PHOTO TOURS/SAFARIS AND WORKSHOPS
Pavel organizes photo tours, photo safaris and workshops in Bulgaria, the Balkans and worldwide.
He is an exceptional English-speaking tour leader, photo workshop instructor, excellent teacher and an enthusiastic traveling companion. He lives in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Pavel has a natural talent for blending humor with education, combined with a passion for travel and photography. His photo tours are boutique, small size (up to 7 participants) travels to remote destinations in Bulgaria, the Balkans and worldwide. His goal is always the same – to enhance the group’s understanding of both photography and the post-processing techniques, while practicing in the filed. Pavel’s customized trips are designed for all level of photographic experience and are ideal for enthusiast, entry or medium level photographers, as well as for professional photographers, who would like to to shoot new destinations.
Pavel works in partnership with the NGO NetHarvest and the licensed tour agency for adventure travels – BALKANTREK – VGAIDAROV.
SCHEDULED TRIPS 2010
PHOTO WORKSHOP/SAFARI- “THE BEST OF BULGARIA” – 20 SEPTEMBER /26 SEPTEMBER 2010
WEB SITE OF THE PHOTO WORKSHOP/SAFARI: http://netharvest.org/bulgaria
DURATION: 20 September – 26 September 2010
PRICE: 850 EUR (7 participants); 900 EUR (5 participants)
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 5 – 7
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE ITINERARY AND THE PROGRAM: Sofia – Svishtov (Danube River) – Northern Black Sea Coast (Shabla, Kamen Bryag, Tulenovo, Kaliakra) – Varna – Veliko Tarnovo – Dimitrovgrad – Eastern Rhodopes (Madzharovo, Ivaylovgrad, the villages of Mandritsa, Dolno Lukovo, Gorno Lukovo, Stden Kladenets) – Plovdiv – Sofia.
We will departure from Sofia on September 20th, 8.00am from the parking area in front of the national Stadium “Vasil Levski”. The first place we will visit is the city of Svishtov, Northern Bulgaria, located on the Danube River bank. In the afternoon we will have a short boat trip photographing the Danube river islands around Svishtov, their wildlife (birds) and beautiful landscapes. On the next day we will departure towards the Northern Black Sea coast (Shabla, Kamen Bryag, Tulenovo, Kaliakra), where we will continue with photographing stunning seascapes of the rocky Black sea coast, will visit fisher villages, the majestic lighthouse near Shabla. Will also try the traditional Bulgarian fish kitchen. Then we will continue southwards to the largest city on the Bulgarian Black sea coast – Varna – the perl of the sea. The next stop will be at the old and very picturesque city of Veliko Tarnovo. The street photography in this city will take you back to the past. The next destination is Dimitrovgard – a paradise for photographers looking to photograph abandoned plants and factories, unfinished buildings, industrial sites and the typical communist era architecture. Further we will continue to the region of Eastern Rhodopes – a remote and still preserved area, maybe one of the last of its kind remained in the EU. The first place here is the village of Madzharovo – famous with the largest vulture colony in Bulgaria as well as with the stunning mountain landscapes and the beautiful meanders of Arda River. On the next day we will continue to the architectural reserves of the villages of Mandritsa, Dolno Lukovo, Gorno Lukovo – unique semi- or completely abandoned villages. We will also visit this day the beautiful meanders of the Byala reka (White River), where we will have the opportunity to photograph one of the most beautiful landscapes in this region. The last day of our photo journey will be dedicated to the area around Studen Kladenec in the Eastern Rhodopes, the second largest city in Bulgaria – Plovdiv with its wonderful old city and will finish in Sofia on September 26th (Sunday).
BOOK NOW / DOWNLOAD PDF BROCHURE / DETAILED ITINERARY
BULGARIA PHOTO TOURS/SAFARIS AND WORKSHOPS
(could be customized according to the clients needs and preferences)
Bulgaria has plenty of exceptional sights, which offer you beneficial conditions for landscape/seascape, ethno/people and street photography. Bulgaria offers as well opportunities for shooting remains of the communist regime in Bulgaria, stressing on their integration and relation with the modern urban landscape of Bulgarian towns and villages, including socialist industrial landscapes, Socialist collective housing construction and objects representing Socialist realism. In most of the cases, these are objects, which might be seen and shot solely in Bulgaria, which turns this photo workshop/safari unique.
Types of trips
А) Bulgaria – a perfect choice for landscape photography
B) Photography tours related to historical and cultural patrimony of Bulgaria
C) Photography tour, exploring the monumental complexes, built by the communist regime, as a part of modern Bulgaria
А. Bulgaria – a perfect choice for landscape photography
Bulgaria has plenty of exceptional sights, which offer you beneficial conditions for improvement of your landscape photography skills. During all seasons, you have opportunity to shoot exciting seascapes and mountainscapes, as well as popular or less popular natural sights.
Photography tours are focused mainly on landscape and seascape photography – infinite blue sea, deep rock coasts, endless beaches, dramatic mountains, sunsets and sunrises viewed from incredible places, famous and less famous natural sights.
