Walking in Pelješac with Aneta & Bartosz
Malo More with the Pelješac Bridge in the background. This view and this scenography is a must-have.
I have always dreamed of doing a couple’s session on the Pelješac peninsula. Many of my friends know that this place is special to me for many reasons. I believe it possesses unlimited photographic potential – not just in terms of landscape, but also in a way that truly cries out for a good "set design." A set design that the greatest theaters and opera houses of the world could envy.
Of course, you might say that there are many such beautiful places in the world and everyone likely has their own favorites in their personal ranking – that is perfectly understandable. However, for me, from my very first visit, the Pelješac peninsula became the place where I most eagerly reach for my camera, the one that serves my artistic soul best, and where I find endless inspiration.
A "perfume shop" in the interior, between Pijavičino and Kuna Pelješka. Brnistra is blooming everywhere around us. It’s just a pity that photographs can’t capture its honey-citrus scent…
Pelješac radiates positive energy – in a creative sense. I am a photographer, but I also have quite a bit of experience in drawing and a little in music. I think that if I lived here, I could easily busy myself with those two disciplines as well, painting perhaps right after photography.
We begin early in the morning, on the Vućine Beach in Žuljana.
Don’t they both look beautiful together? The day is going to be beautiful as well.
The peninsula is a rather specific place because it remains half-wild. There isn't an excessive amount of civilization here. It is a tourist destination, yes, but in large part an agricultural one, if you look at the hectares of vineyards that place this stretch of land, along with the nearby mainland and neighboring islands, at the very forefront of world viticulture.
In Kuna Pelješka, at Vino Špaleta winery.
The topography of the peninsula does not particularly favor urban expansion, which entails a lack of large entertainment centers or noisy enclaves of nightlife. For many, from a holiday point of view, this might be unacceptable, but for others, including myself, it is a huge advantage. It is not Split or Dubrovnik, but if we feel the need to change the scenery for a metropolitan one (albeit in a "Dalmatino" edition), both cities are within roughly a ninety-minute drive.
With the view on Dingač-Borak, the Island of Mljet and the Adriatic Sea.
Afternoon with the view on the Island of Korčula.
I have dedicated a separate website to Pelješac (www.pelioart.eu), so I will elaborate on it there. For now, let us focus on Aneta and Bartek and their session on the Pelješac peninsula.
This session was planned as early as last year. I looked forward to it with great longing because, as I mentioned at the beginning, I dreamed of performing such a session right here. I was impatient, but also felt a certain dose of nerves: as you know, the weather is always one big unknown, which cannot be planned or ordered. I feared that the days scheduled for the shoot would turn out to be rainy, cloudy, and windy, as happens here. I supposedly knew what the weather usually looks like at this latitude: beautiful weather, sun from morning till night, and quite high temperatures. Yes, it is like that in Dalmatia most of the time. However, regular visitors to the region know that after two or three weeks of steady "full sun," a day or two can arrive (and usually does) when nature "equalizes the potential" – it pours, cloudbursts occur, thunder rumbles, and lightning strikes. Sometimes it lasts a day or two, and sometimes nature harmonizes with the tourist business, "venting" overnight, so that in the morning one wakes up to warm Dalmatian sun again. I have experienced this many times personally, so I would bet my life that this is how it can be. But… nature is nature and it follows its own rules.
Or first day which was supposed to be the first day of actual photoshoot. Well, it would be one heck of a challenge for me to do the photoshoot in such conditions…
What to do if we meet on the peninsula and the weather is poor for those three days (which was all we had at our disposal)? It would be great if it were sunny, although total "full sun" is not always good for photos – one can "circumvent" it (lamps, reflectors, orientation) or use it (it even looks good in monochrome), though it requires a bit more work. It would be nice to have some clouds in the sky and a moderate temperature… A photographer’s wish list. But the photographer proposes, and nature disposes.
Beautiful wreaths, floral garlands, and flower arrangements are a traditional element of Corpus Christi celebrations in Dalmatia. These wreaths were hanging on the walls of the Church of Our Lady of the Angels (Gospe od Anđela).
