About The Photographer
Domen Dolenc is a young but well-established travel photographer currently based in Zelezniki, Slovenia. The combination of his love for travelling and passion for photography got him in to this creative world of capturing moments which would otherwise slip away. Since Domen purchased his first camera in 2005, he has been addicted to photography. He never travels without his camera and loves to capture the beauty he finds throughout the world in his own way – his photographic style is defined by powerful colours, street photography scenes, landscapes, but also moments of everyday life, faces and a very close approach on people.
Domen’s photos take you on a visual journey to some of the world’s most beautiful and interesting destinations. His photographic work is driven by his passion for travel and exploration and his restless desire and curiosity about other countries and their people. Domen loves to wander, observe, know the unknown and learn. He loves to abandon routine and cross boundaries of cultures and language, searching for real, honest and pure moments. By now, he has visited almost 20 countries around the globe (including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, and Turkey), and his landscapes, street scenes and portraits have been published in several books, newspapers and magazines including the National Geographic. Domen has also had lots of success in various national and international competitions and was awarded with the title of F1FZS by the Photographic Federation of Slovenia.
Below is a selection of Domen’s photos from around Slovenia that he kindly shared with us. If you want to stay updated with Domen’s work, you can follow his photography blog Domen Dolenc or his social media pages on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
Photo Gallery
A beautiful picture gallery containing 35 fabulous landscape photos from around Slovenia by Domen Dolenc.
Perching on a jutting peninsula along Slovenia’s short coastline (measuring a mere 47 kilometres), Piran is a beautiful coastal town with medieval architecture, narrow streets and compact picturesque houses. It is one of Slovenia’s major tourist attractions.
In the morning, the Piran harbour is often still, allowing picturesque reflections.
Perspective of a pier with a restaurant table with an ocean view in Piran – the perfect setting for two.
A city of 270,000 or so people, Ljubljana is one of Europe’s smallest capitals. From this panorama, it’s pretty obvious why Ljubljana was awarded the prize of being the Green Capital of Europe in 2016 – it boasts a wealth of green spaces.
Another beautiful panorama of Ljubljana, this time in the autumn season from the Ljubljana Castle. This castle is up Castle Hill behind the Old Town and is visible from many points of Ljubljana. This means it also has great views.
The core areas of Ljubljana’s Old Town are concentrated along the Ljubljanica River that flows through the centre of Ljubljana. The river embankments are a very important aspect in the city’s lifestyle department. Outdoor restaurants, cafes and bars adorn the river edges and locals and tourists love to gather here. It is an extremely photogenic part of Slovenia’s capital, a combination of Italian charm and German perfectionism and cleanliness. It is similar to other European capitals, yet so unique.
The circular Preseren Square is the center of Ljubljana’s Old Town, named for Slovene national poet France Preseren. It’s a charming place dominated by historic Art Nouveau and Baroque buildings. It’s always lively, full of tourists and locals.
The pedestrian street of Stari Trg (Old Square) is one of the two main cobbled streets in Ljubljana Old Town (the oldest part of Ljubljana). It is a lovely place to take a stroll with beautiful colourful Baroque and Art Nouveau buildings. Walking around here is one of the top things to do in Ljubljana.
During the festive month of December, the atmosphere in Ljubljana is always vibrant. Slovenia’s capital has for many years been renowned for the unique beauty of its Christmas lighting display, which is based around the theme of the universe.
Skofja Loka is a thousand-year old town at the confluence of the Poljanska Sora and Selska Sora rivers. It’s considered the most beautifully preserved medieval town in Slovenia.
The lovely little town of Skofja Loka is one of the oldest and most perfectly preserved medieval towns in Slovenia. It’s so incredibly beautiful it almost looks like it’s out of a story book.
The Capuchin Bridge a.k.a. Stone Bridge across the Selska Sora in Skofja Loka originally dates from the 14th century and is an excellent vantage point for Skofja Loka’s wonderful medieval center.
Kranj (historically also named Carnium, Creina, Chreina, or Krainburg) is the capital of the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia, and is also Slovenia’s 4th largest city. It has a very unique skyline with its three distinct church towers.
In winter with plenty of snow, the tiny town of Zelezniki looks so incredibly beautiful it’s surreal.
Surrounded by mountains of the Julian Alps, Lake Bohinj is nature at its best no matter of the season, summer or winter!
Lake Bled looks stunning in the snowy setting. It’s a little hard to believe, but it looks even better in reality than in all the winter photos.
Doesn’t Lake Bled look like it’s out of a story book? No words can do this beautiful place justice. Some say that it may be the most beautiful spot in Europe and from looking at photos it’s not hard to see why that is the general sentiment.
Fall color comes to Slovenia foliage starting toward the end of September and peaks through October, though exactly when the leaves change color varies somewhat from year to year. If the weather remains mild and slowly cools down as autumn transitions into winter, the fall color show will last for many weeks. If Slovenia gets a sudden cold snap or an early snow, fall leaves can leave the trees literally over night.
The gorgeous small heart-shaped Plansarsko Jezero lake in Jezersko was made by locals after a much larger glacial lake that existed in the same place drained away. The lake a very popular spot for picnicking, walking dogs, jogging and boating.
