Veskin7 Photo Journey

Blog Status Update - 15.July.2021

noreply@blogger.com (Veskin7) — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 02:41:00 +0000

Here is a quick update, folks.

I have to work with no days off, guarding the shop every night, 14 hour long shifts. Of course me and my employers agreed that I can sleep whenever I feel tired during work. My colleague guard has quit, he needs some rest. The shop gardener can take a shift for me from time to time, so I can have a day off still.

Given the situation, I cannot have enough free time to make photos. Good news is that I now have a laptop, a modest used one, and I can edit and blog. I can show you the photos I have made prior to the work marathon that rolls these days for me.

It has been a month and a half with almost no days off for me. I get double pay though, which is good.

Still, I don't have much energy to post frequently with elaborate posts. So far I have spent time on making some new designs for apparel in my Redbubble shop, check them if you like.

I will slowly adapt and will do what I can to post some picture stories from past days.

Oh well. It has been a bumpy ride for this blog so far. I do what I can. But things slowly change for the better, thank God.

See you folks.

Blog Status Update - 15.April.2021

noreply@blogger.com (Veskin7) — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 12:43:00 +0000

Hey folks, just a quick update.

As you may have already seen, my blog has been inactive for months, too many months. But if you still visited from time to time, you might have noticed that I am active on Twitter, sharing the goodness that I find there, from good photographers.

I am sorry for not posting, life has just been too busy for me. I couldn't find the time and energy to post, edit photos, present them here and tell the stories behind the photos. This is mostly due to my night-shift job and some family tasks that just need to be done, so that things run smoothly in life.

Things would have been different if I had a laptop at work, during night shifts, so that I could use the time to do the blog work and photo editing. This just cannot be done easily on the modest and slow tablet I use.

I had found a cheap second hand laptop, but there came the annual tax expenses and some family health expenses, and the savings for the laptop had to go. We are doing OK, thank God, but there is not enough funds for computer purchase at this time.

Aside from night-shift work, I have been taking photos with my new camera. I have several photos that are waiting to be evaluated in 123RF - stock photo website. And then, just recently, I have opened a Redbubble shop, where you can get some of my photos and designs, printed on things you may want.

Take a look if you want, hope you can find something that you like.

I hope I can get this blog up to speed soon. If you are a reader of this blog - thank you, it is really appreciated.

See you around!

Lauta Park, Cat & Sunset at Rahat Tepe - Plus an Oppressive Premonition

noreply@blogger.com (Veskin7) — Fri, 01 May 2020 11:51:00 +0000

Hey folks!

Sorry for the delay.

The pictures shown in this post were taken on the 3rd of February, 2020.

It was a really nice and sunny day. I decided to go to Lauta Park, one of the less visited places for relaxation and sport. My intention was to just practice some shots, see what I can find there to take photos of.

Early February, the weather was still cold and the park flora was painted in grey colors mostly. I walked slowly, taking photos of various pathways.

Somewhere in the middle of this walk, I started hearing a woodpecker sound. I followed the sounds and I soon reached the heart of the park, where trees were tallest. I wanted to take a few shots of the woodpeckers. This place was wild, serene, really quiet. Sorry I don't have photos of it.

A few minutes later I really noticed the silence. It was a notable moment. I felt like I was being watched by the hidden eyes of the inhabitants - birds and small animals. I felt their worried looks upon me, some sort of an empathy feeling, like they were wondering what to do and curious to see who this unwelcome guest with a camera was.

I felt like a complete rookie. It was a prominent meeting with Nature, where I was the ignorant clumsy child and the birds and animals, the entire flora and fauna there, were the hardened veterans, the ones that know exactly how to survive in this environment. I was standing there with a sense of wonder, looking around, trying to see some of the inhabitants. At first I could feel their worry, but then, after a while I felt welcome. Or at least I had the curious attention of the birds and animals.

High in the trees, I saw a woodpecker peeking. And then another one. They were too far away for my limited camera zoom.

Then, as I was looking around, a jay flew past me really quick. It landed on a nearby tree. I tried to take a picture of it, but it moved too fast and soon flew further away, impossible for me to take the shot. "Next time then." I thought.

