WIP development - finding an approach part 2: when some of the images you have are good but clash with the theme

Things became a bit easier when I decided that I will work on the old vs. new theme for my work in progress portfolio. However, this didn't mean I wouldn't take more images than I actually needed. 

Once in Bucharest, I used every possible minute to see something new and to photograph as much as I can. One of this walks took me to the museum of the Romanian village - amazing place and ethnographic museum. It is located at the outskirts of Bucharest and it is a museum in the open air. Houses from all regions of Romania were consistently moved to the place within a century and now the museum is like a small village with houses from all over Romania.

I managed to visit in the morning, before the crowds and the tourists came, and the weather was perfect. It was snowing and all houses were covered in a thick white blanket. I loved roaming around the empty 'streets' of the small village, peeking inside the houses and reading the information about each house. 

Some of the houses from the museum. When one roams around, it is hard to imagine that this place is in the center of a big city and it is not a real village. 

Some houses are more fantastic in terms of architecture, than others - I was especially impressed by the wood carvings on this one - looked like it had been taken out of a fantasy novel. 

I photographed all houses for the sake of Culture Crossroads and was delighted to find out that the village houses two churches - one Orthodox, the other Catholic. Since I had chosen to work on places of worship during the module, I took care to photograph all of them from all possible angles. I loved the idea of having these churches in my portfolio since they looked unique and interesting and at first adding them to the final selection seemed like a good idea. 

The Catholic cathedral in the museum. 

When I started editing the images, however, I noticed the same problem as with the serene image of Alexander Nevski (see previous post on approach). These churches were amazing, no doubt had a lot to tell BUT somehow clashed with the whole concept of my portfolio this module. 

Even though they technically WERE in Bucharest but they were village churches and they didn't look in contrast with their surroundings, like the rest of the crop. All other houses showed some contrast, told a story of changing times, absurd decisions or even threat of demolition. 

The Orthodox church in the museum.

These churches told the story of simple village life, of a time long gone and were useful for my project in terms of the architectural differences they displayed. However, in terms of having one and the same message these images didn't work well with the rest. They looked rural, whereas the rest showed urban environment. They looked out of place so I had to leave them out of the final cut - because the things they showed had nothing to do with the rest of the images. 

WIP development - finding an approach part 1

My idea to do my work in progress portfolio on religious buildings made me much more focused on my task than during the previous module. Even so, having a clear idea of what I want to photograph, didn't help me to get clear what aspects of it I want to photograph. 

Religious buildings, especially those in the city center, have a long and tangled history intertwined with that of the surrounding buildings. I am usually the type of person that starts telling the story of the surroundings so I wanted to have places that tell a story in my portfolio. However, since the overreaching theme was religion, I also wanted to try my hand out at creating more serene images that convey the feeling of communion with God. However, shooting inside the churches was not an option so I had to work out another way to convey that sense. 

It turned out that the serene approach worked with some locations better than others. For example, this place is the biggest church in Sofia and a symbol of Bulgaria too. It is such a famous place that it is somewhat if a cliche. However, I managed to capture this image - a reflection in a puddle that I love very much. 

I love the way this image looks because it definitely shows the place from a unique perspective - as a reflection in a puddle. I have a soft spot for puddles and whenever I see one, I try to find a reflection in it. The light in this image (shot handeld during the blue hour and in a snow storm) and the water give the impression of serenity and make the image surreal. It is not only a picture of a church and depicting its architecture. This is a replica of an older image I created, more or less in the same style but at different time during the day. 

However, it turned out that this was the only place I managed to photograph and get this effect. Not because there are too few puddles on the streets of Sofia but because only this pic worked out that well. 

All other places looked different and had different stories to tell. Still, my initial idea was to try and find a similar way to represent the other places of worship. The next place I tried to photograph like this was the Russian church in Sofia - it is an amazing place in terms of architecture and I very much hoped that I can find some reflections around it to achieve the same effect. 

I saw this reflection of the church in a nearby shop window and was attracted to the contrast between the church and the surveillance camera sign in the right corner. The only problem in this image was that it had totally different impact and idea. This image is more about the contrast between the old and the modern, the religious and the secular, whereas the previous one is more serene, not so straightforward and more open to interpretation. 

