A long time ago I saw an ad for a photo-trip, and because I have never been ot this kind of trip I decided to join. The trip included a visit to the famous Turn of the Arda River and Devil’s Bridge, there was a portrait training as well. Overall planer was pretty interesting and for this me was something new – to be in a group with this many photography lovers. Exchange the experience among so many people is really of great benefit to all. “The evening part” is also very creative and fun 🙂
The first day of photo-trip was a free time, which gave the opportunity to explore the area of the wonderful Yabalkovets village and capture the great views revealing from the mountain site. Me personally made a second atempt to do time lapse, which tourned out to be fairly well, but quite brief because sunset was getting pretty unique and I just could not resist to make some shots. Sometimes in situations like this one I want to have 3 cameras and 6 more hands 🙂
The Meander of Arda river
During the second day we had the portrait training and visit of the famous for all photographers Arda River Meander. For me, quite interesting was the portrait session and shooting with a model. Since usually I do not do this type of photography, this part of the planer was quite intriguing. We had 2 models dressed in two different styles:
After the portrait part we begun our trip to the famous turn of the Arda River. The meander is a few kilometers from the village Padartsi and the road after the village is quite narrow. We had to leave the bus and continue on foot. The view all the way before and after the village is unique. The bad thing is that there are not many places where to stop and take pictures.
The meander of Arda River photographed so much that it has become something of a symbol of amateurs and professional photographers. That is why I didn’t try to do some interesting picture, because surely someone has already done it. And also the weather was not with us this time. Ultimately, this is the result:
During the third day it was again time for pictures with a model in different clothes and composition. Again this part for me was of a great interest. I realized that working with model can be quite inspiring and giving ideas for new concepts.
Devil's Bridge
After lunch we headed to Devil’s Bridge, located near the village Diadovtsi. Here again we left the bus shortly after the village, because the road is very narrow and there is nowhere to turn. However, the road is in pretty good condition and with a car you can reach the bridge without any problem. We walked quite a lot, as the distance from the beginning of the road to the bridge itself is not short, but the walk is really nice if you have enough time.
Before you headed to the bridge, a girl told us about the most interesting (at least to me) legend about the bridge and its construction. The legend says that people wanted to build a bridge over the Arda River, which connects the two nearby villages. Unfortunately the powerful water ot the river always demolished all constructions. All sorts of craftsmen and builders tried, but never managed to make a bridge strong enough to withstand the waters of the Arda river. And then a young craftsmen decided to try, but before he started the construction the Devil appeared and offered him a deal. If the young master agreed to the terms of the Devil the river will not be able to demolish the bridge. The deal was for the master to build the bridge for 40 days and to embed the image of the Devil in the bridge itself, but this image had to be both visible and invisible. To the surprise of all villagers the young man managed to build the bridge, but then died and the secret of its construction remained unknown. But the fact is that Devil’s Bridge stands unshakable already 500 years. There are several ideas where exactly is the hidden image of the Devil, but for me personally the most interesting idea was from a picture I saw in the internet and which I tried to recreate below. You’ll decide whether you see the image of the Devil in it:
The Devil’s Bridge is also quite popular subject for photos, taht’s why I dindn’t try to make a new masterpiece. Unfortunately again the weather was not with us!
Overall photo-trip was a really unique experience for me, I learned many new and useful things and I met many people passionate about photography. And for fun I’ll show you a picture where you will get an idea of what happens during a photoshoot and what models are exposed to in this type of events:
