lukaesenko

Luka Esenko. Amazing landscape photographer and an Instagrammer that – sometimes – makes me crazy. Each and every photo he publishes on Instagram could end up on @Igslovenia profile. Every day. But this only means – he is good at what he does. And this is – photography, sharing his knowledge about photography & connecting great photographers and incredible locations in his new app. I just had to ask him a few questions;,

Hi there Luka, we will start as we always do; can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who are you, what do you do?

Hi Sanja, I am a local photographer based in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Photography has been my work for the last eight years when I started running workshops in Slovenia and Croatia. I also love the outdoors, the Alps above all, this is why a lot of my photos are from there.

Ljubljana from the Nebotičnik / Skyscraper caffee.

Ljubljana from the Nebotičnik / Skyscraper caffee.

You are a professional photographer, I know that. What does Instagram mean to you? Or better; People say that Instagram is only for amateur photographers. What do you think about that?

To be honest I am pretty new to Instagram. I started last summer when I was on a vacation in Croatia. It soon became quite fun and I’ve had a lot of feedback and interaction on my posts. What I like about it is its focus on photography and I find it more enjoyable to browse through the feed. For photographers (pro and amateur alike) this is a great channel to promote their work and services.

Slovenia. You take people around our country for photography workshops. Can you say that there is a place that amazes people more than other? Or – what is your favourite photo-destination in Slovenia?

Quite obviously Lake Bled and its island is the most popular among my clients. But there are many other less “iconic” places that people love and make great subjects for photography. Unique to Slovenia are its hilltop churches – my clients always wonder how crazy we are in Slovenia to build churches on top of the hill – who wants to walk up there?!? I always reply – well – photographers 🙂 Personally, my favourite place is the Julian Alps. I love the mountains, but unfortunately I’m usually way too busy to get out and spend the time I’d like to out there. For that reason every moment I do get to spend there is even more precious.

Church of St. Thomas / Sveti Tomaž.

Speaking of photo-destinations. You took connecting amazing photographers and incredible destination to a whole new level. You are a co-founder of the snappguides application. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

Recently we released SNAPP Guides – destination guides for photographers. This is a mobile app (currently available on iOS with Android coming soon) where photographers can purchase guides to destination they are traveling to. With these guides they get exact coordinates with interactive maps (routing, current position, different layers..), information how to get there, when to go, practical advice on photographing that location as well as inspirational images. We work with pro photographers around the world to deliver the best possible information and currently we have ten destinations available – new ones are being added to the collection every month.

Laka Bled; Island & Castle in the back.

Sounds amazing! And looking at the @snappguiddes social media profiles and page … you have tons, literally tons of amazing photos. Who are the photographers that you are working with? How did you meet?

We sure have a lot of great images to share! Through my previous work I met many excellent photographers from all around the world. With their help we partnered with the best authors/photographers from destinations such as the UK, California, Oregon, South Africa, Ireland, Austria and many others. Now we’re receiving requests from photographers who want to make guides with us and we’re growing our team of photographers quickly. If you have extensive knowledge of photo locations in your area and would like to build a guide with us do get in touch!

Can you share some ‘behind the app’ information with us? What are the places (locations) that people love most? How is Slovenia doing? Can we expect more photographers here soon?:)

A tremendous amount of work goes into each guide. Every spot has to be populated with relevant information, exact coordinates and beautiful images. Most of the spots have been scouted more than just once to make sure the information is valid. At the moment, the most popular guides are Yosemite NP in California and London, UK. Slovenia is doing well, but it is obvious that it gets fewer visitors per year compared to other better known destinations in the world. I’m working hard to change that!

What are the plans for the future? Which destinations in Slovenia will be presented in the app?

Right now the most popular places of Slovenia are covered, Lakes Bled & Bohinj, Ljubljana and Istria. The Complete Guide to Slovenia will follow but I can’t promise when – it is huge amount of work to cover it all! As for SNAPP Guides, we want to cover as many destinations as possible. We’re working hard to deliver new destinations, but because of our high standards it takes time.

As a local and as an amazing photographer … what would you say to a person visiting Slovenia for the first time? Where to go, what to see? (Beside – Bled, Ljubljana & Piran, that is:)

Well, the ones you mentioned are definitely the obvious, right? My first suggestion is make sure you allow enough time – Slovenia might be small but it has lots of great places to photograph! Be prepared to do some hiking and you’ll need a car. Visit one or two hilltop churches for sunrise or sunset, don’t miss the wine region (Brda or Prlekija) and be sure to explore Soča river valley.

Thanks Luka! And … all the best with your amazing projects! 

Thanks for giving me this opportunity at Igslovenia!

 

Sanja Leban Trojar – @sanya_lt

You can find more about Luka Esenko and his work on his web page, Facebook or Twitter profile & you can follow him on Instagram.

peterzajfridphoto

Who? My name is Peter Zajfrid and I come from small town Ruše in north eastern part of Slovenia. I work as electrician, but when I’m off work, then the addiction – that is – photography – starts 🙂 I consider myself an amateure landscape photographer. I started in photography back in summer of 2011.  You can see my work at my website or Facebook.

