My best photos from 2025
Happy New Year to you all. Once again I thought I would start 2026 with a review of my favourite photoshoots throughout 2025. While I got some good stuff every month, I have focused on the shoots that produced some of my best and favourite photographic moments. Please let me know in the comments which ones are your favourite.
So without further ado, let’s go……
JANUARY
Wolf Moon at Sunset and a fabulous misty morning
Wolf Moon at Sunset over Lake Bled
My first shoot in January last year was of the Wolf Moon (first full moon of the year) rising at sunset over Lake Bled. This is the only time of year that it rises furthest north ever. In Slovenia there are many locations where it rises over prominent landmarks and mountains. Of course, you only get one chance to shoot it each year, so you have to choose. In previous years, I caught it at Jamnik and also Saint Thomas. In 2023, I went to Bled and caught it rising over the mountain behind Bled Castle. Once again in 2025, thankfully the conditions were perfect, and I moved around a bit to capture it between the castle and the island.
Thanks to a really great app, I was able to determine exactly where the moon would crest the mountaintop, and therefore could position myself perfectly for this shot.
Misty Morning over Smlednik Castle
You may have heard me talk about this location, or seen the videos I’ve done about this lovely old ruined castle. The Old Castle Above Smlednik is probably the most interesting ruins in Slovenia. There are very few ancient castles like this in the country, and this one is perched right on a hilltop with fabulous views all around.
However, to get the best image of the castle itself, you need to view it from another location. This one here is my absolute favourite, as it places the castle right in front of the beautiful Mt. Storžič in the Kamnik Alps.
On this cold January morning I was fortunate enough to capture it just as the mist began to burn away around sunrise.
It’s also a great location to photograph the rest of the Kamnik Alps.
MARCH
Mountains & Churches
Churches of Saint Nicholas and Saint Margaret
Just to the east of Ljubljana is the church of Saint Margaret, in the village of Prežganje, and the church of Saint Nicholas in Janče. From a certain viewpoint here you get a stunning panoramic view of these two churches and the Kamnik Alps.
APRIL
Classic Slovenian Spring Views
Church of Saint Thomas
Of course anyone who has photographed in Slovenia, or joined one of my workshops, will know all about Saint Thomas Church view. While most people have photographed it in autumn, this location also presents a fabulous scene in spring.
For spring though, I find it best to go a bit further down the road and use this lovely row of trees as foreground interest, especially when they are in full bloom. On this morning, I also got some fabulous mist in the valley.
Zelenci & Lake Jasna
This year I finally got to visit Zelenci Nature Reserve, which is close to Kranjska Gora. Zelenci is best photographed in the morning, however, I managed to get one nice shot with the sun going down behind some trees.
While there, I just had to go finish the day off at Lake Jasna, one of my favourite places to visit. It’s always fabulous this time of year with snow over the Julian Alps.
MAY
Panoramics of the Kamnik Alps
Jezersko
In May I once again took the family on a little trip up to Jezersko, a beautiful village sitting on a mountain pass between Slovenia and Austria.
The main attraction is Planšarsko lake, which was artificially made by the locals as a memorial to the ancient glacial lake that once filled the area, but eventually drained away. The new lake is actually in a heart shape, and is backed by a superb view of the Kamnik Alps. You can also walk into the valley to get some closer views of this eastern section of the Kamnik Alps.
I also shot a lovely stitched panorama of the lake and mountains.
Panoramics at Jamnik Church
The beautiful view of the church of Saints Primus and Felician at Jamnik village, with the Kamnik Alps behind, is a great locations for shooting panos.
I visited in May to make my video demonstrating how to create a stitched panoramic, and how using the Benro 34CLV Levelling tripod, and a great app called Shutter, can really help when shooting one.
JUNE
Solstice Sunrise at Saint Thomas
In June it was time once again for the annual Solstice sunrise at Saint Thomas church. This is the only time of year when you can capture the sun rising over the Kamnik Alps closest to the church.
JULY
Sunrise over the Mountain Peaks
Jamnik Church
The Church of St. Primus and Felician in the village of Jamnik, is a picturesque Gothic church perched on a hilltop on the Jelovica plateau. It’s renowned for its stunning panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, including the Kamnik Alps and the Ljubljana Basin. From this viewpoint, you get the lovely conical shaped Mt. Storžič behind.
In May and again in July, you can capture the sun rising right over the peak of Mt. Storžič. I took several morning trips to Jamnik Church, but only one yielded some stunning results.
