"Buzludzha is a historical peak in the Central Stara Planina mountain range in Bulgaria and is 1441 metres high. In 1868 it was the place of the final battle between Bulgarian rebels led by Hadji Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha and the Turks. In 1891 the socialists, led by Dimitar Blagoev, assembled secretly in the area to form an organised socialist movement. In honour of this act the Buzludzha Monument was built."
However, despite the fact that the monument was opened in 1981, to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian state, it's now a ruin: the roof is full of holes, the windows are gone, the murals inside the building are crumbling, and the building is covered in graffiti and anti-communist slogans.
So, that's the history ...
Last Friday, Craig and I headed up there and parked in the car park at the bottom of the hill. We then spent the next 25 minutes dragging ourselves up the extremely steep path, and arrived panting, on the verge of a coronary, at the summit. We then discovered the road, which would have been a slightly easier way to get there :)
Anyway, I'm still researching the building, so can't tell you much more about it at this stage – other than that it's definitely one of the most fascinating buildings I've ever come across – but do have another four shots that I'll post at some point soon. If you're interested, Craig has posted a slightly more natural interpretation of the interior here:
I've categorised this one as an HDR image, but it's not, at least not in a technical sense. I did use multiple exposures (a bracketed sequence of 11 images: 1 EV spacing, 1/250s to 4s), but manually blended them rather than creating a 32 HDR bit image which I then tone mapped. I did try using Photomatix Pro but, on this occasion, couldn't produce a version I was especially happy with. The 'show the original', in this instance, is the .5s exposure from the original sequence.
comment byMatteo at 07:19 AM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Breathtaking, one of the most beautiful shots of yours, IMHO. Communist alien spaceship incoming!
comment byGarry at 07:35 AM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Fantastic building :)
Looks like part of the set from "close encounters..."
comment byMatt O'Sullivan at 08:22 AM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Wow, amazing place!
comment by steve deer at 10:32 AM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
dave...impressive... what did you tonemap the file with then?
comment bydjn1 at 10:41 AM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Matteo, Garry and Matt: thanks.
Steve: it's not tonemapped. I started with one of the brightest exposures then blended in seven of the darker exposures, masking them to prevent them from blocking the areas I wanted to remain bright. It was a bit time consuming, but the only way I could get this one to work.
comment byCarlos Garcia at 12:02 PM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Stunning image David. I love old structures like this. They evoke an interesting mix of history, sadness and wonder at the untold story of it's demise. Fantastic processing.
comment by Tim at 12:28 PM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Fascinating image -- evokes a great sadness for the hopes but failure of Marxism -- reminds me of a great exhibition i saw in Amsterdam of Soviet Art/Architecture from after the Revolution. All the drawings looked like Gotham City but none of it ever got built...
comment byChris Yakimov at 02:46 PM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Incredible image - a rich... emblem? of the pageantry of history. I definitely thought it was HDR. Regardless, the treatment works for me: rich, intriguing and slightly intimidating. Seems apt.
comment byPaul Mansfield at 03:30 PM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
Fantastic work, the colours and light!
comment bySteve at 11:06 PM (GMT) on 27 October, 2010
The new Nik HDR Efex Pro plug-in is worth looking at, it's less trial and error than Photomatix in my - albeit limited - experience with it so far.
comment byChris at 03:54 AM (GMT) on 28 October, 2010
This is unbelievable, architecture is extremely fascinating. You captured and were able to post-process so much detail. Again, that should not surprise your visitors who know your work well. Technical question, did you try the exposure fusion option in Photomatix or just the tone-mapping feature?
comment bydjn1 at 06:02 AM (GMT) on 29 October, 2010
Thanks everyone.
Steve: I'll take a look at that plugin.
Chris: I tried the Details Enhancer and the Fusion option, but didn't like either version all that much - I just couldn't get the light balanced in a way that would make a good starting point for subsequent post-production.
comment byPatrick Dodds at 12:25 PM (GMT) on 31 October, 2010
This is breathtaking - what a fantastic building.
comment byMat at 08:43 AM (GMT) on 7 January, 2011
Just saw the link on Craig's blog to the pic of this place before it was ruined. It's still atmospheric but what a decline. Quite unbelievable!
comment byCalin C. at 08:42 AM (GMT) on 15 July, 2011
The quality of this photo is amazing! Like all your other photos :)
The building, almost make me feel the communist glory and what it represent. I'm not a communist, don't get me wrong, but no architecture should be a ruin, no matter who or under what politic direction was build.
