This spring I had a great opportunity to explore old growth forests of Slovenia. One of the obvious places to go was Kočevski Rog, a dense forest area located between Kočevje and Dolenjske Toplice in the Southeastern Slovenia. Forest photography is never easy but it helps if you are in a pristine environment with little human impact. Spring is also a great time to capture some wild garlic fields which take forest images to another level.
Kočevski Rog is an amazing place to visit. This is one of the least touched places of nature in Slovenia, a small country that always struggles with balancing interests of people and nature. I highly recommend visiting this area if you are a nature lover. The best way to experience Kočevski Rog is hiking the wild Roška pot trail. Keep on the trail and respect the nature while hiking.
With Covid19 lockdowns and shut down tourism, I don’t have any photography workshops in the visible future so I decided to learn to vlog. There are two photographers that influenced me to start with vlogs, one is Borut Peterlin, my colleague from Dolenjske Toplice and the other is Simon Baxter, a Yorkshire based master of forest photography. Besides being great and unique photographers, they are both amazing storytellers too. This is my first attempt at vlogging and I want to do more of them. Let me know how you like it and any helpful advice is welcome! Thank you!
Photos
Below you will find some forest images I took during my trips to Kočevski Rog. You will see why I really enjoy this foret photography in spring. It definitely rivals autumn forests in terms of atmosphere and scenery! Wild garlic in bloom is a thankful subject to photograph and I was lucky to find such pristine place that actually looks like a fairytale!
I am a photographer first and video is still new to me. Again, I will appreciate your comments an suggestions if I should continue with vlogging and if yes – what would you like to see a vlog about? Thank you!
6 comments
Hi Luka, I just stumbled upon your vlog of Kočevski Rog. LOVE IT! Share more 🙂 The whole way through, I was listening very carefully for a Cuckoo. LMAO when I got to the end.
Thanks Tracy! You are one of the few to notice.:)
Okay, I wasn’t aware about the fact that nobody here is allowed to ask something critical without being deleted… that’s a weird way of communicating with the community.
Hi Yvonne,
I removed your comment because I thought it was too cynical. I accept fair criticism but there is no need to assume the worst in people if you don’t know the background. If I misunderstood your message, I am sorry. I do appreciate your concern about nature. It would be nice if more people think this way.
To answer you original question, yes, a friend of mine is photographing off the trail. However, this part of the forest is used commercially for logging. It is not part of protected primeval forest. On top of that, in Slovenia it is very common that people go to forest to pick mushrooms, blueberries, chestnuts and wild garlic. Wild garlic is ubiquitous, far from being endangered and is considered a delicacy.