Once again with the help of my Benro tripod and Shutter app, I was able to shoot a multitude of bracketed exposures and blend them in Photoshop to produce these three stunning images.
Mt. Triglav
You saw earlier about Smlednik Castle, and as I mentioned you get great views from the top of this castle. When standing on the old walls, you get a panoramic view of both the Kamnik Alps and the Julian Alps. But you also get a fabulous view across to Mt Triglav.
July is also the month when the sun rises over Mt Triglav, Slovenia’s highest peak, when viewed from the top of Smlednik Castle. Sadly, the days when it was closest were fraught with thick cloud, so these were the closest shots I could get.
AUGUST
Adriatic Sunset
It has to be said that the summer this year was pretty terrible, but we did manage a few good days down the Slovenian coast. As always, we spent our days at Strunjan, and sunset often provides some nice moments to capture.
October
Amazing Autumn Colours
Well the bad summer was more than made up for by autumn, which although there was a lot of erratic weather, the colours this year were incredible and some days were just out of this world.
Lake Jasna
The colours this year at Lake Jasna had to be one of the best I’ve ever witnessed. I visited twice this autumn, first time with a one to one client, and the second on my own.
The most magical moment was the second evening when the crescent moon rose over Mt. Razor.
The view at Jasna looks directly south, so getting a colourful sunset or sunrise can be tricky. As the sun rises off to the left and sets to the right, you need just the right kind of cloud. This evening we had it, beautiful light broken high cloud which caught the colour of the setting sun beautifully, and mixed with moonlight, provided the most jaw-dropping scenes ever.
Fairytale cottage
If you read last year’s best photoshoots of 2024, you may recall how I scouted this location in summer. I didn’t get back for the autumn in 2024, but did this year with my 1-2-1 client and we got the most fabulous light and colours here.
Jamnik in Autumn
Jamnik is fabulous in autumn of course.
I visited Jamnik twice. First time in early October with the intention of catching the full moon rising over the mountains to the far right. Sadly, cloud obscured the moon itself, but I did get a wonderful moment when the moonlight broke through while still below the mountaintops, and produced these amazing anticrepuscular rays, which I captured as part of the stitched panorama below. The moon also provided some interesting colour during the blue hour.
The second visit was again with my 1-2-1 client in the morning when the colours were just at their peak.
Scouting new locations
I took the opportunity this autumn to scout a few new locations to add to my workshops for 2026.
While the allure of Slovenia’s churches is the mountain views behind, there are several other lovely little churches in the hills offering photogenic scenes too. This is one of them. After Saint Thomas, I took my 1-2-1 with me on this little scouting trip in the nearby hills to find locations like this to add to my workshops next year.
This is Saint Primus Church, hidden in the Skofja Loka hills. The other shot is the Krnica Valley near Lake Jasna.
November
A church with a view
View across the Ljubljana Marshes
Just to the south of Ljubljana lies the Ljubljana Marshes. In the middle on a hill sits the lovely church of Saint Ana. While a nice view in itself, it’s also a great place to get a view across the marshes to both the Kamnik Alps and Julian Alps. On a visit in November I got this lovely shot of Mt. Triglav, and of course a church or two in the foreground.
December
Frozen and not frozen
Jasna and Bled Lakes
The winters in Slovenia are sadly not what they used to be. There was a time when Lake Bled froze over, and I was able to walk across it to the island.
Lake Jasna sits in an alpine valley and probably gets the coldest. It began to freeze in December, but Bled has not.
Below are some photos of Jasna starting to freeze.
One of my last best shots of the year was at Lake Bled. There was no snow of course, and no sunset colours. However, the low cloud and mist presented a great opportunity at dusk.
Ordinarily during the blue hour, the best white balance is daylight. However, there are certain conditions in which using the fluorescent white balance setting works brilliantly. This is one of them. Typically it works best when a bright moon is up. In this case the moon was high and at 77% waxing. Despite the heavy low cloud and mist, the moonlight still penetrates some, and couple with the artificial light of the church and castle reflecting off the mist, produces some amazing results
Equipment used in my photoshoots
These are links to photography equipment I use and what’s in my bag and great places to buy them.
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Recent Articles
When to use Fluorescent White Balance
Ordinarily during the blue hour, the best white balance is daylight. However, there are certain conditions in which using the fluorescent white balance setting works brilliantly. This is one of them.
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