“Bugs, Beer & Birds”|Bulgaria

This was a view that became commonplace during the trip, but one that felt like it needed recording for posterity. The flies, bugs, and smeary wiper marks from the long drive to Bulgaria are etched into my mind; a grime-layered filter that defined our transit across the continent.

When I saw this shot forming in my mind while sitting next to David Nightingale, I realized it would only be a matter of time before he’d interpret the scene himself and pull out the big guns to record it. Not wanting to be upstaged, I decided to grab a few chance frames as we rattled past. I had plenty of opportunities throughout the week, as this specific slip road into town—with the beer factory and brewery standing as industrial sentinels—became a vital landmark for our early, somewhat clunky navigation attempts in BG.

For a “through-the-window” frame, screen detritus and all, I was quite happy with the result. It captures the raw, unpolished reality of the road trip perfectly.

Using the 17-40mm at its widest 17mm setting really helped emphasize the scale of that Bulgarian landscape, even through the glass. To handle the high dynamic range of the scene and the “screen detritus,” I leaned on a heavy-hitting post-processing stack including Photomatix and Topaz to pull out the textures and grit that defined the drive. Thanks for stopping by …… csj

camera|Canon EOS 5D
focal length|17mm
aperture|f/11
shutter speed|1/250s
iso|100

comment by djn1 at June 1, 2009 1:25 PM

Very nicely done, and I’m going to leave this scene well alone, at least until everyone has forgotten your version – I can’t see how I could better this one 🙂

comment by one way photo / Mark at June 1, 2009 9:03 AM

The flies and wiper marks almost look like a post-processing effect 😉

comment by one way photo / Mark at June 1, 2009 9:01 AM

The flies and wiper marks almost look like a post-processing effect 😉

comment by Matt Thomas at June 1, 2009 8:37 AM

Spectacular, detail is awesome, sky so dramatic. Love it. 🙂

comment by sil at June 1, 2009 8:31 AM

Stunning image and the building looks fantastic. Great looking sky too.

comment by Craig at June 1, 2009 7:32 AM

Well at first glance, before reading, I thought this was a textured overlay and I guess it is but a real one. Driving for four days just to get this effect is a bit drastic though! 😉 Nice one, I like this a lot.

comment by Ananth at June 1, 2009 6:00 AM

Good perspective.. Thanx for sharing..

comment by nick at June 1, 2009 3:43 AM

Good job! There’s something about the combination of the yellow hues and the sky, viewed through the dirty glass 🙂

Btw bugs on the windscreen look cool — characteristic of a long travel 😉

comment by Briony at June 1, 2009 12:49 AM

beautiful composition…love the color and texture!