DANIELA AND ROSSEN'S WEDDING LOGO

Daniela, a colleague and friend of mine, recently announced that she would be getting married to her boyfriend of several years, Rossen. I get so happy and excited whenever there is a wedding, I guess it's a girl thing. Anyway, my colleagues and I set out to design her wedding invitation. I ended up designing several logos for her and her husband-to-be. All of the designs have what I call the "short version" of their initials and a "long version" with their full names as they are spelled in Bulgarian (Даниела и Росен). I was really happy with all designs, and forgive me for not being modest, but I think I love them all. My favorite is probably the first one, but Dani ended up choosing the third logo, so that's what we put on the invitations. Check out the three designs below:

COLLAGE: CURTAIN CLOSING

Here is an abstract collage that I did recently as a birthday gift. I started making collages like this after a project we did in painting class in Colby, and I've loved doing them ever since. The funny thing was that such collages were really hard for me to make at first, but later turned out to be my favorite assignment. Like I told my professor back then, I can see more of myself in these than in some of the other art pieces that I've done.
The collage below is called Curtain Closing, and it's actually a group of three collages.

OURANOUPOLI AND ATHOS BEACH BREAK PHOTOS

This summer was quite tiring; in between work, moving, and various art projects, I've barely had time to relax properly. I really needed some time off, a week of not going over task lists in my mind all the time or tossing and turning in bed thinking about campaigns, events, or about getting cable TV for my house. That's why I was really looking forward to my second Greek beach break this summer, this time not just for a short weekend, but for a full week. I spent it luxuriously lounging on the beach with my Kindle, taking photos, catching up on my sleep, and clearing my mind of work clutter. I also went on a short cruise along one side of Athos, enjoying the views of the monasteries. The sun, the crystal clear water and the beautiful pink sunsets made me feel like I was in a different world, one where there was no stress and no crazy deadlines. Ah, if only...

BABY JORO'S BAPTISM PHOTOS

I was so incredibly happy to photograph baby Joro's baptism this Sunday, and I love how the photos turned out. The church "Света Богородица" (St. Mary) in Haskovo, built in 1837, is absolutely beautiful and made an excellent backdrop to the event with its ornate icons and woodcuts, gorgeous chandeliers and lit candles. But most of all, it was the smiling faces of everyone present, including baby Joro's, that made the atmosphere really special and festive. Some of my favorite photos are the one with the grandma holding the baby's hand, as well as the whole series where the priest dips baby Joro in the water!
I am really happy that I got to shoot in a church, too, since it will be great practice for (hopefully) shooting weddings in the future. I love that I had time to shoot some of the details of the place, like the water fountain outside, the side doors, or the candles.

WHITE NECKLACE

I made this necklace about a week ago, but I couldn't post it earlier because I caught some sort of nasty summer flu that seemed to last forever...blah. I wanted a big chunky white necklace, and since I couldn't find anything in the stores that was nice and fit that description, I just made it myself out of polymer clay. It's part of my White Collection, which you can see here.

FOOD PHOTOS: OMONIMO RESTAURANT

I completed my first food photography assignment some weeks back, photographing food for the menu of a new restaurant in Sofia called Omonimo. Let me tell you this: I was terrified! I think that food photography is very, very hard, and I was completely daunted by the fact that I had to do such an assignment. The good part was that I wasn't going to be alone but with the other photographer in our agency, which was a definite relief. It was reassuring to know that there would be another person shooting some of the same dishes, just in case. Also, the owners of the restaurant weren't expecting some sort of photographic masterpiece, but just photos that made their food look tasty and recognizable in the menu.

Let me tell you something else, too: the food smelled, looked and tasted amazing! I was salivating the whole time! The photos turned out OK, too. Now I can definitely see some things that could be improved and I'm sure that my photography teacher will find even more such things. Still, I'm pleased with the result, especially given the fact that we didn't have much in the way of lighting equipment. See for yourself below, and be gentle with me :)

P.S. Just as an aside, I love my polarizing filter! I never thought it would be so useful, but now I can't go anywhere without it! If you don't already have one, get one!





The restaurant has a wood-burning pizza oven, which is what I photographed here on that last photo.

KERAMOTI, GREECE

After all the long and grueling work days last week and all the excitement and exhaustion of working on a TV commercial, I just had to take a couple of days off and escape on a relaxing weekend beach break. The destination this time: the picturesque village and gorgeous beaches of Keramoti in Greece and the resort city of Kavala.

With its white sand, light cerulean water, sparkling blue sky with perfectly white cotton clouds, and the blue-green outline of the island of Thassos in the distance, the beach in Keramoti feels exotic and luxurious. I could easily imagine myself staying there for a week or two, the perfect amount of time to decompress while sipping my freshly squeezed orange juice, enjoying mouth-watering seafood meals and reading my book. An added bonus were the dazzling sunsets, pink, violet and gold on a clear day and a glorious mix of oranges, purples and blues when there are clouds in the sky.

Enjoy some of my photos of the place. I've selected those lovely little details and beautiful landscapes that create the atmosphere of Keramoti, Kavala, and the lake monastery near Porto Lagos, and I hope that afterwards you will be able to close your eyes and imagine that you are there. I know I will.