At that point during the module, I had no idea what exactly to focus on. Truth be told, I wanted to have it all. To show the different aspects of religious buildings. To create a coherent portfolio, however, I needed to focus on one aspect. 

Still, I had no idea on which aspect to choose. I wanted very much to create serene images like the first one BUT somehow things didn't always work out well. So, when I had the chance to visit Bucharest, all of a sudden, inspiration struck. 

It is a Catholic church in the centre of Bucharest, one of the places that made me think the first time I visited. The reason why this place speaks to me, is that the church is squeezed in between blocks of flats, obviously created during the Communist era, and looks a bit out of place. Imagine people living there, looking through the window and seeing the bell tower. It reminded me of a church in the centre of Sofia so this place was totally on my to-shoot list. 

When I took this image it dawned on me that most of the images I already had are similar to this. There is some contrast, there is a story. The places I wanted to photograph all had dramatic stories and weren't simply places of worship but buildings that needed to have their stories told. I've always been a fan of history so anywhere I go, I try to learn more about the things I see. 

This image changed my mind and I decided to go with the flow and create the images I wanted and focus on the contrast between the old and the new in the modern city. I found an approach but I was yet to find out what I needed. 

Critical contextualization of my work - inspiration talk - part 1 - local artists

Throughout the years, I've been inspired by a pot of people but there are a few that stand out. 

The first one that has left his mark on my work is the Bulgarian photographer Krasimir Matarov, working under the pseudonym Krasi St M. I especially admire him and his work because he started from scratch, just like me. 

Krasi is originally a Russian language teacher and up till 2012 he was just a hobby photographer. He said (we actually know each other) that he learned editing before anything else, even before owning a camera. His career took a turn when he won the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards in the Open Nature category. The winning shot was this one: 

Fig. 1 a screen grab from the BBC news website Krasi used as his cover photo in 2013

 After the victory, Krasi switched jobs and became a full-time photographer, tutor and lecturer. I've always been interested in his career path, mainly because this is the desire of most photographers - getting famous and making money from what you love. Krasi started with macro shots but it soon became clear that landscape and travel images are his true element.

Fig 2. Krasi St M – Kardzhari dam,  2018

What I admire about his style is that he manages to discover the unseen angle or setting in even the most banal of locations - such as this one, known as 'the photographers' turn' in Bulgaria, a favourite place for photographers to try their hand at landscapes. 

Krasi manages to create a dreamy-like atmosphere and his images just draw you into the scene, make you crave to be there, see the place as he did. This is exactly the same thing I am aiming at. I love the way he manages to capture the subject, such as this image of Chinque Terre (not sure which one of the 5 villages is this, though)

Fig. 3 Krasi St. M - Chinque Terre, 2018

His images are always dramatic, almost never plain or dull. Unfortunately, our approaches differ in two ways - travel duration. For example, Krasi can afford to spend a week or two at a certain location, just to be sure that he has got the perfect shot, whereas due to travel expenses, I cannot afford to do so (and that goes for almost any location, I'm afraid). He also climbs mountains and sleeps in a tent (and totally lack that adventurous streak). 

Hence, sometimes I just need to visit a place several times to get the desired effect. For example, this image of the 'photographers' turn' is good but it is nowhere near the one Krasi created, in terms of impact: 

The two boats do make something of the image and emphasize the curves BUT apart from that the weather was not on my side. 

I admire Krasi for his stunning landscapes but sometimes despise the over-editing in some of them. He often stacks images to create a more stunning view (some of the most amazing works in his portfolio are actually made of 4 to 10 different exposures post-processed in a hundred and one ways for maximum impact). To me, this kind of over-editing is indeed eye-catching BUT somehow the objectivity of the image is lost. 

Especially in what I am trying to do, this kind of landscapes will not work well - when you advertise tourism, you should at least try to stay closer to the actual place (which is one of the reasons I do behind-the-scenes videos) so that people see I have my way of portraying things but they are there, they exist and have not been photoshoped into something different. 

I agree with Krasi that toning the images sometimes results in better impact and when it comes to capturing customs or the character of a particular event, he is definitely someone I look up to. 

