Support your friend artist or leave them struggle alone?

I notice some interesting phenomena in area of supporting emerging artists. Something that I’ve been thinking and personally experiencing for a while now. Something that really bothers and makes me wonder why.

I’ve been actively pursuing my artistic side for the past 16 years. Left my homeland 13 years ago, changed 3 countries, learned 2 additional languages to my mother tongue, lived with 21 nationalities in 16 houses, but I never have yet forgotten where I came from. In fact, I still keep in touch with some of my oldest friends. Moreover, I still care what they say and think, even though my life journey changed me so much.

What amazes me most is how people that know you from the start, at some point, for their own reasons, stop supporting your work, stop caring about your struggles, stop showing you that they see your effort. People say successful journey is a lonely journey, that there will be people who will fall back, who will develop jealousy not so much of you and what you do, but from the fact that they don’t have the guts to pursue their own big dreams.

It still strange me how they can call themselves your friends, but not give a single, most basic like on your social media for example, when you’re pushing so hard to build your future. It strikes me how they can watch regularly, but so irregularly be there for you. how they can support already established artists, well-known people far away from them in any meaning, but can’t support their long term friend. And it does hurts. If you’ve been in a situation like hits you have seen it, you know what I’m talking about.

Why do things change like that? Why can we be more open and loving? Why don’t we learn to see the bigger picture and sympathise more with those we know from kids, but who are trying to make a difference in their life? Because the difference they make will make a difference to all of us, to our kids that are growing together, to our community, to ourselves.

We all have egos, we’re all here to learn to be more humble, more honest, more sincere. And it all starts from us, from the inside and from the environment clossest to us. It all starts with our community, so it can grown and speed wider.

Maybe next time you feel jealous of your friend who is pushing hard to build their future surrounded by of insecurity and uncertainty, instead of passing by maybe give them a little tab on the shoulder, a hug, an acknowledgement that for you could look like nothing, but for them might mean the world.

How to photograph musicians with their musical instruments?

Most professionals require certain tools or instruments to be able to perform or create their work. Musicians included. As creators, their musical instruments are an inevitable part of their everyday life and quality of their work. They spend hours in practice and usually carry their own instruments for their performances or rehearsals.

When photographing musicians with their music instruments you should keep in mind that it’s important to capture the essence of the artist, but also to compliment their pride towards their craft and tools.

Here are a few tips of what to keep in mind during your photoshoot:

• Don’t hide the person behind the object
  Not every professional (especially in the early stages of their career) is confident to be photographed. Some might try to hide their body or expression behind the instrument. Your job as a photographer is to capture the passion, the movement, but also the performer. Make sure you have enough frames of your subject with their instrument in movement/performing and also of them proudly posing with their instrument. Keep in mind how you crop your frames, how natural the image looks and how both musician and instrument stand together. Even if your sitters might not feel it at the time, later on they will thank you for sure.

• Reflections, reflections, reflections
  Most music instruments have glossy, shiny finishing that reflects not only the light but also the objects surrounding it. So, while you’re thinking about the framing and position of your subject, you should also keep an eye on the reflections that appear on the instruments. You don’t want to see a selfie of yourself or the backstage on your amazingly lit and positioned professional photographs. And more often than not, it’s easier to correct it on the spot, than later in Photoshop.

• No fingerprints
  One way to make your life and job easier is to make sure the instruments that you photograph are well polished and clean. This will not only save you a good amount of time in post production, but it will bring the best out of the item. It’s like when you like your shoes but if you polish them you fall in love with them again. Also the performer would feel more proud while posing for their photoshoot when they see their instrument shining bright. After all this is not a performance, but a photoshoot and you can take your time with every detail on the set. (Of course, this is not the case when you want to explicitly show the work marks of the craftsman on its equipment.)

• Environment
  A photoshoot of musicians with their instruments doesn’t necessarily mean live, stage performance. But the place where you do your photoshoot might be the same. When planning your shoot be clear with yourself and the brief (if there is one), what is the feel/effect that you’re going for. In or out of a music environment, your photographs can capture the essence, the vibe, even the sound…

How to photograph objects in a more creative way?

