Enjoy iLife

I haven't used my camera much in the past couple of weeks, but I always carry my phone with me, and promptly take photos whenever a good chance presents itself.  In this case, I captured our transition from Sunnyvale to Belmont, and the accompanying surroundings exploration.  The last few images are from Palo Alto, where I went on Saturday to drop my first roll of 120 mm film to be developed.

The good thing about iphonography is that one can really take advantage of the mobility it offers, and touch up the shots later (I favor VSCOcam over Instagram these days).

Coming up next, my adventures in Medium Format! 

New Beginnings

We moved to a new house in Belmont, California this past weekend.  It's a wonderful place to be, both literally and metaphorically, and I am glad that we are settling down as I have a few important projects I want to concentrate on in the upcoming months, one of them being a stray animal charity I will be conducting here on the blog by selling prints to help out my furry Bulgarian friends. Stay tuned for more details soon - I'll be adding a "Donate" button, and there will be information about how it all works.  Of course, I'll also start writing again.  It's all so exciting!

I took a few images at home yesterday morning, and even though the light is much better at sunset, I wanted to capture the tranquil feeling in the early hours.  We don't live fancy, we live well - it's a secret I wish everyone knew.  Getting caught in the rat race isn't a wise way to spend your time, and we have no intention doing it, despite of the pressures that come with moving to a wealthier neighborhood such as this, and having a two car garage.  The truth is, wealth is a state of mind, and being able to enjoy my family, my craft, and the moment makes me richer than a king.  So we brought tattoos and Transformers decals and jazz music and geeky culture to Belmont, and a certain kind of freedom - to be ourselves.  

My favorite part is the hilly landscape and the country feel of the area.  The air is great, so is the light, and it's safe and quiet, ideal to raise a child.  Take a look, enjoy, and I hope to have you over soon!

A Room With a View

And here are the last images I took in Bulgaria.  This is pretty much the view from my apartment balcony in Sofia, a view I grew up with.  It is very different kind of suburbia than the American one, and not only because it's high up and overlooks hundreds of others little windows of box-like homes, but also because you can see someone freely pouring stuff out of bottles through said windows, oblivious about who could be splashed on the ground.

I don't dislike this reality, probably because I don't live there anymore...yet I still find some sort of strange coziness in the urban plight that reigns, especially when the light is just right, and the air is clean enough to see the mountain.  Besides, this was home.  You can't dislike home, even when its raw and gritty, you can just keep it in a special place and cherish it the way you can.

The sunset images are taken with my iPhone, and the rest are with my 300mm zoom lens.

Take from the altars of the past the fire - not the ashes

~ Jean Jaures

O, hai!

I returned to California last night and the two things that keep me from feeling sad and missing Bulgaria are anticipating our move to the new house in ten days (yes, we rented a home in Belmont!), and the memories I gathered during those last two months in Lovech.  What a splendid vacation this was!  On my last day there, I went to visit the Museum of Levski, and the Ethnographic Museum, and I took some photos with my iPhone along with my Nikon.  Enjoy!