Fig. 4 Krasi St M –  Yordanovden,  2017

This image portrays an amazing ritual that marks the beginning of January. In Kalofer, a small mountain town in Central Bulgaria, they have the tradition of ice horo which means that all men from the town dance in the ice-cold (and as you see, often frozen) waters of the river that runs through the town . His images of the ritual last year are one of the best I have ever seen portraying it. He toned down all tones except the blue to emphasize the cold and manages to get a shot of the dancers entering the icy waters of the river. 

I admire Krasi's ability to capture the air of the ritual, no matter if it is something indiginous and authentic, such as this Bulgarian ritual, dedicated to Saint Haralampi: 

Fig. 5 Krasi St M –  Untitled,  2018

This is a ritual done in Bulgarian churches once a year (I don't know much since I found out it existed from this image) and Krasi managed to capture the mood in the church during the ritual without looking like an intruder. This is an ability I am also trying to master. 

Krasi is especially good at creating iconic images, that capture the characteristic features of a particular place, person or area, such as this Mongolian eagle hinter: 

Fig. 6 Krasi St M –Mongolia,  2017

I also aim to create images that would wow the viewer. In this one there are a lot of elements - good composition, interesting subjects, and a touch of action. Such images tell a story so I definitely look up to Krasi for inspiration though we may disagree on post-processing (especially on landscapes). 

Still, he is not the only one that inspires me but I'll talk about this in a follow-up post. 

References: 

Krasi Matarov’s Facebook page

Available at: https://www.facebook.com/KrasimirStM/ [accessed 11 April  2018]

List of figures: 

Figure 1 – MATAROV, Krasimir - Untitled, 2013
Available at: https://www.facebook.com/KrasimirStM/photos/rpp.374656352553372/1954188034600188/?type=3&theater
[accessed 10 April  2018]
Figure 2 – MATAROV, Krasimir - Chinque Terre, 2018
Available at: https://www.facebook.com/KrasimirStM/photos/rpp.374656352553372/1954188034600188/?type=3&theater
[accessed 10 April  2018]
Figure 3 – MATAROV, Krasimir - Kardzhari dam, 2018
Available at: https://www.facebook.com/KrasimirStM/photos/a.600574433294895.1073741825.374656352553372/1900995666586092/?type=3&theater
[accessed 10 April  2018]
Figure 4 – MATAROV, Krasimir – Untitled, 2018
Available at:
https://www.facebook.com/KrasimirStM/photos/a.600574433294895.1073741825.374656352553372/1852494461436213/?type=3&theater
[accessed 10 April  2018]
Figure 5 – MATAROV, Krasimir - Yordanovden,  2017
Available at:
https://www.facebook.com/KrasimirStM/photos/a.600574433294895.1073741825.374656352553372/1774221942596799/?type=3&theater
[accessed 10 April  2018]
Figure 6 – MATAROV, Krasimir - Mongolia,  2017
Available at:
https://www.facebook.com/KrasimirStM/photos/a.750552084963795.1073741840.374656352553372/1444946392191024/?type=3&theater
[accessed 10 April  2018]

Collaborations - how to promote a budding project part 2

Having 'done my homework' with social media, I started looking for other ways to promote my works and the project as a whole. The first idea that came to my mind was to try and collaborate with someone. My first and most logical choice was to write an email to the Fading Sofia project and ask they if they need better images for their website, the idea being that I use their information and make sure to include a link to their page whereas they use my pictures and include a link to my page. 

Here is how their home page looks like - if you click on a point, you see the location and an image of the place so I'd love to have my images there. 

In a previous post I wrote that the site was down and probably that mail was lost somewhere so I might need to write up again as the site functions anew. It is very well indexed on Google and the project as a whole aims to tell stories so I'd love to work with them. 

Another collaboration opportunity I noticed was the recent launch of Balkanium magazine. I came across it in a sponsored post on Facebook and I checked it out. 