I remember this tranquil moment in this nearly wild place. Back there, even though it was in a park, I could feel my connection with nature. It was a prominent feeling. Full of love. Made me think about how important it is to be in harmony with nature, as much as possible. The feeling that nature leaves in us, when we pay a good visit, is something that heals not just the body, but the soul too.

I continued my walk, taking photos until my batteries run out. Then I went to a nearby shop and got spare batteries. Made some more photos of the various pathways in the park. People come here regularly, for some walks or run exercise. I saw numerous runners along the way. Unlike the other parks in Plovdiv, Lauta is pretty loosened and wild. This attracts me.

I exited the park with a heart full of joy and relaxed. With a good feeling of accomplishment.

Then on the way back, near my house I saw a cat laying by a tree. She was really close to me, so I zoomed in and took a few shots.

She obviously enjoyed the sunshine and was relaxed.

When I got home, I had some food and then proceeded to daily tasks. But I already had decided that I will take some photos of the sunset this evening, on the Rahat Tepe hill.

I looked up when the sun was gonna set, and I planned my time accordingly. I arrived at the hill just in time.

I used some of the pre-made filters of my camera, particularly the Sunset filter.

I took numerous shots. Some were bad, some were good. Here are the best of them.

Some of the clouds were really nice.

To the west, there is Aliosha Hill. The monument of the Russian soldier can be seen at the top. There were heavy and thick clouds in the sky above the hill.

After taking numerous shots I got tired and the wind started to make me cold. I decided to call it a day, but as I walked away, I turned and saw it. It was a beautiful view. So I got back and took a few more shots. And later on this resulted in an image that was probably my best from this session. The image below.

Nice yellow and orange colors of the sunset, coupled with dramatic dark clouds. Beautiful. But there was something else.

Back home, when I was checking the photos, as I was looking at this image, I started to feel something strange. It was a vague feeling, like a whisper. An oppressive feeling of something unpleasant coming. Back then I didn't know what this was, so I let it fade away. It did to a point, but its bitter "taste" still lingered in the back of my mind. An undefined feeling of worry and stress. I didn't know what it was, I wondered why I felt this way.

Some time later, in the middle of March, the Coronavirus made its way in Bulgaria. And the mystery of that oppressive feeling was revealed.

Stay safe folks. This whole situation is stressful and strange. I hope we can get through this soon. I don't know how you see it, but sometimes I feel like this is a test of sorts. A test for us, to see how compassionate we are, how keen we are to help each other, take care of each other.

I hope you are well.

Thank you for reading and seeing the photos.

See you!

First Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Veskin7) — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 20:01:00 +0000

Here are the first steps of my Photo Journey.

Starting off, here is the very first photo of the journey, taken in the evening of the 1st of February. My first Macro photo actually.

It was dark in the room and I used the camera flash. Resulted in a crisp image and its quality surprised me.

The focus is really good. Also the light.

This is one of my tiny headphones, that I use when I listen to music on my phone.

Seeing this I was really encouraged and my confidence grew a little, knowing that even with that modest camera, I can take good shots.

The next pictures were taken on the 2nd of February, 2020 and resized for blog use on the 6th of March (that is why it shows that date as a date created in the metadata, ugh, will see to fix that with the next photos, actually the EXIF data shows the correct date).

The day started calmly. After the morning routine, breakfast and lunch had passed, I went out with my brother and a friend. We went to a local playground (inter-block space) and sat on a bench. We had a chilled conversation and as we talked, we noticed some stray cats roaming about. One of them approached cautiously and looked.

The cat had sad eyes. Not sure if male or female. It looked and hoped for some food probably, sadly we didn't have any at this time. It stood there quietly, examining us, curiously looking at the camera.

I describe this meeting in detail, because there was something more about it. The level of empathy - the way I could feel the animal's sadness and worry, it was noticeable. We shared some love, a moment, and we shared a melancholic feeling - a sadness probably built up during the days of hardship each one has had (in a different way but still). This cat was friendly, even if it was keeping distance and being careful.

The overall colors of the scene were grey and white. Early February, Winter time. Even the grass was grey. This also contributed to the melancholy at the time.

Then I said goodbye to my brother and the friend, and went on to take some photos at one of the city local hills - Aliosha Hill, or as it is commonly named - Bunardjika. I love to go there. It is like a park.

And after last year, when a good friend of mine came to visit, it become a long standing tradition to visit this place and enjoy the flora and fauna, the elevated views, the feeling of freedom and calmness that is there all the time.

