POSTCARDS FROM SLOVENIA AND CROATIA
Vaibhav Jaguste from Maharashtra, India, is a science graduate from the University of Mumbai. He served as the Vice President of The Photographic Society of India, Mumbai, from 2014 - 2018. Vaibhav is in the travel and tourism business. He is a self-taught photographer, interested in pictorial photography. He is a strong believer of the quote “Camera is the least important thing in Photography”.
He is a regular participant in national and international photography competitions and has won over 100 awards & acceptances from 23 countries. His work is highly appreciated by The Federation of Indian Photography as well as several other international organisations all around the world. His solo photography exhibition named ‘Hymns of Nature’ was showcased in Dec’17 and his group exhibition named ‘Rocks and Waves’ was presented in Jan’2020 at India’s prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.
When planning travels to Europe, tourists often think about popular locations like Italy and Rome, but Europe has so much more to offer. Nestled in the Central Europe region, Slovenia and Croatia are beautiful countries filled with mountains, glacial lakes and vibrant towns. During my travels to these countries, we started our journey in Slovenia through the beautiful Gorenjska region after landing at Ljubljana International Airport.
Our first day started with a sunrise photoshoot at the picturesque Lake Bled located at the foothills of Julians Alps with a Baroque-style church built in the centre of an island. We captured some stunning shots of the church coming into view as the morning fog rolled away. As the sun rose, more light fell on the church and created a mysterious hazy effect on the lake.
We started the next day with our outing to the Vintgar Gorge where we hiked for an hour to see the beautifully lush forests and waterfalls. After exploring Vintgar Gorge, we drove to Bohinj Glacial Lake which had a very different composition as it was surrounded by agricultural lands. Here, due to a passing rainstorm, I was able to capture some stunning images of sheep on a meadow with soft light and shadows from the overcast sky. We also visited the beautiful Adriatic Bay of Koper in Slovenia to see sailboats swaying at
the Bay. The following day, our route took us to the Vrsic Pass which is the highest pass in the Julian Alps, with incredible views across the Slovenian Alps. Here, we travelled down to the Soca River Valley to explore the Triglav National Park and captured its gorges and gushing waterfalls as we hiked along the riverbanks.
After a good rest, we left the Slovenian Alps and headed out to Istria, Croatia, stopping at the Church of Holy Trinity in Hrastovlje. On the next day, we started our journey to witness the beautiful sunrise in Rovinj along with continuing to see the Roman Amphitheatre at Pula. This 1stcentury oval amphitheatre overlooks the harbour of the old town. It’s a truly magnificent structure, slotted together entirely from local limestone and locally known as the Arena. Designed to host gladiatorial contests and seating up to 20,000 spectators, it still serves as a venue for concerts and film-festival screenings during the summer. After exploring the city of Istria, our group started at the most recognised natural wonder in the country of Croatia, the Plitvice Lakes National Park. This National Park, recognized as one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is known for its 16 continually changing, clear water lakes. What makes these lakes unique is that they are interconnected with basins where higher lakes deposit water to the lower ones with the help of gushing cascades and waterfalls. We were mesmerised by the greenery and turning of fall colours in the forests surrounding the waterfalls along with moss and algae. This area is a perfect spot to experiment with long exposure photography to capture the ever-flowing waterfalls across Plitvice NP. After spending two days around Plitvice and capturing serene water shots, we headed to nearby Rastoke village where the Korana river created another set of beautiful waterfalls and cascades. After a productive photography session in this beautiful village, we headed back to the Zagreb airport for our return journey with beautiful memories of the hidden gems of Croatia and Slovenia.