This year is the first year me and Michel tried to make some underwater pictures!
The “equipment” was pretty basic — a simple underwater camera (from DM stores) x 2:
— 28 mm fixed focus (1-2m to infinity),
— ISO400 film (27 shots),
— fixed exposure/F-number (sunny/sunny with clouds),
— water resistant up to 3 m (0.3 bar),
— price — EUR 5.00 (including film).
( Here’s the camera in action:
…very funny camera! Swim underwater, press the shutter and hope something to come out of it… :-))
..Only not for me, but for a reader of this blog, who kindly asked me to make something that symbolizes it. I believe that the Phoenix bird is an appropriate one. :-)
Just wanted to share some photos from a walk outside Sofia – we went to Svoge, away from the prose.
Unseen and strange spiders with human faces, huge and trusting dragonflies, tender poppies, imitating predatory plant – almost like fiction, but it’s true. You only needs eyes to see…
The photos are made by Michel, because the camera is always with him – my part (as usual) is to ask “Shoot this for me, please, no, no this way, otherwise, if you can”… One day I’ll have my own camera!
Working and editing. Drawing, sleeping and dreaming. Digging up old drawings, memories and thoughts.
Finding unexpected and forgotten things, like these Rabbit Peter’s pictures:
I’ve met for the first time Beatrix Potter and her lovely little friends when I was in high schoold and a classmate gave me her book.
There’s lovely movie about this gorgeous woman, don’t miss it – “Miss Potter” will tell you more about her than I can.
I fell in love with her amazing and delicate illustrations and style. Often tried to redraw them from reference.
Also her name sounds nice to me, so close connected with pottery. ;-)
The bikes are dusted off and wait for us to ride away again…
Well, it needs good health to be able to do every little thing…
There is always somebody who is not happy about the rain. But I think there is no such thing like “bad weather”.
I love the rain. Love it when it wets me down to my bones and reminds me I am alive. Love it when it gently murmurs on the attic window and when makes the pigeons hide under the roof… love it when is angry and is trying to wash out everything that’s not likable – the dirty streets, the gloomy faces of the people… I love it when it plays with the sun rays and when a “bear is getting married”*… merry, sad, tearing or frivolous… there’s no life without rain. There’s no rainbow. :-)
This week’s forecast is for rain, but the thought is not depressing for me, right the opposite.
When people complain about the rain, it is not worried. It knows that people are always complaining – if sun is shining, they’ll mumble it’s too bright or strong and they’ll put on black sunglasses.
But the Little Queen of Rain knows how important she is, so she is just quietly smiling. Her delegate knows well his work… knows where is needed and expected.
When I consider how to turn an idea into a picture or a thing, it seems the time stops… or at least loses limitation.
I am drawing very intense lately. Remembering forgotten pleasures. Remembering how extremely good is the feeling of timelessness.
I like it, because I am usually such a paranoid person… always in a hurry, always in worry for not to be late. I have to learn how to be slower. :-)
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* You may be interested to know more about this expression in other countries and languages?
In many English-speaking countries there is a word for this phenomenon and it is “sunshower”.
But in all languages there is an expression, associated with animal and wedding or birthday.
For example, in Southwest England, Finland, Japan, Malaysia and Portugal they say “fox wedding”, or “the fox is getting married”.
In some parts of Italy – “the fox is making love”, in Korea they say “fox rain”, in South Africa and elsewhere you can hear it as “the monkey birthday” or “monkey’s wedding”.
In Arabic “the rats are getting married”, but in other languages you can meet jackals (Hindi), tigers (Korean), witches (Spanish), poor people (Greek) or even the devil himself (English, Dutch, Hungarian and German).
I guess the fox alone was able to cross the world and reach from Japan to Armenia. ;-) :-)