Artist’s Website

Herman Čater was born in Celje, Slovenia in 1941. He studied English and English literature. After his studies he worked as an English teacher and later as an Adviser for foreign languages for the Educational Board of Slovenia until his retirement in 1991.

In 1985 he contracted viral meningitis that resulted in paralysis of the upper part of the body. When he came out of coma, he was not able to eat, speak, breath. They told him he will be never able to rise his hands. But he managed to recover so well, that he can fly a paraglider again. He became an instructor for flying and shiatsu teacher. He described his experience about his recovery in the book Do not give up your dreams, which was presented in all medical magazines in Slovenia.

The paralysis influenced his life a lot, but photography played a very important role in his recovery.

His father showed him how to use a camera when he was a little boy. He became known by his landscape photographs in Slovenia and abroad, but his collection “Forgotten” attracted the most attention. In the three two years he was the best author on many FIAP salons, like on Grand Tour Delle Colline, Italy – four gold medals, Abu Dhabi – gold medal and grand prix, Cyprus – gold medal, 7400 photographers from 114 countries, Merit award and In Spotlight in Black&White magazine in USA, medal in Tokio, nomination in World Photographic Art magazine. Photographic Association of Slovenia gave him MF FZS and FIAP got him EFIAP last year.

He had his own photo exhibitions in Slovenia and other countries: Italy, Austria, USA, Germany, Croatia, Sibiria, Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

He runs photo workshops in his own country and abroad: Croatia, Emirates. Last year he was invited by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to have one in Khobar.

He also works with school children and helps their photo clubs in Slovenia.

He has published the following photo books:

The touch of the light – landscape photos
Sibiria – between Hantymansisk and Surgut
Portrait of a photographer
Town Žalec – with Jure Kravanaja
Town Maribor– with Jure Kravanja

In 2006 he established Photo club SVIT with his photo friends which became the best Slovene club and also noticed on FIAP salons as one of the best clubs in the world.

Photographs Courtesy of Herman Čater, Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved

Forgotten

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In the mountains in the middle of nowhere, a full hour’s walk from the nearest village, I met a man, 80 years old, living alone. His name was Stanko.

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He was kind and invited me into the house. The house was more than 200 years old. I was shocked when I saw the inside and could not believe somebody could live like this in Europe in the 21st century. The walls were yellow, green and black. There was barely any furniture, just a few pots here and there, an old clock that did not work and some photos taken many decades ago on the wall. The windows were small. What little light they afforded served only to emphasize the house’s sparse contents.

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It is a sad story. I learned that he had nine children, but nobody would take care of him. His wife died long ago. He had little money and would spend all on cigarettes and wine. Yet living alone like this in the country made him happy. He had some land and sheep. I was visiting him frequently and we become friends.

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The winter of 2008-2009 was very harsh. Lacking a heater and unable to light a fire, he died of cold. I felt a deep sorrow when I  learned that he had died.

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I still remember his eyes. They were like mirrors. Through them you could see the pain suffered by so many. His portraits really move me. Yet they show how life must have been for many even a century ago.

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To me, Stanko seemed to embody all old and poor people. When one sees these images, many questions arise. One day, we will become old. Who knows how will we die. Alone? Poor? Sick?  What is the point of living?

My friend, the old man, died. One of his sons inherited the house. He has started to preserve his old home.

Photographing Stanko and listening to his stories was a great experience for me. It forced me to intensively think about what matters in life. The collection is also a sociological study. It invites the viewer to think about it.

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Photo Travel Review Magazine recognizes Herman Čater for his unique and poignant portraits, among the best we have found in the world.  His work includes landscapes and reflect his love of the mountains of Slovenia. Please visite his website to see more of his work.

Artist’s Website

Matjaž Čater is known for his breathtaking images of landscapes from the air, captured while he flies using his personal hang-glider 800-1000 feet above ground.

Matjaž found himself as an aerial photographer by chance, when a colleague asked him for a few photos of forests taken from the air, and soon the idea was born.

Often starting off before dawn to capture light at its best, Matjaž says that the time of flying is crucial. “I prefer softer, diffuse light – I like its magical quality – it makes the world look very beautiful.”

Much of his work is done in Slovenia, over the Savinjska Valley, near his home in Celje.

Čater uses the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and the Canon EF 24-105mm lens for most of his work.

“The clouds and mist are never the same,” he says, “which is what makes this type of photography such a challenge, but also very exciting.”

Photographs Courtesy Matjaž Čater, Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved

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His father, one of the first hang glider pilots in Slovenia and also a keen photographer introduced Matjaž to this passion. He started flying with hang gliders as a boy when he became strong enough to lift a glider from the ground and later also at the local airport with sailplanes. He progressed with competitions on international scale for a decade and finally managed to combine both passions for flying and photography.