Perniško

Why Instagram? I started my social network presence as most photographes do this days, on Facebook. I knew Instagram was there, but it just didn’t get me going till recently. I heard more and more, If you want to get noticed as photographer, you must go to Instagram so I joined and love it :). People that told me so were right, all that matter in photograpy are there.

Pohorje-24-1

What are your favourite places in Slovenia? My favorite place to take photos is by far Pernica Lake :). Other places are Plač Tower, Zavrh Tower, Pohorje hills and all the Slovenian Hills region around Lenart.

Plač-3

Zavrh-9.1

Moravska-55.1

malaposastmici

Who?  Deja (or Mici, if you prefer), coming straight out of Jesenice in Gorenjska Region, a PhD law student and a junior researcher, working in Ljubljana during the week and rushing back home to Gorenjska Region over the weekend. I’m currently doing significantly better in researching the world as in researching the law. Over the past few years mountains have become a huge part of my life and helped me to achieve a healthier state of mind and body.

Why? I use Instagram to share fragments of my life with the rest of the community and to keep some kind of an instablog. The idea of making a real blog has crossed my mind, but as you have probably noticed it on my feed – I would rather be outside. Thanks to Instagram, I have also met amazing people, who I can now call my friends.
Most of my pictures are taken with my good old Sony Nex 3 camera or with my iPhone 5s. And sometimes, I use my boyfriend as a self-timer. 🙂

What? Mostly rocks of all shapes and sizes in Julian Alps and nature scenery form Upper Sava Valley, as they are practically my backyard. I enjoy discovering new, less known mountain paths and mountain tops in that area or rediscover the ones I’ve already walked and reached. I like to observe them from different angles in different seasons and in different time of the day. The experience is never the same. If I had to choose my favorite view, it would probably be the view from Srednji Vrh to Martuljek mountain range. And my favorite mountain? Well, I have to keep some things to myself. But if you ask, I might tell you.

mrajkovic

Who? Hi, I am Miroslav Rajković (@mrajkovic), an UI/UX designer and fashion enthusiast by week and an adventurous explorer during the weekend. From Monday to Friday I mainly spend my time pushing pixels up/down while crafting visual masterpieces and interfaces for a mobile apps based company.
In last couple of years I have also done plenty of fashion, commercial and wedding photography, the latter of which you can see on my HOUSE of M2O website, done in collaboration with my colleague photographer.

File 08-12-15 13 46 34

Why photography? Why Instargam? I mainly spend my days in front of the computer so whenever I have some time to spare, I like to spend it away from civilization, somewhere where I can hear my own heartbeat in the spacious and almighty nature. Instagram comes in handy when I want to share highlights from my getaways!

What are your favourite places in Slovenia? Most of the time I am wandering in Gorenjska Region, where most of my photos are from. It’s impossible to define my favourite spot, since the whole region is amazingly wonderful. In most cases I try to take photos of landscapes while at the same time making sure to capture people in them as well. This is to help the viewer have a sense of scale and at the same time make the photos feel less empty and desolate. It also makes it easier for the viewer to imagine him or herself in the scene.

File 08-12-15 13 58 09

P.S; Although I own a professional DSLR camera, all of my Instagram shots are made with an iPhone and edited in VSCO Cam. People get often surprised by this fact, but I rather travel lightly than bother myself with a large and bulky camera, that isn’t pleasant to jump around with.

Processed with VSCOcam with j4 preset

jaka_ivancic

Who? My name is Jaka Ivančič, I was born & raised in Koper but I now live in Ankaran. I can say that I fell in love with photography when I was a child, we have been in a committed relationship for a few years now and also the future looks bright for us:) I’m a freelancer working on different projects; One of them is being the official photographer and video producer for Radio Capris, others are also mostly connected to photography, mainly landscape, food and events photography.

11157409_952804618072574_3185605580688075824_o

Why Instagram? Instagram is one of 3 social media platforms that I use to promote my work (others are Twitter and Facebook). I use a digital camera (Canon 5D MK III) to share my photo impressions, mostly – landscape photography, and I also use my Iphone 6 to capture others moments of my life.

11027983_1013117215374647_7002981804627052488_o

What are your favourite ‘photo-places’ in Slovenia? Since I live in Slovene Istria and since – I simply love it, I take most of my photos here. Piran, Koper, Izola and everything around is my playground. Although the area is not large I always manage to find a new place and a new view.

3Y0A5941v2

11393446_970217856331250_5477800775043022013_o (1)

aob01

Who? @aob01 🙂 Beleive it or not, photography is my stress relief. Usually I take photos on my way to work or back home and over the weekends, when we go with family out of town. That’s why my Instagram stream has so many jumps from one theme to another and that’s why I hope you’ll like it. For more of my work – check out my blog.

2015-10-11-17-13-34-59779
Why  (Instagram)? It’s simple and it works as a crossplatform for posting on different social networks. Also – it is easy to follow others & their work.

DCIM100GOPROGOPR4664.

What (can I show you)? Let’s say my specialty is street photography, some night photography and of course everything else. Parts of Slovenia? Most southern part, called Bela krajina and Ljubljana.

