CT Wedding Photographer Val Nanovsky

Traveling, they say, enriches you – in a number of ways. You come back home refreshed, invigorated and wiser.  This year I took a long trip to Europe. I had my own 10-year wedding anniversary there, but along with that I wanted to capture some of the amazing beauty of this part of the world, from my own perspective as a wedding photographer.

One of the countries I went to was my own birthplace, Bulgaria. There’s always something new and exciting to learn about each place you visit, sometimes at the most unexpected moment. So here I am, in the plane on the way from Frankfurt to Sofia, sitting next to two Bulgarian women, chatting about their trip to this magical karst area near Lovech. They were showing me these mesmerizing images they took, and I was totally hooked.

With a little bit of research I found out the location, and two weeks later, here we are, along with Deni, our amazing bride/model. Deni was sparkling in every possible way, and I had the time of my life photographing so much of this unique beauty. Check it out.

THE PORTRAITS:

DEVETASHKA CAVE

Southeastern Europe is rich in big and impressive caves. Several A380s can fit in the front opening of Devetashka Cave, that’s how massive this place is. It is relatively dry and mild, which makes it perfect for bridal photography. You can see a huge chunk of the blue sky through the openings on the ceiling, and everything is so surreal you’d easily think it’s a part of a Star Wars episode (that’s right, I am a big SW fan).

KRUSHUNA WATERFALLS

is no less amazing. The area has its own micro climate, flora and fauna that separate it quite distinctively from the rest of the country side. Think Maui, Kauai, the Big Island. Think colors, green, lush… Think drowning the gown and having a ton of fun in the crystal water…. Yeah, this happens once in a lifetime. Enjoy.

Model: Deni Sharankova
Dress: Romantika Fashion, Sofia, Bulgaria

P.S. No harm whatsoever was done to the dress. We never intended to “trash” it, and at this point it is dry cleaned, looking brand new, comfortably resting in the closet. Amen.

See you around,

Your Pal Val

a.k.a. Valdorama CT Wedding Photographers

Hey there everyone,

It is late Tuesday night, and I want to post this as quickly as possible for you, so I’ll be real short and get to the point right away.

OUR FIRST PLACE WINNER IS:

This gorgeous Southwest slot canyon photo is a fine example how amazingly beautiful our planet is.  For the photo bums, here’s some of the technical info: Nikon D90, Adobe RGB, 18mm, f11, 1/6 sec. Congratulations to our winner, Dani Hristova, who just netted a real fun portrait session with Valdorama!

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

We had some really tight competition between the honorable mentions. My sincere congrats to Heidi Lee, Debbie Staley, Jeffrey Walsh, Neli Gocheva & Olga Petkova whose images are displayed above!

And of course, a BIG BIG thank you to all of you who contributed to this idea and submitted your photos! Every single one of them meant so much to me! This year we had a lot of people taking part – many more than last year – and next time we will try to make the contest even bigger and better. As always, I encourage everybody to get out with a camera and enjoy to the fullest what Mother Nature has to offer, leaving nothing but footsteps and camera clicks behind. The results are absolutely beautiful, and I hope to see more and more of these gorgeous photos in the forthcoming contests.

Once again, congratulations to everybody!

Shoot away, have fun, go green, love, respect and protect Mother Nature!

Yours truly,

Val

Valdorama CT Wedding Photographers

Sophisticated. Charming. Time frozen…

Once you park your car at Candlelight Farms Inn in New Milford CT, time really stops. You open the door, step out, and the breeze fills up your lungs with freshness. A group of trees meet you in the distance. Wavy hills surround you from all directions. Several horses in the field turn their heads toward you and start waiting for your next move. Some lift their noses up trying to pick up the tiniest trace of smell in the air going their way from you. It’s all about horses here. All about country, pure, rustic, elegant…

Nancy, the inn owner and manager comes and greets you. She takes you to the many buildings, showing you every little detail around. At some point you almost lose track – from the inn’s countless rooms, to the newly renovated barn, to another building nearby, to the beautiful lake, to the horses and the airfield (yup, that’s right)  – there is so so much to see. All made with love. Up to the very last detail.

If you are planning your wedding and are looking for something exquisite and authentic, you owe it to yourself to stop by and check this one out. Chances are, you’ll fall in love with it. Forever.

GALLERY 1:

GALLERY 2:

And here’s the contact info for you:
214 Candlewood Mountain Rd., New Milford, CT
Web: www.candlelightfarmsinn.com
Phone: 860-210-0594
E-mail: lilybird051@aol.com

Yours truly,

Val

a.k.a. Valdorama CT Wedding Photographers

Hi everyone,

As any photographer, I love going out and taking pictures – just for the heck of it. Breathing the air and feeling the smell of old leaves on the ground. Listening to the sounds of the creek and the birds in the forest…  There is a special type of personal satisfaction one draws from this type of communication with the surrounding area.