The duration of photography tours could be 4 days (long weekend), 1 week or 10 days.
I. Example of photography tour, long weekend kind
1) Northern Black sea (mainly seascapes)
The itinerary begins from town of Varna and goes north alongside of Black see. Visiting of picturesque seaside town of Balchik, situated on several hills, offering an amazing view to the sea, as well as visit of the gipsy quarter, suitable for shooting. Coming next is Albena resort with its vast beach. Consecutive visits of country of Kaliakra, renowned for its dramatic history and archeological remains, as well as for its extremely impressive rock coasts and cliffs with dizzy height. More northward are the villages Kamen bryag and Tyulenovo, where from the high plateau you can shoot superb seascapes. The Rumanian border is very close and the country itself could be seen form the last Bulgarian beach near Durankulak.
2) South-western Bulgaria (mainly mountainscapes)
The route starts form Sofia and comprises visit of sights in Rila and Pirin mountains. These are the two highest mountains in Bulgaria and in Balkans, offering views of typical alpine landscape. In the farthest south-western part of Bulgaria we will visit the historical and cultural reserve Melnik town and will see the rock pyramids in its surroundings, as well as the historical and cultural reserves Leshten and Kovachevitsa villages. The area is renowned for its monasteries, which though not being on the focus of this photography tour, could be visited and shot. We will visit Rupite land with its mineral springs where we can bathe after the exhaustive photo sessions. Other interesting for shooting object is the mountain of Belassitsa – extremely impressive mountain massif between Bulgaria, Greece and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – which reveals awesome views toward the entire region.
3) Southeastern Bulgaria (seascapes and mountainscapes)
The route starts from the town of Burgas and goes down south, toward the southern part of Black sea. There we will take beautiful beaches, which in winter could be dramatic indeed, marvelous rock coasts, mouth of Veleka river in Sinemorets and the southernmost point of the Bulgarian part of Black sea called Rezovo. Farther, we get in the interior of Bulgaria and see Strandja mountain. This is the biggest natural reserve in Bulgaria with unique flora and fauna. Magnificent landscapes for taking, remote, tucked away in the mountain villages, giving forth whiff of ancient traditions among which the tremendous “nestinarstvo” (fire-dancing), all of them being the typical objects for shooting. The main town of the area is Malko Tarnovo, picturesque mountain town with interesting architecture and attractive nature.
Landscapes from Bulgaria – gallery
II. Example of photography tour with 1 week duration
Northern part of Black sea (see the route above) – Varna – Sofia – Rila mountain, Pirin mountain, Rodhopes mountain including visit of Melnik and its rock pyramids, the villages of Leshten and Kovachevitsa
Photography type: both mountainscapes and seascapes
III. Example of photography tour 10 days
Burgas – Southern part of Bulgarian Black sea – Strandja mountain – Eastern Rodhopes with river Arda meanders – Western Rodhopes – Pirin – Melnik and the rock pyramids, the villages of Leshten and Kovachevitsa
Photography type – both mountainscapes and seascapes
B. Photography tours related to historical and cultural patrimony of Bulgaria
The lands which nowadays are populated with Bulgarians have long and reach history. Photography tour dedicated to the historical and cultural patrimony of Bulgaria offers an opportunity for shooting of archeological remains from different epochs, religious sanctuaries – churches and monasteries, old well preserved or repaired settlements transformed in reserves as for instance Nessebar, Sozopol, Koprivshtitsa etc.
Some of the offered itineraries include photo sessions in small, remote villages, where life has not changed a lot during the last decades. There we could take local traditions and people.
Depending on the season, photography tours for special festival or authentic event could be shot, as for instance the Christmas masquerades in Petrich and Pernik.
If interesting, photography tours could be organized for shooting of different ethnicities in Bulgaria demonstrating their specific traditions.
Into focus of these photography tours is the man and his cultural environment.
The duration of photography tours could be 4 days (long weekend), 1 week or 10 days.
I. Example of photography tour long weekend kind
Such photography tour may be organized in the region of Veliko Tarnovo.
This is one of the most ancient towns in Bulgaria. Its history starts about 5 thousand years ago, while the first evidences for life on its territories are dated the third millennium B.C and were found on the hill Trapezitsa. The ancient part of Veliko Tarnovo – the royal palace from the times the town was capital of The Second Bulgarian Empire, is situated on 3 hills – Tsarevets, Trapezitsa and Sveta Gora.
Objects of shooting – Architectural and historical reserve Tsarevets, village of Arbanasy – architectural reserve, SS. Forty Martyrs church, St. Demetrius of Thessalonica church, St. Ivan Rilski church, SS. Peter and Paul church, Samovodene handcrafts street. Audio-visual spectacle “Sound and light” is unique attraction in Europe.
Passes trough the town Yantra river, which forms beautiful meanders.
II. Example of photography tour with 1 week duration
Sofia – Plovdiv – Eastern Rodhopes – Stara Zagora – Veliko Tarnovo – Sofia
Sofia
Sо̀fia is the biggest town and capital of Bulgaria. It is situated in the north-western part of the country at the food of the mountain Vitosha et it is the main administrative, industrial, transport, cultural and university center of Bulgaria. The town has and interesting ancient part consisting of mixture of styles with predominant architecture from fifties and sixties of last century.