DCIM100GOPROG0024051.

DCIM100GOPROGOPR3901.

DCIM100GOPROGOPR3979.

dreamypixels

Who? My name is Aleš Krivec / @dreamypixels and I am a hobby landscape photographer. The majority of my photos are from Slovenia, a hidden jewel of Europe, showing high Alpine peaks, emerald rivers, vineyard countryside, medieval castles, thriving cities and the small but distinctive coast. I have a website called DreamyPixel along with my friend Ana Medja (she is more focused on urban photography).

Male hiker observing the sunset at the top of the local big mountain. The photograph was taken in Karavanke mountain range in Slovenia.

Why (Instagram)? I like Instagram because it’s a fast and fun way to share your photos and trips with people through a series of images. It’s also a very good way to discover how certain locations look in different seasons. I regularly check certain hashtags to check if the conditions are already like I would like them to be (like if the trees are already orange enough :). And it’s a great way to discover new, interesting views.

Zelenci

What (are the places that you love & know the most)? I have fairly good knowledge of Julian Alps and it’s peaks & the upper Karavanke region.

Beautiful autumn landscape in Julian Alps. Larches are glowing in the early morning.

Mokrice castle at night with a starry night above. Dark and peaceful atmosphere under milky way.

bled-island (1)

 

saratodo

Who & why (Instagram)? 

I am Sara Todorović and I am a young photographer. Instagram is a great platform for us photographers to show our work to a wider audience. It also helped me take my career to the next level. I love photographing nature, animals and events such as concerts and fashion week.

You can find my personal profile on Instagram under the name @saratodo & me and my friends also take care of the @simm_photography account.

FullSizeRender (5)

What (can I show you & give you some info about)? My favorite places in Slovenia are Ljubljana, Tolmin Gorges, Velika Planina, Bled, Soča Valley, Piran, Lipica and Zelenci. These are just some of the places I would highly recommend you to visit when you come to our beautiful country.

FullSizeRender (4) FullSizeRender (6) FullSizeRender (3) FullSizeRender (7)

shadro21

Who? @shadro21;) My name is Denys, I’m 18 years old and I was born in Ukraine. I have been living in Slovenia for 9 years now and I really like it here. I’m a high school student at School for design and photography and I make my living as a designer.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Why Instagram? I felt in love with nature in Slovenia soon after coming here. It is unbeliveble! There are Julian Alps on one side and Adriatic sea on the other. And there is less than 100 kilometres in beetwen!  Instagram is a great place to share my work and it makes me really happy to see that people like it.

GOPR6644

What can you show us? Well, I really do love nature & my home town, Škofja Loka and the entire Gorenjska Region. So – if you are planning a visit near me – let me know!

GOPR6440_fhdr

igposocje

Who? @igposocje is an account on Instagram presenting the beautiful Soča Valley. We are a group of 7 students from Slovenia and we started this profile to show you just how beautiful our valley is.

@brigitaperdih – medical student who loves to travel. The more world I see the more I realize how truly beautiful my hometown is and I would recommend it to any traveler.

@lucijacernilogar – from Idrsko, master student of special education on Faculty of education. Nature and animal lover, who likes to run, cycle and hike. One of my favourites are all those breathtaking moments spent in our beautiful mother nature.

lucija_razgled z krna

@mancacujec – from Poljubinj, studying on Faculty of Education. I have many interests and i can never sit still. I like to take photos of everything, but the most special to me are photos of my family and nature.

manca_kobala

@marjacujec – administration student who loves baking and all food related stuff. Nature admirer, especially in love with my home town and the Soča Valley.

@monikamanfreda – master student of chemistry on University of Ljubljana, bookworm and nature lover, that appreciates and adores her home- the Soča valley even more, since studying in Ljubljana.

monika_izvir tolminke

@natalijahauptman – from Kobarid, student of kinesiology. I believe that nature in connection with movement can heal all of your problems. I am also good food lover and like to explore new cultures.

@tejaistenic – master student of education on University of Ljubljana. Sports addict who also likes drawing. I like being in nature and admiring its beauty, especially in my hometown, which is also home of one of the most beautiful rivers – Soča River.

teja_solarije (1)

 

Why Instagram? We have decided to use Instagram, because we believe it provides a great way to reach people and to pass on photos and information. We use it for our own contentment, to share pictures from our everyday life on our personal profiles. In addition to that, we also have a joint account called @igposocje. The purpose of this account is to make the users of Instagram aware that in the northwest of Slovenia there is a gorgeous part of our beautiful country and the home of one of the most stunning rivers in the world – the Soča River. The Soča Valley or Posočje is often overlooked by many tourists and travelers. Our eyes can only appreciate nature briefly, but luckily there are people who capture images of nature and transform them into everlasting photography.

What can we show you in Slovenia?  We know the Upper Soča Valley very well, including many hidden places, walking paths and sights. Tolmin, Kobarid, Bovec and their surroundings; these are also our favourite parts of Slovenia.

Oh, and we almost forgot! You can also follow us (and ask us anything) on Facebook! 🙂