To give you an insight of what the project is about, I will quote their info page:

'Balkanium is a photography magazine that was started as a documentary photography master degree project in Belgrade, Serbia. Main intention is to show interesting moments of life and people of the Balkans, that will spread a bit more positive view of this region and life in general. Also, people and countries of the Balkans are not enough connected, beside classic media information’s that are mainly focused on political themes and events. We thought that we should build a platform where we can learn about each other more through photo stories about different people and themes around us. Professional photographers will be here to create that bond and platform.

Balkanium tends to make a team of photographers, one from each Balkan country. If You are interested You can read more here. Balkanium stories exist to try to break some prejudices, make someone’s day, and share quality information’s in the sea of others.

Anđela Petrovski

Photographer and Founder'

I wrote a quick email and explained that we can help each other since our projects have a lot in common and explained that I seek to popularize my project on their magazine as well and they were delighted to have me. Now, there is an open call for photographers to submit articles and I am about to send out my first story for publication within the next few weeks. 

Another collaboration I found useful was with the colleagues from Patepis.com - the biggest travel website and blog in Bulgaria. This is a screengrab of my most recent post there - it is a really long post so that's just the admin note on my work. 

I personally know the admins and they have been publishing my works for the past two years. I use Patepis.com to promote my work as a photographer (because the site is really well indexed on Google) but also to indulge my passion for writing - so it's a win-win for both sides.

What is more, the stories in Patepis.com are in Bulgarian only which balances with the English-only project and gives my Bulgarian followers something to read. 

Another recent collaboration is with the Bulgaria Official channel -  they also plan a campaign for popularizing Bulgaria and asked me to join the team since they love my stories and images. I asked if I can use their platform to popularize my project and they were OK with it. Actions are to be taken there since the project there is in the planning stage. 

I also became a member of the Bulgarian Association of Professional photographers and they, too said they will give me the opportunity to showcase my work, once I have a larger portfolio of things to show and when the project gets more audience. 

What needs to be done is to launch the website and start advertising the project to the places I visit. I've planned to print out some business cards to hand out to people to let them know what this thing is. 

Social media - how to promote a budding project part 1

When you have a budding project on your hands, you cannot seek financial gain at the very beginning. At least not in Bulgaria where people are used to trying to avoid paying for services they deem 'too easy to do' such as photography. I've been told multiple times that my work is easy because 'you simply press a button all day' and I've been laughed at because I said I am tired. 

Generally, the Bulgarian audience is a tough call. So, to present my work as something of value, I devised an approach that would make me stand out from the crowd of good photographers with stunning images (because, even as small a market as Bulgaria is, there are a lot of colleagues with good works). 

So the first step was to create a Facebook page and to invite everyone I know to like it. However, this approach wasn't as effective as I hoped since I currently have less than 200 likes. On the other hand, the change of Facebook algorithm which cut the access of non-sponsored content to the feeds of users was quite the setback. I've also noticed that the first 200 likes (or followers) are usually the hardest ones to get since people somehow perceive pages with more likes as the ones worth visiting. 

From my other Facebook page, the one I use to promote all my work, I've noticed that a good image on its own will do no good to the page and will not attract more people UNLESS it is accompanied by the story behind the shot and something personal - for example, travel and safety information, or some history, or my struggles for the shot on location. I've received lots of positive feedback on the texts I write in my personal blog and Facebook page so I decided to put this approach to work for Culture Crossroads. 

Here is a screengrab of one of my latest posts on it - a video of the celebrations of 140 years since the Liberation of Bulgaria. This is relatively short post and aims at attracting more people to the page - since Facebook algorithm puts forward pages that have recently uploaded videos. Plus, behind-the-scenes videos are a good way to attract more people to see the places for themselves and were part of Culture Crossroads from the very beginning. I am still a novice at image processing so the process is a bit slow but it starts to pay off as people react and share my content more often. 

All videos are also uploaded to my YouYube channel so I make sure to have a decent description with a lot of links in it. So far the video above had the best reach. 

A usual post I do for the page looks like this (the pic is a bit blurred because I had to zoom out to get the whole text in one screen grab):

On Culture Crossroads Facebook page I aim to give the history and significance of the place - the project is in English only since it's aimed at international audience. On this page, I also try to give some useful travel information - in case someone wants to visit the place and links to useful websites. 