Why not in a way you would usually capture portraits?

As a portrait photographer, sometimes I find it hard to photograph images of still objects. Even during the quarantine this year, I challenged myself to experiment and shoot something outside my comfort zone. Interestingly enough, I found out that I’m definitely not a still life photographer. I’ve tried to move the positions of the object or the light, but something always wasn’t right in my opinion. In the end, I found it easier to arrange objects similar to the way I would usually position human beings.

This summer, during my photoshoots of musicians, I’ve met one of the three luthiers in Bulgaria, who make guitars. I was blown away - never seen or met anyone who makes musical instruments. His name is Stefan Kudef and he goes under the brand Qdeff Guitars - custom made boutique pieces, that sing in an incredible way. You can follow him and find more about his work on his Facebook page.

Beautifully crafted pieces, made with love and attention, but unfortunately not photographed in the best, most complimenting for them way. It hurt to see how such beautiful objects don’t have a proper online presence, so I’ve offered Stefan my photography services. We worked together on coming up with the place and time of the shoot. He insisted to be outdoor, by the sea or in a forest, so it matches the feel of the guitars and complements the wood they are made of.

We did the shoot at sunset, at a small out of town beach. As locals, we know many of those spots, so it was easy to just come up with the location and just drive to it. When we arrived, there were a few people that were about to leave, as the sun has already passed the horizon.

Even though we shot on one location only, I wanted to capture each guitar on a different background, complimenting its beauty. We had 3 guitars, 3 variations of Izabel.

I’ve used:

• 1 light

• Natural background

• Last colours of a sunset sky

• Natural stands, such as stones and broken stumb

A Festive Self

Some time ago during a Christmas season I’ve started asking myself about the meaning of Family. I re-analyse all the family examples I know and all the information I’ve collected. From past to present, painting out to myself a detailed picture of the best family description I can give. I’m amazed how somewhere along the way family relationships can drift away from love and carrying. And yet how strongly connected to our truth we still remain.

There is a saying in Bulgaria - “The blood doesn’t become water”, which stands for the importance and connection between family members. In spiritual world is known that souls come to Earth in groups, in which their title changes, but the group remains together in every life. Which means our family is our “soul tribe” and we’ll also be together in the next life. So the issues we have with a family member is something that came from the past and if not sorted out, will continue to come back until it’s resolved. Or better - forgiven! A burden let go into the nothingness, causes the weightless feeling of love. What a relieve! And yet, how stubborn we could remain, letting the ego runs the show?

What a game life is!

This Christmas I had more time for myself than usual. Caught in thoughts I created my kind of festive season 2019. Lights down low, favourite tracks on. Let’s go…

I hope you’re having a wonderful time wherever you are this year, hope you’re joyful and merry! I hope you received the presents you most looked forward to and that you gifted yourself something meaningful too. If this wasn’t the best Christmas for you, don’t forget “this will too shall pass”.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Decade Everyone!

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Location shoot with the musician Polina

The biggest pleasure for me is working with talents. A collaboration between energies for the co-creation of something beautiful, meaningful and honest is something I always look for a a creative.

This is Polina Antonova - an incredible voice, musician and woman. She is based in Varna, Bulgaria, but her voice will take you around the glove in an elegant effortlessness. The tenderness of her soul vibrates bright and clear through her personal work, and her exclusive weekly Spotify playlist just wrap everything up in a bundle of flavour.

We shot on location in a warm summer night. The green wall behind her is 100% real - one of my favourite locations in the city, which I always keep in my sleeve as an option. I wanted to compliment her outfit with a high contrast background. Something vivid and majestic but at the same time natural and organic.

On the way to our location I saw a great, old door that caught my attention. I had to take a few frames to experiment with the look of the shoot. Turned out to be another great contrast complimenting the vision.

More about Polina you could find on her Facebook page or simply follow her on Instagram @p.juniee.

Make sure you have a listen to her music on Soundcloud

And to finish the experience - tune in every week to her Spotify playlist Vibe With Me and let it takes you away…

Many thanks to my assistant Rosie from Ro Pro Studio, with who I often work on locations and without whom this would have become a very different type of photoshoot.