Kornati View
A view to the southwestern spread of an incredibly beautiful maritime Nat'l Park in Croatian Adriatic. The name Kornati means "coronati", or "crowned". The arch...
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A view to the southwestern spread of an incredibly beautiful maritime Nat'l Park in Croatian Adriatic. The name Kornati means "coronati", or "crowned". The archipelago features about 154 islands, islets and rocks which are exposed to the harsh beating of the sea from their southern side. The quirks of geology, but also the Sun, wind and waves have turned the seaward shores into verticals of naked rock which appears as white "crowns"; hence the name. The arch framing this view is a part of the movie setup erected on Mana Island in 1959 for the filming of "As the Sea Rages", starring Maria Schell. I have spent some winter weeks in this mockup village, trying to photograph the enormous scirocco waves that crush the rock...
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May, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
Photo has been made on the Mana island in the Kornati Archipelago (Adriatic, Croatia)Time
All I can say about the time of this photo is, November 1994, and most probably between 1100 and 1300 hours (judging by the shadows). Anything more precise escapes me, since in those times Exif was not yet born... :)Lighting
All the light I needed was God-given daylight, and nothing else. Just the way I have always preferred it!Equipment
One of my cameras was a Minolta Dynax 7000i, and the lens used here was a 35-80 Rokkor. The spare cameras I've had along were Nikonos III and Olympus Stylus; both of those for their imaging quality and most of all, for being impervious to weather conditions of any kind. The Minolta was sometimes used with a tripod, but really rarely - in twilight conditions only. All the photos were usually shot out of hand. The film used in all cameras was a Fujichrome Sensia (100ASA) exclusively - donated by a local Fuji representative for that very expedition.Inspiration
Mana, or better, any and all of the Kornati islands, islets and rocks have to be seen to be first believed and then maybe understood and appreciated. The area looks like a lot of barren rocks dropped from the outer space into the sea, but on closer encounter, one can find an incredible wealth of life - both on dry land and especially under the surface. You might want to look it up and learn more. Kornati; the first Croatian Maritime National Park.Editing
All the photos were originally shot on slidefilm, so these had to be subsequently scanned... and later optimized in their digital form. Gods only know what all I've had to do to make the images appear as they looked like on the film, because in those times I've only had access to some pretty poor scanners (compared to contemporary tech). Many of the photos were used in my first published book (titled "Moja Mana", which is a wordplay meaning "my Mana" but also "my handicap" as it translates in Croatian).In my camera bag
The equipment used in my Mana dwelling weeks were carried in a well-padded Samsonite suitcase, so as to endure the rough transport times and places. Once there, the case was kept open under my tent cot, and whatever I needed on location I carried in the hundred-pockets photo vest under the sailboat-grade waterproof jacket. I find it easier to carry a photo vest than any photo bag. So I load my photo vest with whatever I might need for my photo session, walk or trip, while my photo bags usually keep the equipment I'm not using at the moment. The vest is also easier to wear when trying to climb over slippery rocks and similar places where you'd want to keep your balance. The vest's many pockets usually contain two cameras, spare batteries, ND and CPL filters, and one photo clamp standing in for a tripod. Recently I include a small action camera, mainly for its wide field of view and resistance to water and weather. The vest also has large-lens pockets that contain a small water bottle, sandwich, or a bar of chocolate if I plan on being out for the whole day. There is about three meters length of paracord or similar strong, thin rope, one hefty pocket knife, and a lighter. My phone of those days came along too. It didn't have a camera worth speaking about, also no Spirit Level App which I use nowadays to make the phone a perfectly horizontal surface under my camera. This is essential for panoramic sweeps. The app is free; you might want to look it up. The large back pocket of the vest is usually reserved for a lightweight rain poncho. If the weather suddenly plays up, the poncho neatly covers all. Using the tools mentioned above, much can be improvised along the way, so that's all I need to make photos.Feedback
The Mana expedition is definitely not for everyone's taste. I was alone there; absolutely no people for many miles around, and it was wintertime. Being alone in wilderness requires of any nature photographer to have a serious talk with themselves, and be absolutely ready to accept any and all situation that might occur where no-one can help. So be sure you're capable of enduring things - I dislodged a finger by stupidly falling into a crevasse, but luckily only three days before my planned return. I was able to re-set it (which didn't quite stop the pain, but was by no means pleasant). As to the photography... keep shooting regardless! And enjoy every minute of it! :)
