The new mosque of Ljubljana was in the making for a long time. There were talks for almost two decades, not without some public pushback which delayed its construction. I am happy to see the mosque completed now. I wanted to photograph it for a few months but I was busy with travelling. Now with Covid-19 lockdowns the opportunity was here. I went there to make some nice photos of the new mosque in Ljubljana!
Photographing the mosque
I planned a sunrise shoot when clouds would be great. This however did not happen as the sky cleared before the sun could light them up. The sun got into a thin layer of clouds as it rose above horizon which gave me a very soft, warm light. It was perfect for this type of photography. The mosque is mostly white and the soft light created nice colours and gentle contrast.
Later when the sun was out of the cloud I focused on the shadows vs light scenes. I really enjoyed photographing a new location without seeing any images from other photographers. This way I was free to explore my creativity and I was enjoying it immensely. The biggest fun was when I discovered the sun-star in the mosque window and I further explored the reflections of the minaret at different angles.
My camera setup was Nikon Z7 with 14-30 f4 S lens. Most of the shots were taken on a tripod. I used bracketing a lot to capture the whole dynamic range.
Editing and the photos of the new Ljubljana mosque
When I got home I realised I have 300+ photos on my memory card! Many of them were brackets and panorama sequences but this is still a lot! I ended up keeping about a quarter and edited 15 of them.
Since I spent more than two hours at the mosque I ended up with a variety of different shots, in different light and at different angles. The editing was not straightforward because each image required a different approach. One thing all the images had in common – I wanted to go minimalistic. Here are the results.
I hope you like the images! If you want to find more beautiful spots to photograph Ljubljana, check out my photographer’s guide at PhotoHound.
And here are more posts with photos fo Ljubljana and Slovenia.
6 comments
Wonderful
The architecture design is amazing
I wish if we could see some inside photos
Thank you! The mosque is not officially open yet. Due to Corona virus lockdowns all got delayed. I can’t wait to visit and try to get some photographs of the interior!
What a beautiful site. Unlike classical Islamic architecture, the patterns here are very simple – to great effect. It looks so modern and clean. That fisheye photo is great – really highlights the rectilinear nature of the buildings.
Thank you Andrew!