2018 has been the first year of our team effort, as reporters and photographers. The year has come to an end. Let’s have a brief look back at a summary of what we’ve managed to accomplish and achieve. There are some things we want to brag about!
ORP Kormoran II and Hugin AUV
Our photo season began back in March. It started with a photo assignment onboard one of the Polish Navy’s MCMVs – the ORP Kormoran II. We’ve had a chance to record imagery during the operational assessment of the Hugin AUV. The full gallery may be found here.
The Polish Navy has used our shots, in order to promote the activities undertaken by the unit. We’ve also published a short report via Defence24.
The 13th Minesweeper Squadron displayed our imagery during its open days. Our photos also turned out to be useful in presentation the unit’s activities during the vessel’s visit to the Belgian Navy Days. We’re extremely proud of this.
Baltic Air Policing – Block 46
It was not long, before we went on to another assignment – here we’re referring to an air-to-air shoot in Lithuania. This assignment happened over the course of the Baltic Air Policing operation. It was definitely a highlight of the year 2018.
Our shots have made it onto the front covers of the Polish Nowa Technika Wojskowa and Lotnictwo magazines! We’ve also have had our reports published by Defence24.pl, and, primarily, by TheAviationist. The Aviationist’s support cannot be underestimated here. Without our portfolio gathered through collaboration with David Cenciotti, this shoot would not have been even possible. We are going to publish one more Baltic Air Policing report soon. It is going to appear in this month’s edition of the Polish Lotnictwo magazine. We would also like to thank for the trust given to us by the Lithuanians, the Danes and the NATO alliance!
ILA Berlin 2018
In April we’ve attended the ILA Berlin 2018 aviation exhibition in Berlin, together with Michał Prokurat. We’ve published our ILA 2018 report via The Aviationist again.
NATO Tiger Meet 2018
But that was not the end of success spree! In May our team deployed to Poznan, in order to participate in the NATO Tiger Meet 2018 exercise. Yet again, you can read our reports in Lotnictwo and The Aviationist. Our involvement in the event was not as deep as we would have liked it to be. However, remember, this is just the beginning. We have also helped, during that event, our friends at COAP, to organize their trip to Poznan.
Polish Navy Centenary Event
In June our team worked on a Photo report from the Polish Navy’s centenary parade. The assignment in Gdynia has, yet again, seen us board the ORP Kormoran MCMV. Thanks to this opportunity we’ve managed to publish a two-part piece in the renowned British Warships IFR monthly. The whole report has been done in collaboration with the 13th Minesweeper Squadron based in Gdynia, Wojciech Budziłło, and Mateusz Prociak. The latter has provided us with some awesome historical images, presented via the Polish Navy in Color project.
RIAT 2018
The RAF’s Centenary event was another thing to do on our schedule. As spectacular as we expected it to be, it was a minor disappointment. Nonetheless, we have published reports from that air show via Defence24 and The Aviationist.
Polish Air Force’s Centenary – Radom Air Show 2018
As the year 1918 has been full of Centenaries, the expectations with regards to such events were great. Same applies to the Polish Air Force’s Radom Air Show held back in August. And yet again, it has left us with bittersweet feelings, similarly to RIAT. We’ve published our report from that event in the Lotnictwo magazine. One can also read it on The Aviationist blog. Defence24 has used our shots from that event as well.
The Royal Danish Navy – the Iver Huitfeldt Frigate
Thanks to the trust given to us by the Danish MoD we also have had a chance to sail onboard one of their latest warships – the HDMS Iver Huitfeldt. As a result of this assignment interviews and photo reports have been published via the Polish Nowa Technika Wojskowa monthly!
Other Events
When it comes to other events, we have also attended the Gdynia Night Aerobaltic Air Show. This air show bears a significant potential, and we have our fingers crossed for its success. Report can be found on The Aviationist blog. We’ve got no gallery online on the webpage yet. We’re terribly sorry for that.
During the Polish Army’s Centenary events held in Warsaw, the USAF’s European component has had its F-22 Raptors deployed to Poland. The jets were stationed at the Powidz airbase. Based on rumors, we’ve risked it and went onto a spotting trip to this remote location. It paid off, with our shots of the latest fifth generation aircraft having been published by Defence24, and also by The Aviationist.
Another event that has not yet made it onto the webpage is the NATO Days in Ostrava security show. The report from that show has been published via The Aviationist. The Czechs have yet again done a great job, organization wise. We’re hoping to visit that show next year as well
Summing it Up
Overall, the 2018, our debut year, has been quite fruitful. We do hope that the 2019 will turn out to be equally successful. We are infinitely grateful for all of the opportunities. Our team is also looking forward to deepen cooperation with numerous different entities this year.
There’s one thing already ‘in progress’, related to development of the Polish ORP “Ślązak” surface combatant. We are hoping that we’re gonna be able to share the results soon enough. That’s mainly because the collaboration has been fruitful so far 🙂 With that project we have finalized the year 2018. We are also to begin the 2018 with this initiative – beware!
#Gratitude and Acknowledgments
As creators, we’re willing to send out some good vibes to the universe. We gotta say it: We’re infinitely grateful, with that gratitude being expressed especially towards the good guys at NATO, the Polish Navy (especially the 13th Minesweeper Squadron!), the Polish MoD, Polish industry professionals, the staff at the Lithuanian Siaullai Airbase or at the Polish Krzesiny Airbase, media staff at ILA or the Danish military’s media department, or the media outlets we are working for. Without them, the whole effort undertaken this year whould have been pretty much impossible.
Alongside the photojournalistic effort we’ve also provided translation and transcreation support for our standing customers. This has been and is still being done in a continuous manner.
Happy New Year!
