Saint Thomas Church above Praprotno village

St. Tomaž is a small settlement in the Municipality of Škofja Loka in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. The name of the settlement was changed from Sveti Tomaž (literally, ‘Saint Thomas’) to Tomaž nad Praprotnim (literally, ‘Thomas above Praprotno’) in 1955.

Church of St. Tomaž above Praprotno, Škofja Loka is for most of people – just a church above a small village. The village itself is nothing special, a few houses on a hill. But the views are amazing. And if you know where to look … You get a view like this & this is the reason why photographers love this place. More about great places to visit in Slovenia can be found on the home page of Igslovenia. Also be sure to check out a great Application for finding amazing locations for photography, Snappguides.

The location from where you can take photographs of the church is really something unique. I have seen a lot of images from other photographers and I thought to myself that this location is even more dramatic than Jamnik hill. So one day I decided to check it out and make some stunning photos myself. Unfortunately I missed to road to this great spot and ended on a different hill. Fortunately I was able to make a few decent images before the sunrise. It wasn’t until 8 am until I finally found the correct spot. So I just made a few “scouting” images and decided I would return the next day.

Saint Thomas Church Day 1

The light before the sunrise was something special with purple, blue and pink shades.

Sunrise was pretty nice, with just enough clouds and fog to make some drama.

Fog was rolling up and down the hill, creating some nice scenery on hill tops.

Once I finally arrived to the location from where I wanted to shoot the St. Thomas Church, the sun was already high in the sky.

That was it for the day. I went back the next day and fortunately the conditions were even more atmospheric.

Saint Thomas Church Day 2

I arrived around 30 minutes before the sunrise and conditions were already spectacular. Vivid red colors in the sky and rolling fog under the church.

Black and white version of the first image of the day.

As the sun was slowly rising over the hills, the color of the fog started to change rapidly.

A quick experiment with images to make them look like old vintage postcards.

As the sun got a bit higher on the sky the rays in the fog became more and more visible.

Two black and white images for the end.

As I was descending back into the valley the mist gave the countryside very gloomy look.