The Bulgarian version, some photo tips and the story behind the shot are set aside for my personal photo page, where I talk about the shot as such and what cost me to take it as well as a really brief explanation of what is on the pic, redirecting to the Culture Crossroads page (to attract more people). 

The broader cultural context I try to present on the Culture Crossroads blog - where you can find a few (not so many since each post takes a lot of time to compile) posts with information. Here is a screengrab from my most recent post, concerning Martenitsa - an ancient Balkan tradition in which I discuss the legends behind the ritual. 

I also set up an Instagram account to reach out to a wider audience and, even though I am not an Instagram guru, I think it is doing well for the few posts it has. My secret of getting more followers there is to tag channels that would share my content and tag me in it (so far, I've managed to reach out with each post). I also keep tagging the project if I post an image related to it on my personal profile, too. 

I've done this so far but I plan to launch the website of the project (which is taking forever to write up since I do it myself and I am not a computer programmer) and keep posting more regularly. 

Recreating old shots and why weather matters in travel photography

In travel photography, what matters is the moment - but not just any moment as it is in sports. You need that WOW moment to make people want to visit the place. You need an amazing image that would make the others crave to see the place, to be there or.. to be you.

As it is most of my stories, it all starts with an image - in my case - this one: 

Rethimno port in 2009 - I really love the clouds and colours. This image, despite the technical deficiencies - being taken with a compact camera in JPEG - remains one of my favourites. 

At that time, I had no idea what I was doing. Really. I was 17 and I've just gotten my first digital camera. To me Crete, because the image above is from there, was a land of wonders full of strange and amazing things. So there I was, wandering around and frantically taking pictures of anything I laid my eyes on. The port, the fortress and the streets - anything that I found extraordinary. I didn't bother about composition or fuss with settings - the only thing I knew how to use at the time was the scene selection option (later on, I discovered the manual mode of the camera but back in 2009, that was terra incognita).

Here are some of the other images I took in 2009: 

The entrance of the Venetian fort at Rethimno - image from that time in 2009

The port of Rethimno with the famous lighthouse. Picture was taken in 2009.

The insides of the Venetian fortress - again 2009

These images were taken, loved and cherished as an amazing memory from a great adventure. But that was when the story ended. Soon after the return to Bulgaria, these images were totally forgotten. Two years later, when I had to apply for university, photography was nowhere near my choice of profession. It didn't even cross my mind that I could be a photographer. Instead, I chose to be a linguist and to study English - to have a 'decent profession'. Then, all of a sudden, in 2011, I had an idea of starting to share my work online. I found a website and started uploading my work. 

I keep saying this but if the users of the website hadn't told me that I was no good, that I lacked the skills and the equipment to be decent photographer, I wouldn't have become one. It was by sheer stubbornness that I started saving money to buy a camera, and taught myself composition and post-processing. It was all by trial and error. 

Somewhere during that process though, I decided that maybe what matters is skills and equipment. The more I progressed, the better images I took so I thought it was all skills. After the initial bullying I discarded anything taken before 2012 and concentrated on new content.

But as I progressed and learned new post-processing skills, I started re-editing old images, digging in the archives to see if I can 'save' an old image with a new and better edit. That's how one cloudy October day last year, I came across the images from 2009. I was doing a travelogue for a Bulgarian website and wanted to show some images (travelogues always go well with images and since I am a photographer, I am famous in this site for submitting articles with a lot of images). This time, however, instead of just exporting the file out of Lightroom, I created a PSD file and went to Photoshop. The result was stunning - to me at least. Colleagues though told me it was too colourful, too HDR-like and so on.

I'm posting the image again, in case you don't remember what it was.

It was NOT and HDR so I can't say I was pleased with the feedback but I decided that the next time I go to Crete, I will revisit Rethimno and try to retake the image. Now that I'm good and skillful photographer, have all the equipment and so on it's just bound to be a stunning one. 

The irony is, that since 2009 I have been to Crete two more times BUT I didn't go to Rethimno then. There were so many other places I wanted to visit that I couldn't. This time I was dead-set on going again.

As I decided to work on the Culture Crossroads project I was sure that I want to add Crete in it. You can visit the project's page and blog for more information. 

