Steampunk USB

I love doing things with my hands. Creating stuff, playing instruments or just fiddling with a pencil or a zippo. So here's a passion of mine I haven't talked before - handcrafts.

No matter what I'm dealing with usually the products of my work are fictive, digital, organisational, witty or plain nonexistent. Old school type of existent I'm talking about. The one you can touch, hold, play with.

I find enormous consolidation and satisfaction in working on something literally with my hands. To sweat, bleed and struggle to give it life.

This is the Ultimate Scribe Briefcase - my greatest creation so far. It took two usb flash drives (the first broke), 3 dead old watches, a russian alarm clock, a plank of grenadil, some leather and a sweet week of work. In the beginning when it was only a brave idea I wasn't sure I'll be able to do it so it was a challenge and I am still proud of it. Until the next one.

Done with the precious help of Yasen Nikov who prepared the wooden base and gave me my first lessons in wood carving.

Smallman

Smallman is the only bulgarian band I care about lately. The first time I was exposed to their music I was mesmerized. There is something in the sound of bulgarian bagpies that just gets me right in the guts, pulls a deep string, pushes a hidden button in me. Throw in the mix a tool-like bass, aggresive and unpredictable drums, beatuful vocal and lyrics and you've got me. There is something about their music that escapes words, a feeling that transcends the music itself. It just has to be experienced.

Last Sunday I had the plaesure to attend their first dedicated concert and it was a rare experience.The whole feeling was as being part of something historical, something yet to be talked about, yet to evolve and expand.

Миналата неделя бях на първия самостоятелен концерт на Smallman и в последния момент реших да взема и апарата. И понеже не бях снимал отдавна, нито поглеждал батерията - след втората песен и около 30 кадъра машинката умря. Интересна ситуация - или свиря отбой или търся начин да излъжа апарата да повярва в себе си и да съдейства. След известно време експериментиране открих, че ако извадя батерията, бия я о нещо твърдо (бар, сцена, зъби), вкарам я обратно, включа рязко апарата и натисна спусъка, машинката не се усеща навреме и прави един кадър преди да блокира. Беше интересно преживяване, което ми докара едно за съжаление позабравено чувство от снимането на лента - а именно педантичната прецизност, с която трябва да се подхожда към избор на светлина, бленда, кадриране, фокусиране (до колкото това е възможно с lensbaby) и светкавичноизпълнениенавоененманьовър за да щракне гявола.

До края на концерта успях да направя още двайсетина снимки и точно измежду тях се намериха и тези, заслужаващи внимание. Понякога границите са освобождаващи.

And many thanks to Emmy for spicing up the atmosphere just a notch above the comprehendable.

A Modern Mariachi

- And you? What'd you do?

I was sitting on the grass for some time now. Listening to him play an old guitar - hidden by a hat and somewhere in his own worlds. It was a beautiful early summer afternoon and relaxing on a meadow seemed like the only sane thing to do. My thoughts had flown too and I stumbled in the response.

- Uhm..like work or... - I thought for a second. - I think I'm looking for inspiration.

He just shrugged, smiled lightly and played a slow chord string by string.

- Any luck?

- Rarer than I'd like to.

This time he just laughed.

- What? It's not easy.

- Oh I'm sure it isn't. It's just... - another minor chord. He pressed his hand against the strings, still smiling. - Looks like you're trying to see your ears... and succeed, yet rarely.

He looked around slowly, like trying to smell something.

- You know, inspiration is a twisted word. Makes you think it is something you possess. But inspiration rather is something that you do now with full devotion and care. It's something that you are... in a way. And you simply can not be it while you're busy looking elsewhere. Don't you think?

- Well... makes sense.

- Look the guitar for example. Now it is the most important thing in the whole world. I press a string with one finger, I pick it with another and ...
As he let go his finger off the string a bold sound flowed out, vibrating, shaking the air around me. It resonated with the sun rays going through the branches of the trees, danced with their shadows chasing each other all around. It mixed with the humming of the insects, screams of the children and the soft wind going through the grass bellow. Suddenly it imbued everything around and synchronized it in that very moment. Then, becoming gentle and softer it shoot up to twirl with the clouds above.
- We both experience a miracle. Now...

Нови Играчки

Преди известно време колекцията ми от обективи нарастна с два пункта. А именно - сдобих се с две безценни стъкълца с доста повече житейски опит от мен самия. Behold! Teh Nikkor 50mm 1.4f mf & teh Nikkor 200mm 4f mf.