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is situated in the central part of Upper Thracian Plain on the two banks of the Maritsa river. In the city plenty of antic monuments have been preserved among which the Ancient Amphitheater, the Roman Odeon, the Agora (Roman Forum), the Roman Stadium the late ancient building Eyerne and others.
The city has very well preserved old part, superb for photo sessions.
Eastern Rodhopes
Eastern Rodhopes make part of Rodhopes mountain. Unlike western and central parts, the eastern part of the mountain has mainly low mountain and hilly relief (suitable for landscape photography). Through the mountain flows Arda river, which forms marvelous rock meanders and canyons. Eastern Rodhopes are also famous for originating of megalith culture, because this region has the biggest number of megalith monuments remained form the Thracian civilization – Perperikon, Tatul and others (suitable for archeology photography). The population of Eastern Rodhopes is mixed and consists of Bulgarians, ethnic Turks, gypsies, Armenians and Bulgaro-mahometans. The region is renowned for the perfect tolerance between the different ethnicities (suitable for cultural and ethnographic photography)
Stara Zagora
Stа̀ra Zagо̀ra is a town in Southern Bulgaria, one of the biggest and modern Bulgarian towns, as well as an important business center with large variety of objects for shooting – ancient remains, old urban environment, integrated in modern urban landscape.
Veliko Tarnovo – see above
III. Example of photography tour with 10 days duration
Sofia – Plovdiv – Eastern Rodhopes – Stara Zagora – Tryavna – Gabrovo – Elena – Veliko Tarnovo – Sofia
Sofia – see above
Plovdiv – see above
Eastern Rodhopes – see above
Stara Zagora – see above
Tryavna
The town is situated in the valley widening of Trevnenska river, at the northern foot of Triavna mountain in about 20 km to the east of Gabrovo.
The houses and the architectural reserve have kept their authentic look with all those wood-carving workshops and small old shops that the roofs are covered with tile-stones. This is also the style of the church in the city.
Gabrovo
The city of Gabrovo is situated at the foot of the mountain Stara Planina. Not far away form the city is the tourist land Uzana, where, after relevant measurements, the geographical center of Bulgaria has been pointed. Gabrovo is 25 km long, while in some places the width is only 1 km. From photography point of view, the city is interesting with its options for urban photography and unique urban mixture of architectural styles, typical for the times before the liberation, the epoch of communism and nowadays.
Elena
In 18th and 19th century the city is a crafts, trade and cultural center. Elena is called “Bulgarian Bethlehem”, because during the revival epoch it has three churches. Nowadays, the city offers wonderful opportunities for shooting of old houses and preserved city architecture from the middle of 18th century, churches and monasteries and delightful nature, just in close proximity.
Veliko Tarnovo – see above
C. Photography tour, exploring the monumental complexes, built by the communist regime, as a part of modern Bulgaria
The aim of this program is to provide the participants with possibilities for shooting of remains of the communist regime in Bulgaria, insisting on their integration and relation with the modern urban landscape of Bulgaria towns and villages.
The shooting objects could be split up in the following categories:
А) Socialist industrial landscape – old active and non-active factories and plants and their surroundings. Some of these buildings and complexes are remarkable photographical objects, put in the context of the modern urban landscape.
B) Socialist collective housing construction – half–destroyed and fully destroyed old homes, public buildings with their typical large size and style. To this category we can also add the so-called ghost villages, abandoned spectral villages, situated mainly in mountain regions of the country.
С) Socialist realism – huge public buildings, generally situated in downtowns of big cities and especially in Sofia. This Stalin style of architecture is not typical for Bulgaria only, but here some of the most impressive examples could be taken. To this category belong also the monumental sculptures and memorials spread all over the country.
In most of the cases, these are objects, which might be seen and shot solely in Bulgaria, which turns this photography tour unique.
Photography tours have 4 days duration (long weekend) or 1 week
The tours long weekend kind offer options for shooting of all described above categories within one town or villages nearby, as for instance Sofia and Kremikovtsi, Radomir, Kyustendil.
During the photography tours of 1 week we will have the possibility to visit both urban places with objects of the 3 categories and mountain ghost villages, as well as some remote places with specific objects for shooting.
PHOTO WORKSHOPS/SAFARIS FOR THE BULGARIAN AUDIENCE
(participants from other countries are also welcome to these trips but for the moment the information materials are in Bulgarian language only)
Turkish Strandja (Yildiz) and Istanbul – 19 July/26 July 2010. More information – http://netharvest.org/strandja
Scotland and Isle of Skye – 27 August/2 September 2010. More information – http://netharvest.org/scotland
Sicily – 01 October – 08 October 2010. More information – http://netharvest.org/sicily
If you are intersted in these trips please contact me for more information in English.
PHOTO WORKSHOPS
The topics, which are usually included in the photo workshops/safaris are: Digital workflow/darkroom; Digital story-telling; Internet for photographers; web design basics for photographers and social networking for photographers.
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