On the day before the shoot, we did a recce. We supposedly know the peninsula like the back of our hands, but we went to check a few things: perspectives, colors (it was the peak of the flowering of many wild plants, primarily the beautifully fragrant brnistra), whether this specific road among the vineyards would look good when the couple comes around the corner, whether this corner "at Dingač" makes sense, or if it is better to skip it? One has to verify it physically: take the camera out of the backpack, attach the lens I had already planned for this location, look through the viewfinder, and make sure it all works.
This is an important part of a photographer's work. I had 27 locations planned – that is obviously twice as many as for one shooting day. Ultimately, we used 13, and the whole process took a full 12 hours – from the morning when we started in Žuljana, to the sunset on the road from Trstenik to Dingač-Borak.
The day preceding the session, intended for the field recce, began inconspicuously with beautiful Dalmatian aura, but gradually the sky became "tin-colored," then dark, and when we were in the interior, around Potomje, it was already raining. I didn't have high expectations for weather conditions for the following day. I just wanted it not to rain. Actually, that day was supposed to be a shooting day according to the original plans, but we gave it up due to the forecasts. The black weather scenario was coming true. Fortunately, we had reserved three days to perform the session, to give the weather some chances. Or maybe to give ourselves a chance…
Driving to Hodilje, we also stopped by Drače. The expectations for the meteo for the next day, after seeing the sky over the continent, were greatly cooled.
Meteo prospect for the following day… Te view from the peninsula on the mainland.
When we reached Hodilje, it began to pour. And when we sat in a local restaurant, a cloudburst occurred, the sea "boiled," and the wind almost carried away the canopy under which we were sitting. My hopes for the weather for the next day melted to zero. With the last of my mental strength, I clung to the thought of a weather miracle. Well, if not tomorrow, then we have the day after – I thought. Although that would be in a great hurry, because for the day after tomorrow we had a lunch planned in Potomje, so there would be no chance to use the whole day. It did not look good…
We get up in the morning and… we have sun! Beautiful weather! Clear sky! Zero wind! Not a single cloud! We have breakfast and head to Žuljana, where we start the session.
In Žuljana, we start easily, with a few shots on the way to Skrivena beach and on the beach itself. Then a change of outfit, a few photos in an olive grove, and we head into the peninsula.
The weather is in our favor. I know, dear colleagues in the trade, that such harsh sun doesn't suit everyone, but after the previous day's armageddon, we didn't intend to complain. Honestly, this harsh light gave a good effect, as it allowed us to impart the atmosphere of sunny Dalmatia that so many of us know so well. From a practical point of view, if I wanted to photograph only in the morning and afternoon light, I would significantly limit my available time. Less time means fewer locations, less diversity, and rushing, which I don't like.
In Janjina, a little town built of white stone.
Of course, such a twelve-hour photo session can drain anyone, and that can be visible in the photos. So, as in life, one must be aware of this, take breaks (we took a break at a cafe in Janjina), and keep a calm pace. Sometimes it is worth skipping one or two locations to calmly explore one photographically. Everything depends on the condition of the people in front of the lens. My deep bows to Aneta and Bartek for their endurance, patience, and good mood until the very end. Chapeau bas! You managed to endure with us from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM without complaining! I sincerely thank you.
Atop of the hill with the St, Nicholas Church (Crkva Sv. Nicola).
Every regular visitor to the peninsula knows this corner in Trstenik. Blooming oleanders grow everywhere on the peninsula. Light pink, darker, burgundy, white – together with the yellow brnistra and bougainvillea, they form the seasonal floral emblem of Pelješac. In Trstenik, by the waterfront, massive oleander bushes shower the white stone below with their blossoms, and locals keep their fishing boats tucked beneath them. It is such a postcard-perfect setting that, when photographed properly, it almost looks like a wall mural.
This view from the viewpoint with the well-known giant wine bottle of one of the wineries from Potomje impresses each time, even if one pulls over at the spot for the thousandth time. The town of Orebić and the Island of Korčula in the background.
On the last day scheduled for the session, we wrapped things up with a few shots featuring Bartek’s parents – Agnieszka and Grzegorz. You were wonderful, and taking your photos was pure pleasure!
The concept for this session was a walk. A walk of two people, newlyweds, in a place that they know and love. During these twelve hours, we managed to cover the terrain from Žuljana almost to Kučište, so I think we all did a great job, and you can evaluate the effects of this session on this blog.