След приятен спор с приятел фотограф на тема колко съм obsessed с новото тяло на Nikon, а именно D90, единодушно стигнахме до извода, че в момента се нуждая повече от нови обективи, отколкото от ново тяло. Та по случая, на шега за пореден път проверих обявите из фото форума и що да видя?! Гореспометите стъкълца се предлагаха за скромната сума от 300 лева. И вярно, че не са малко жълтици, но за точно тези парчета екипировка би било срамота да подми

на предложението. Пък и честно казано не ми е ясно каква беда трябва да сполети човек, че да реши да продава такива и толкова ценни антики (произведени 72ра и 77ма). Надявам се и да не разбера.

Чаках ги около седмица и една слънчева утрин те парадно нахлуха в инвентара ми. Нужни бяха само няколко кадъра и обективите ми се изплатиха изцяло - в емоционално-оргазмичен план. Та сега отдавна вече съм на печалба.

Залез над/до Рила

Сещате ли се приятели как съм казвал, че страшно много ценя пътуването с кола нанякъде? Съесем различно е когато човек е свободен да спре за почивка или гледка където и когато поиска. Този кадър е за отец-командира, за туй дето склони да натисне спирачките по мое желание, а и на останалите момчета за дето не мрънкаха много докато подскачах със статив ту от едната, ту от другата страна на шосето. Планината трябва да е Рила, пътят - Говедарци-София.

I've always loved travelling by car. Just because of the freedom I get to stop. To stop whenever and wherever I feel like. This shot is a product of random such a stop. A couple of friends and my humble self were going for a tent camp for the weekend but a rain storm scared us off the first day. This was shot from the road, in the rain, on the fly, jumping out of the car, tripod in hand. I seriously doubted that something useful would come out, but hey, what do you know!

Sozopol@Night

If you are from around here, there is hardly anything to be said about Sozopol as you probably have been going there regularly every summer. It is (or at least used to be) a beautiful town near the sea with great beach, diving places, architectural past and nice bars. In my experience half Sofia turns out there through the summer. Now, however, it is way too crowded and noisy for me. The town has literally tripled its size for the last five years and I can't stop thinking of the movie "The Beach" strolling along the streets.
Still it holds a lot of memories and is a great place to spend a couple of nights and take a shot or two.

БарЪТ

The White Bar is the place where I spent a great deal of my vacation this summer. As far as seaside vacations are considered - it doesn't get any better than this. Not overcrowded, chill out, wi-fi beach spot serving nice cocktails. My tent was twenty meters just behind the trees and the sea was twenty meters below. Added with the canoes and surfs rental nearby there were ten days of bliss for me.
There, provided with the time and space to spread my thoughts I finally read Pirsig's 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'.

Та представям ви мястото където прекарах ваканцията си. Ей, там под белия бакарди чадър, на белия хм 'стол' - инак безформена маса пълна с топчинца, която придобива всякаква форма каквато искаш и и викат барбарон. Точно там си пих сутрешното кафе по изгрев слънце, и следобедните котейли, и отдъхвах от обилни обеди и гребания с кану в морето, и прочетох цяла книга - цяла седмица. Както инжинерът с опитно око би забелязъл барът е ама точно на плажа, на не повече от двадесет метра от морето /това не се вижда/, а луксозната ми палатка е опъната на един хвърлей камик от дърветата на бекграунд. Мястото просто трябваше да бъде запомнено. 

Втори Дубъл

Another shot from inside the Devil's Throat. If you grasp the people standing on the terrace in the middle you could get a sense of how enormous that underground gallery is.

На Дявола Гърлото

The Devil's Throat is a cave situated near Trigrad into the gorge itself. It holds the highest underground waterfall on the Balkans - 43m. high. The legend has it that Orpheus had gone inside that very cave to search for his beloved.
I don't know if that's true but I know for sure from the local people some very intriguing facts about the cave. During the last twenty years or so a couple of floods threw inside the cave an enormous amount of wood material as it was stored up the river. I don't remember the exact numbers but by the time I figured that it was enough to build about four houses with it. Including a horse with a chariot... Well, not a splinter came out on the other end - where the water appears again - about 500 meters down the gorge.
Back then it was impossible to go inside the cave and when a tunnel was dug nothing was found in the cave hall, which itself is enormous. It can easily hold three 10-story buildings inside.
All this just adds to the magic of the place and can not stop me from thinking that even bigger galleries lie undiscovered somewhere in the Trigrad's beautiful hills.

Trigrad

A lot can be said about that magical place and my personal connection to it. My first encounter with Trigrad was six years ago I believe. And since then every year I manage do steal some time to spend there. I've walked and climbed to every bit of it. I've slept in some the caves, I've watched clouds been born from the heart of the gorge at night. And every time I tried to photograph it.



Last weekend, however, for the first time I felt prepared to capture the beauty of the gorge.