15 Mar 2021

Rhododendron Forest in Bloom

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The evergreen Rhododendron Ponticum is a native plant to the Strandja mountain in Bulgaria. It has survived the last ice age as this part of the continent remained ice free. It loves the deep, shady and humid gorges, as it can get very dry and hot in this part of the country in the summer. Together with the Eastern beech tree and the local varieties of ivy and other wild vines, it forms thick and lush forests that often resemble real jungle. It is a protected species in Bulgaria and the areas where it grows are usually reserves or protected areas withing the boundaries of Strandja Natural Park. The blooming of the Zelenika, as they call it here, attracts visitors from around the country each year. These dark, rocky, wet and lush with vegetation stream valleys are favourite spots of mine to visit in spring.

In 2020 the pandemic gave me an unique opportunity to record sounds in real-time for long periods of time completely without or with very few interruptions by jet planes flying over. I managed to record an eight hour recording of the sounds in this forest and to turn it into a “no loop” birdsong video. You can see it here: https://youtu.be/nlRfDVSebAA

The mossy fairytale-like roots of an old beech tree.
Forest classroom project realized by a local wildlife protection organization.
My most favourite type of damselfly in its amazingly stylish color outfit.
22 Nov 2015

Peaceful Autumn

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For my first 4K autumn video, I (no surprise here) chose the beautiful old forests of the Central Balkan National Park. Primarily consisting of beech, oak, acer, hornbeam and other broadleaved trees, the forests of this park turn into different shades of warm colours in autumn – from deep red or magenta, through orange to bright yellow. Added to that, the plants that were still green and the evergreen trees, make up for a colorful palette that is a joy to the eye. Hiking up along one of the many crystal clear streams in the mountain, I was able to also include in the video the relaxing sound of the water cascading down the rocky bed. A magnificent place of pristine nature, that always evokes awe in me, soothes my mind, and purifies my soul. A place that I will always be going back to. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/czCHvDY23fc

I also produced two videos of long loops of a single unchanging scene, that are suitable for sleeping and don’t distract the listener with the changing sounds of different scenes. Those videos are available here: https://youtu.be/IadsLclBOS8 and here: https://youtu.be/6uhRxK_EOm4

  • Me njoying the enchanting landscape…
  • … and happy with life 🙂
  • The cosy hut where I slept for two nights during the shoot.
12 Oct 2015

Campfire by the River

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For this video I traveled and hiked with a friend of mine to one of my favourite spots in Strandja Natural Park, Bulgaria. I wanted to record a video of a campfire near a river, that had both the sounds of the crackling fire and tricking water in it. I found this perfect place and started to set up the campfire. The water looks still in the video, but it is actually moving and just behind the camera there are little rocky rapids, that produce this nice bubbly sound of gently flowing water. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/Ftm2uv7-Ybw

I wanted to record the video at dusk, so we camped and spent the night there, sleeping in our hammocks. In the middle of the night I woke up with the sound of some heavy steps moving towards us. In my mind I constructed an image of an elk, crashing into the hammock of my sleeping friend and got really worried. I turned my headlight on and looked around, but couldn’t see any creature whatsoever. I could still hear the sound of something moving in the forest not far away from us, but gradually it moved away and I fall asleep again. My friend didn’t wake up at all and slept really well, unlike me that woke up a few times more during the night listening for strange noises.

  • Campfire ready to be lit.
  • Me stoking the fire.
9 Oct 2014

UP to Paradise

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Central Balkan National Park is one of my personal favourite pieces of pristine nature to visit. On one of my hiking trips to Paradise Hut, whilst taking the usual photographs, I decided to try experimenting with more video and to film different scenes on the way. In the end I had a large enough collection of them to make a short film. The video is following the path towards the “Paradise Waterfall” in Bulgaria. “Raisko Praskalo” is the highest waterfall on the Balkan Peninsula. It falls from a height of 124,5 metres and is situated right under Botev peak (2376 m) in the Central Balkan National Park. The area is a reserve, protecting a rich diversity of wildlife, plants, majestic old natural forests, pure mountain streams, waterfalls and impressive rock formations. “Paradise Hut” (“Hizha Rai”) is the name of the tourist lodge situated under the waterfall, that is only accessible by foot. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/2eAdXwZjHNA

  • Me posing for my camera on a tripod.
  • The way down…