snowfall meant that I could check the effectiveness of the jacket during our hike. I couldn’t believe that the jacket would protect so well in these harsh conditions, but all the product characteristics described turned out to be true. I expected to get wet but I was wrong; the jacket is waterproof and the seams windproof, which is a common issue with down jackets. Many times during the hike snow coming down from the trees fell on me but the jacket was not permeable, didn’t get moist and so I didn’t get cold.
An ideal travel companion
I love hiking and I don’t mind the distance or difficulty much as long as I know it should be doable for me. The feeling in my legs, the mental challenge and frozen nose are all things that I somehow enjoy despite that it can make it harder to keep going. This hike is rather easy, which is why it is so popular among tourists, especially in summer. In winter it’s a little more challenging because of the weather and the risk of avalanche. But what bothers me most when I go out in winter is that I feel less flexible with the thick kind of jackets that I used to wear to keep warm.
"This jacket from Lafuma though is incredibly light while still extremely warm because it is filled with natural down, which I can sometimes find on a blouse after I take it off."
The finishing touch is that it also feels pretty satisfactory knowing that the jacket is produced with eco-friendly material. It just gives a nice feeling, like when you are contributing to something good or helping someone.
Taking a moment to celebrate
After hiking for a few hours we managed to reach the lake Morskie Oko. We had a clear view and could see the mountain peaks, until dark threatening clouds appeared. The weather changed drastically in an instant which forced us to head back quite soon after we had reached the top. Once we arrived again at the mountain town Zakopane we were exhausted, soaked and very hungry. We ended the day with delicious potato pancakes with goulash in a cosy restaurant in the town before driving home. I felt very satisfied; with a full belly and a big smile I replayed the day and looked at the photos.
"We got some great shots of the hike and the lake, and also of the jackets."
I rarely feel satisfied with my photos and I am quite tough on myself. I am a perfectionist and when I put my heart into something, I do it for a 100%. For Lafuma, I only selected a few photos that I liked and of course I shared some of them on my Instagram @szalonanina. It was a lovely surprise that they were reposted by other popular Instagram accounts such as @Tatranation and @goryponadwszystko. I can see that there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to commercial photography and I am motivated to keep improving and developing myself. However, I feel proud.
"I didn’t even expect to win the giveaway and look at all that happened after all! It is definitely motivating me to keep shooting and to not lose faith in the good things that can happen in life."
Useful links
• If you need a resilient jacket for the upcoming winter, you can find Nina’s recommendation here.
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