A programme for the surface photometry of bright galaxies has been underway at the Rozhen Observatory since 1991. In a series of papers we shall explore the optical morphology, photometric properties and some peculiarities suggestive of galaxy-galaxy interactions of the bright galaxies NGC 2976, NGC 3031, NGC 3034 and NGC 3077 in the M 81 group. Most of the plates were taken with the 2 m Rozhen Ritchey-Chrétien telescope, but at our disposal there are plates from the 6 m BTA and 2 m Tautenburg Schmidt telescope. Here we discuss some preliminary results for the optical morphology on the basis of two B-plates from the 2 m Tautenburg Schmidt telescope. It shows the edge-on like face of NGC 2976, the grand-designed spiral structure of NGC 3031 and the filament-jet peculiarities in NGC 3034 and NGC 3077.