Capturing Bled – Slovenia – Lowlight photography
If you would make a Top 10 List of all photo spots in Europe you definitely have to visit, then Bled [ˈbleːt] must be on your itinerary. Located in the north-west of Slovenia, it is one of the most picturesque small villages you will ever experience. It somehow perfectly combines Ex-Yugoslavian brutalism architecture with some kind of classy health resort atmosphere.
The reason why every tourist and photographer loves this village is obviously the lake with its small island, home of the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church, and Bled Castle. There are several famous perspectives in order to capture the island with the castle in one frame, the two most known are listed below:
- Osojnica View Point
This is probably THE spot you have to go when you are in Bled. It depends from where you start, but usually it takes about 60 – 90 min to hike this approx. 650m (2132 feet) small hill. Don’t start to late if you want to make sure seeing the sunrise/sunset, otherwise you can get quite out of breath 😉 There are actually two spots on the top: Mala Osojnica, a lovely place with a wooden bench (perfect if you want to do some landscape/portrait shooting) and the Osojnica Main Viewing Point (see map)
- Lakeside broadwalk
Exactly at the opposite of the village, there is a wooden broadwalk from where you can capture the island and castle in one frame. This spot is especially good if you are interested into lowlight and long-exposure photography. If you stand correctly, the island perfectly blankets the lights coming from the village and so you can reduce the light pollution in your pictures.