I will share some of the nice views, but first I want to show you a little detail, that I noticed and liked.

I love it when I see small and simple details like these. The tiny plant, that had made its way through the stone stairs, actually makes the stairs look gorgeous. It adds to the feeling of Nature, when you visit this place.

On many stairs across the hill, there are plants like these.

I was really inspired and I placed the camera down, looking sideways at the stair.

Thus the second image was produced, a little perspective and showing the crude stones that the stairs are made of, the leaves of the tiny plants contrasting with the stone.

At the time this was a good experiment, a little exciting even.

I was very pleased with the idea and decided to take more shots like this in the future.

Moving on, here are some views from atop the hill.

In view above, it is the other large hill, the highest of all Plovdiv hills - Youth Hill. It looks pretty gray during winter, but still majestic.

Below you can see my affinity to taking landscape photos that focus on the skies. I love it when there are some nice clouds, they always make a photo gorgeous.

I know the horizon line is not always straight, bear with me. I decided not to edit the photos at this time. When taking these photos I played with the camera settings, tried different filters, to see what produces the best image during that time of day (afternoon, pretty cloudy day).

And here are some photos showing the things on Aliosha hill. I haven't focused on the monuments, liked the plants there instead. Particularly this group of pine trees. Here you can see me playing with the settings, trying different color settings and filters, as well as trying different shot compositions.

And finally there are some shots of a forest path. There are numerous forest path on this hill, some are pretty gorgeous. Here I also made multiple photos with different settings.

And that concludes the image showcase for these days, the very first steps of this journey.

I will show you many more photos of the Aliosha Hill in the future, it is a large place, has many sights and gorgeous views, flowers, birds, insects, lizards.

Feel free to comment, criticize or give advice. I know the photos are modest, this is pretty much part of the journey.

Thanks for reading and viewing the photos. See you!

A Photo Journey has Begun

noreply@blogger.com (Veskin7) — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 07:12:00 +0000

Good day!

Welcome to my brand new blog, dedicated to Photography. This is my Photo Journey. I want to show you beautiful things, as I see them in my travels.

My name is Veselin Milushev, also known as Veskin7 around the Internet. I am from Bulgaria.

A little background:

I studied Park Construction in the Construction Technical School in my home town of Plovdiv. Then I went to the Agricultural University, again in Plovdiv, where I studied Ecology and Preserving the Environment. Bachelor's degree.

But my true passion has always been Art. And just recently I discovered another passion that goes hand in hand with art - Photography. I take my time to improve in both these fields.

In this blog I will share experiences and photos with details. I do not aim to educate you guys, because I am an amateur photographer, still a fresh beginner. But I will be pretty open about this journey and will share as much as I can. I hope you feel good when browsing this blog.

I started this journey on the 1st of February, 2020, when, after a short contemplation and encouraged by my good friends, I made the decision to try Photography.

Prior to this decision, for more than a year, I began discovering and sharing countless photos, made by good photographers, they began flooding my Twitter feed. Most of them are bird photos, taken in their natural habitats. But it is not just birds, all kinds of animals, insects, beautiful landscapes also make their way in my Twitter feed and I retweet them with pleasure.

So as I was exposed to this infinite beauty, it is no wonder that I am forever inspired. Nature is God's creation and it is natural to feel the love and care that He put into creating it. Just look at a songbird, any songbird, you will love it immediately. Same goes for all the rest the fauna and flora.

Enjoy this Photo Journey with me.

I hope I can show you beautiful things, that will make you appreciate our natural home, be in harmony with it and do what you can to keep it in a healthy state.

I will soon post photos and experiences from the first days of this journey. I aim to take photos in my free time, pretty regularly hopefully. The frequency of my posts may vary, but I aim to be consistent.

At this time I use very basic equipment for making photos, but I aim to make improvements in the near future.

After the start of this journey on the 1st of February, I have saved the photos I made for that time period, up to the middle of March, when the Coronavirus made its way in my country and the measures that the government took to protect us restricted my freedom to go out.

Still, as I said, I have some photos to show you and will make posts for each day that I spend outside taking photos, before the virus outbreak.

This is a humble beginning, but I am excited. I can finally feel I do something that is really worth it.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned! See you in the next post!