I don't know if I'm allowed, but here is a comparison in images between opening day and now: http://mavar.byethost16.com/index.php/topic,275.0.html
The link is in Bulgarian, but this makes not difference.
According to wikipedia ...
"Buzludzha is a historical peak in the Central Stara Planina mountain range in Bulgaria and is 1441 metres high. In 1868 it was the place of the final battle between Bulgarian rebels led by Hadji Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha and the Turks. In 1891 the socialists, led by Dimitar Blagoev, assembled secretly in the area to form an organised socialist movement. In honour of this act the Buzludzha Monument was built."
However, despite the fact that the monument was opened in 1981, to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian state, it's now a ruin: the roof is full of holes, the windows are gone, the murals inside the building are crumbling, and the building is covered in graffiti and anti-communist slogans.
So, that's the history ...
Last Friday, Craig and I headed up there and parked in the car park at the bottom of the hill. We then spent the next 25 minutes dragging ourselves up the extremely steep path, and arrived panting, on the verge of a coronary, at the summit. We then discovered the road, which would have been a slightly easier way to get there :)
Anyway, I'm still researching the building, so can't tell you much more about it at this stage – other than that it's definitely one of the most fascinating buildings I've ever come across – but do have another four shots that I'll post at some point soon. If you're interested, Craig has posted a slightly more natural interpretation of the interior here:
http://www.id7.co.uk/portfolio/archives/1010261900_clean.php
As always, let me know what you think.
On a technical note ...
I've categorised this one as an HDR image, but it's not, at least not in a technical sense. I did use multiple exposures (a bracketed sequence of 11 images: 1 EV spacing, 1/250s to 4s), but manually blended them rather than creating a 32 HDR bit image which I then tone mapped. I did try using Photomatix Pro but, on this occasion, couldn't produce a version I was especially happy with. The 'show the original', in this instance, is the .5s exposure from the original sequence.
Breathtaking, one of the most beautiful shots of yours, IMHO. Communist alien spaceship incoming!
Fantastic building :)
Looks like part of the set from "close encounters..."
Wow, amazing place!
dave...impressive... what did you tonemap the file with then?
Matteo, Garry and Matt: thanks.
Steve: it's not tonemapped. I started with one of the brightest exposures then blended in seven of the darker exposures, masking them to prevent them from blocking the areas I wanted to remain bright. It was a bit time consuming, but the only way I could get this one to work.
Stunning image David. I love old structures like this. They evoke an interesting mix of history, sadness and wonder at the untold story of it's demise. Fantastic processing.
Fascinating image -- evokes a great sadness for the hopes but failure of Marxism -- reminds me of a great exhibition i saw in Amsterdam of Soviet Art/Architecture from after the Revolution. All the drawings looked like Gotham City but none of it ever got built...
Incredible image - a rich... emblem? of the pageantry of history. I definitely thought it was HDR. Regardless, the treatment works for me: rich, intriguing and slightly intimidating. Seems apt.
Fantastic work, the colours and light!
The new Nik HDR Efex Pro plug-in is worth looking at, it's less trial and error than Photomatix in my - albeit limited - experience with it so far.
This is unbelievable, architecture is extremely fascinating. You captured and were able to post-process so much detail. Again, that should not surprise your visitors who know your work well. Technical question, did you try the exposure fusion option in Photomatix or just the tone-mapping feature?
Thanks everyone.
Steve: I'll take a look at that plugin.
Chris: I tried the Details Enhancer and the Fusion option, but didn't like either version all that much - I just couldn't get the light balanced in a way that would make a good starting point for subsequent post-production.
This is breathtaking - what a fantastic building.
Just saw the link on Craig's blog to the pic of this place before it was ruined. It's still atmospheric but what a decline. Quite unbelievable!
The quality of this photo is amazing! Like all your other photos :)
The building, almost make me feel the communist glory and what it represent. I'm not a communist, don't get me wrong, but no architecture should be a ruin, no matter who or under what politic direction was build.
I don't know if I'm allowed, but here is a comparison in images between opening day and now: http://mavar.byethost16.com/index.php/topic,275.0.html
The link is in Bulgarian, but this makes not difference.