A half-hour hike from the town of Kobarid through a lovely forest near the famous Soca river will bring you to one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Slovenia – the 15 metres high Kozjak Waterfall, which gushes over a rocky ledge in a cavern-like amphitheatre, into an emerald green pool below. The hike is not too rigorous and is well worth if you are in the area.
Kanal Ob Soci is a lovely little town nestled in the beautiful Soca valley. The oldest part of the town lies on the left bank of the Soca river. There is a secret path to take from the town centre down to the riverside and a small beach where you can really admire the river and bridge.
And this is how beautiful the Soca river looks from the Napoleon Bridge near the town of Kobarid. The bridge is attractive itself but the dramatic setting over the gorge with the emerald Soca river below make it even more stunning.
The untamed Soca River is one of the few unspoiled rivers in the entire European Alps. It flows from the Julian Alps to the Adriatic Sea. Apart from its setting, what makes Soca so breathtaking and memorable is its vivid emerald green color and crystal clear water.
The beautiful Virje waterfall is a very popular spot for photographers, romantic couples in love and people looking for relaxation. It is a multi-stranded waterfall 12 meters in height and 20 meters in width located near the small village of Pluzna not far from the town of Bovec. Below the waterfall, there is a beautiful pool in stunning shades of green.
Fall color and waterfalls along the roaring Kropa stream above the Voje valley in the Bohinj area.
In the Secovlje Salt Pans the present and the past are still going hand in hand with the traditional methods of hand harvesting of salt dating back as far as 700 years ago. Once, the salt pans were stretching all along the coast of the Slovenian Istria, however the only two preserved until today are those in Secovlje and Strunjan. The Secovlje Salt Pans were proclaimed to be a landscape park in 1989.
The fertile soil and climate of Slovenian Istria are perfect for wine producing and because of it, many varieties of grapes – both red and white – grow in the region.
Every spring, hard-working farmers make sure that the fertile fields in the Slovenian countryside are tilled and and planted.
Spring in the Selca valley brings with it countless cheerful dandelions colouring the fields yellow. The bright yellow against the fresh green of the new grass looks so beautiful.
Although dandelion flowers can be found over several months it is only two weeks in late April or early May that the verges and fields are covered with hundreds of them.
Spring is such a magic time of year in Slovenia. The trees begin to bud, blossoms appear on trees, then the blossoms give way to the fresh green color of new leaves. It’s really amazing to watch the trees and see how quickly they change from day to day!
The Julian Alps are magnificent mountains situated in the north-western part of Slovenia and have a surface area of around 4400 square kilometres most of which is the Triglav Nation Park. The Julians are not as tall as the Swiss Alps or the Dolomites, but the scenery and topography is pretty similar and they are still off the beaten track for many.
A cursed village girl’s face graces the Prisojnik mountain in the mountain pass Vrsic, which is the highest road passing in Slovenia. Can you see it? The legend goes something like this: a friendly and kind hearted young girl used to lead travellers through winter storms, safely on the other side of the mountains to the Trenta valley. The twist is that this girl was also a Pagan deity who foretold the fortunes of newborns. A boy from the Trenta valley was prophesised as a hunter who would later go on to kill a sacred chamois known as the Goldhorn. The girl was damned and cursed, upon her return to Prisank mountain having been turned to stone. Her terrified face is best seen from the Postarska Koca mountain hut on the Vrsic pass.
In Slovenia, mushroom picking is a family activity, which is usually part of some hiking and adventures in the woods. But picking the non-poisonous mushrooms is not something that can be learned from a book. In Slovenia children learn early what are good and bad mushrooms and this knowledge is passed down from generation to generation.
Solkan Bridge is a 220-metre long stone bridge over the Soca river near the town of Nova Gorica in the western part of Slovenia. With an arch span of 85 metres it is the second longest stone arch in the world and the longest stone arch among train bridges. The bridge was built in the time of the Secession, between 1900 and 1906.
There are many hundreds of churches in Slovenia and many of them are listed as monuments of cultural heritage. There are very few small villages without a church, and there are also several remote hilltop churches. The Church of St. Thomas above the Praprotno village is just one of them.
Jamnik church of Saints Primus and Felician is a wonderfully photogenic landscape location only a short drive from Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana. This image was captured at sunset.
We Slovenians refer to our country as The Green Treasure of Europe, because it is small, extraordinary beautiful and lush and green! And we don’t say that for nothing. According to the 2016 Environmental Performance Index compiled by researchers from the US-based Yale University and Columbia University, Slovenia is the 5th most environmentally friendly country on Earth.
Thank you so much Domen Dolenc for sharing all these incredible Slovenia photos with us. You do a fantastic job! Your photos are outstanding and beautifully convey the amazingness of Slovenia!
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Discover beautiful Slovenia through amazing photos that will instantly make you want to visit and explore this delightful country in the heart of Europe. View more than 100 galleries with more than 5.500 landscape and nature photos from 50+ photographers! ENJOY! |
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There is a wide array of options for accommodations in Slovenia, including hotels, guest houses, apartments, bed and breakfasts, hostels, camping and glamping sites and farm stays. Find out which places to stay in Slovenia we recommend and why! |