Lately, as the wedding season has been winding down and fall foliage here in CT has been reaching its peak, I’ve been scouting the area for new locales for my engagement and after-wedding photo sessions next season. And a really interesting fact keeps popping up each time I go out with my camera.  It is absolutely amazing how close to home these places can be. You only have to look around and open up your eyes a little more.

Below I’ve put together some casual images I took while hiking in Glastonbury and Windham, CT, only about 30-40 minutes away from where I live. The images were shot the last couple of weeks – some earlier than others, hence the change of color from predominantly green to yellow and red. Along with the obvious geographical convenience, these two places are very softly lit almost throughout the day. The lighting is perfect for shoots pretty much any time you go there, which is just so cool for my clients.

And speaking of clients, all photos were taken with you, my CT brides in mind. Look at these wild places and try to imagine yourselves there. There is nothing more beautiful and breathtaking than a bride added to that scene. I can’t tell you how much I am psyched about next year. Can’t wait!

WINDHAM:

GLASTONBURY 1:

GLASTONBURY 2:

Hello my friends and green supporters,

This is the first year Valdorama is organizing the Earth Day Photo contest and it’s been an awesome feeling to have such a great turnaround. We had some truly exceptional images. I’d like to personally thank every single one of you for your participation and support – THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! This contest was much more than just a local CT photography event, it had a strong symbolic meaning. I truly hope we can repeat it again and turn it into a tradition.

And since I know you are eager to find out who gets the awards, I am switching to that right away. We had runner up photos that were very very strong. Congratulations to Olga Petkova, Ellen Whelan, Dani Hristova and William Donovan for the fantastic photos – you guys rock!

…Aaaand the winner is….   Actually not one, but two of the images were standing out of the rest and were competing very closely with each other. After quite a bit of thought, I decided to give the first place to both of them. It is my sincere pleasure to congratulate their authors, JOHN MURPHY and MAYA YANKOVA for the outstanding job! Their images stood out in every single respect. Kudos! Don’t hesitate to contact me so that we can arrange the details about your free artistic outdoor portrait sessions with Valdorama. I am so excited!

Once again, the idea of the Earth Day Photo Contest was to generate awareness for the beauty surrounding us so that we can preserve these resources for our own kids and future generations. I wanted to collect and show images of our Earth in its pristine beauty, still untouched by human hands. Images with strong impact, images that generate feelings and make us think. And speaking of images, here we go. Enjoy!

Hi folks,

In recognizing and celebrating Earth Day I’ve got something really exciting for you today – a landscape Photo Contest!

Submit your most beautiful landscape photos for a chance to win a FREE out of this world Valdorama GREEN artistic outdoor portrait session – for you, your loved one, your kids, family or friends!
This is the perfect opportunity to raise more awareness, generate appreciation and show everybody how beautiful our planet is.

IT IS REALLY EASY TO SUBMIT:

* There is no charge to participate. The contest is open and FREE to all residents of Connecticut (CT), Massachusetts (MA),  NYC and Rhode Island (RI);

* Send your images to valdoramaphoto@yahoo.com
The subject should be “Earth Day Photo Contest”;

* You can submit up to three landscape photographs;

* Images should depict wild places with no traces of human activity. Flora and fauna are acceptable, as long as the subject is wild, and not domesticated;

* Physical size – up to 1024 x 768 px;

* File format: JPEG;

* It is OK to watermark your images should you feel the need for that;

* Images will be judged based on 4 main factors – 1.originality, 2. impact, 3. composition & 4. technical execution;

* Results will be announced on this blog on Tuesday, May 4th;

* The top 5 images will be displayed in a gallery on this blog (make sure you are OK with that before submitting);

* If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment (below) or send me an email at valdoramaphoto@yahoo.com.

Cheers, and GOOD LUCK TO ALL PARTICIPANTS!

- Val

I’ve been contemplating for a long time the idea of cataloging the photos taken at some of my favorite locations in New England. Some of my clients have been asking me for that too. While the list of these places is quite long,  in this post I’ll try to highlight some my favorite locales and give you a rough idea how they look so that your choice gets easier when the right time comes.

There are still some places in New England whose splendor is unparalleled. Places which are hard to photoshop or produce artificially in any way.  Most importantly, these are places which won’t be the same 10 years from now.

Now close your eyes and try to picture yourself in these photos. Just married. A gorgeous white gown.  All that stunning beauty surrounding you…

…Dream on.

FALL FOLIAGE

WATERFALLS, RIVERS & STREAMS

SEASCAPES

To view more images from these locations and order prints, click HERE

*    *    *

…And finally, to demonstrate you how all this beauty ties with wedding photography, here are a couple of links to actual GREEN Wedding/ The Day After Photo sessions I did this year at some of the above places.

Enjoy:

Anne & Ben |  Carrie I |  Carrie II |   Sofia & Aaron

More on Valdorama GREEN