Crete welcomed me with cold weather for the end of September - I didn't expect to be with a jacket on the beach - but otherwise amazing weather for images - dramatic clouds all over the sky, dynamic weather shifting in an hour from bright sun to torrential rain. I was delighted to finally nail some of the images I've been imagining ever since 2014 (the previous time I managed to visit Crete). 

Rethimno, of course was at the top of my list but given the distances on the island - and the so many locations I wanted to visit - it was left for the very last day - because at that time we would have a whole day before boarding the night ferry to Athens. So I waited (I'll skip though several other locations since they deserve a post of their own) for that day to come. 

Weather decided to play a trick on me though and show me that skills and equipment are worth nothing if you are unlucky enough to get dull weather conditions. Rethimno welcomed me with 30 degrees Celsius, heat, sun just shining in my lens and not a single cloud in the sky. The very moment I saw the light was harsh and in the wrong direction and the sky was dull I was absolutely disappointed.

The before and after of one of the images from that day. As you can see, the original is not much to talk about.

After all, I counted so much on this location - Rethimno is famous for its Venetian style small houses that reflect in the crystal-clear waters of the port. But what reflections when the sun is shining directly in my lens (despite the hood) and all I see is a big black nothing where the houses should be. This time, I thought, even RAW files and Photoshop cannot save the day. Still, since "I ain't not quitter" as the song line goes, I started wandering around the port to find the exact same location of the image from 2009. 

I have good photographic memory so I found it - guess what - that boat from the picture was still there! Parked at the same place. I was delighted to find it but disappointed that the sky isn't more interesting. Still, I thought, that would serve for a good blog post illustration of how skills alone cannot help much.

The recreated shot - as you can see, it is nowhere near the splendour of the original of 2009.

I didn't stop there and decided that since I am here for the first time in 8 years, I should try to do my best and create something usable. After all, professional photographers say that there's no such thing as bad lighting.

This image, taken just two steps to the side (this is the very same boat from 2009) proved to be much better than the recreated shot. Plus, it proved one of my theories that skills do matter and make a difference. Back in 2009, I just snapped a shot of the boat and moved on. Last month, I spent half an hour photographing it from all possible angles.

The image above proves that equipment does matter too - it was originally taken in RAW so I had much more freedom and opportunities to 'save it' so I did my best (I guess a Photoshop master would do much better but currently, this is as far as I can go). Apart from post-processing skills though, this image is not much to talk about. I like how it looks now but if I was using the same camera from 2009, an image like that (look at the print screen above) would just be lost to post-processing - after all, you cannot get that many details from a JPEG.

Here is another image - from the Venetian fort at Rethimno - that shows how many nasty tricks bad weather can play on you.

I love the architectural details in this image, love the lines, the windows, door and stairs BUT something is missing in this image. To me, that is the dramatic sky. I would have turned this into black and white but for the purpose of this blog decided to leave it in its original coloured version so that you see what I mean.
Don't get me wrong, it IS a good shot BUT it could have been way better. Same goes for all other images.

A bit discouraged by the blazing sun, I decided to turn my back to on it and go for something that is illuminated. And then saw the lighthouse - the famous lighthouse of Rethimno, one of the most beautiful ones in whole Greece.

I love reflections. I'm addicted to them and these almost mirror-like reflections in the still water of the harbour made me gasp. I really like this shot but again, still think there is room for improvement.

I left Rethimno with quite a few images worth editing but very few WOW images in my opinion. This had nothing to do with equipment or skill - these will have a role in post-processing - as you can see, I did my best to present something good.

Problem is that sometimes equipment and skills are not enough to create the amazing picture-postcard shot you aim at. That happens not because you're not good enough but simply because you didn't go to the place at the right time. This is one of the reasons why I will have to go to Rethimno again to get the dramatic shots I want (it would be a pleasure to be there again :) ).

The story also has a moral - no matter how bad the conditions look like, you should NEVER EVER give up on taking pictures, If I had done so when I saw that the retaken photo sucks and returned to the table by the water, I wouldn't have created anything worth seeing (or editing, for that matter).

Images are always there and even if sometimes they don't look the way we want them to, they too tell a story :)