As he says:

“In time some motives inspired me and reactions from SVIT photo club colleagues and my father encouraged me even more to publish some of them at the 1x.com site on the web. Eventually a Spanish enthusiast made a presentation using all my published photos at the time, so I thought I should tell more.”

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“I remember times, when flown distances on the flying competitions have been proven by films and we all have been eagerly waiting for the official results late into nights. Those experiences definitely benefited to avoid some beginner’s mistakes later. I can remember Assisi from Italy, Rhonda from Spain or peaks from Slovenian Alps, which all looked great to me, but were too vertical and no one would recognize the places or their attributes from the first glimpse without additional comments.”

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“Today development of digital technique opens widely the possibilities, yet basis remain the same. Flight and photographing are certaily planned, but in spite of safety restrictions, technical and weather conditions, they appear spontaneously, sometimes by chance and with interaction with other events.”

“I am much interested in motifs, that don’t repeat, which reveal only for a moment or two and allow you to steal their soul. Perhaps it is better that way. My heart lies with soaring and sailing without accompanying sound of the engine, but some motifs would not have been possibile to make without the powered wings, because they can lift you in conditions without thermals.”

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“In cases when pilot and photographer are the same, well trained actions are required. Before the shutter is pressed, aviation device must be impeccable, weather conditions stable and all other factors tuned. When the engine is warmed settings on the camera are checked for the last time and it is time to go. In spite of some different opinion of some ‘experts’ I do not like to take chances and provoke my safety with taking any risks. Every morning has its own touch and because of soft light they are special. I tried with some motifs several times without success for different reasons and when relaxed, they come by themselves and reveal their secrets. The more effort in planning, the smaller result.”

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He says he has to fly well, so he doesn’t forget to spot landings in spite of motifs and images captured by the beauty if something would go wrong.

“One last look towards the east tells that contrasts are becoming stronger, finally too strong for me. I dare to make a low pass over the home with my dearest to let know I’m about to land and minutes later a soft touch to the ground is made.”

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Matjaž’s final image composed from self‐evident technical perfection, balance relationships, shapes and colors, gives motifs the inner life in the soft morning light. Most of his landscapes maintain their properties, regardless of whether they are made in color or black and white technique. Color images are so plastic that we want to caress yellow silk air balloon or touch the grass. Black and white patches patchworks of fields, hop gardens, orchards and fields, on the contrary act as a graphic. The recordings are so recognizable that they are hard to miss. Slovenian landscape from the air, the divine light at the church on a hill, hop fields in the mists and castles from fairy world, growing light of day in spite of digital opportunities could not be falsified, only caught and admired.

One can see more of his work at his site at 1x.com and at his personal website.

Amateur Photographer (GB) recognized Matjaž and published an interview in one of its magazine isssues which can be read here.

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Photo Travel Review Magazine recognizes Matjaž Čater for his outstanding work; unique, bold, filled with artistic expression, all accomplished through both his skills at flying and his obvious photographic gifts.  His works are among the best in the world, and his inspirational comments about them are treasures to read again and again.

Email (Roy has kindly invited PTR readers to contact him if you wish any more details about this area or Slovenia in general)

In 2005, my partner, Justi Carey, and I were given the opportunity to write a new Cicerone guidebook for the Julian Alps of Slovenia. We had moved to Slovenia in 2002, from the Western Highlands of Scotland, where in the last few years of living there, I had begun to expand my interest and passion for photography. We had both been keen walkers and climbers for many years – it was our reason for being in the Highlands, and it was exciting to have been given the green light to produce a guidebook. We both felt it was a personal opportunity to ‘put something back’ after all the experiences we had both enjoyed in the mountains, hoping it might even give a little inspiration to others who look to the outdoors for their spiritual strength as well recreation.

Not having a job here in ’02 -indeed this was pre-EU time, work permits were required and enforced – meant my role in Slovenia was initially as the ‘house husband’ and Justi was bringing home the bread, teaching English in local schools. This gave me the opportunity to start exploring the hills and accumulating knowledge for our book.

Since arriving in Slovenia, I had begun to supply images for a stock travel library in the UK as well as a web library, as I found I had more time on my hands. Initially we lived in eastern Slovenia, not far from the Croatian border. The landscape and buildings in the east are mostly very rural, small forested hills, usually topped with a church or shrine, small farms and vineyards clinging to the hillsides, giving plenty of photo opportunities.

Slovenia has three distinct climatic areas: Alpine, Mediterranean, and Continental. Eastern Slovenia has the latter, with hot summers and cold winters, so it can be a good bet for even a short photo trip, the weather patterns being more stable than the NW Alpine region, where most UK visitors seem to head. Slovenia’s coastline is short and can be very busy, the medieval coastal town of Piran offering photo opportunities in the early morning, before the bustle starts. There is also an interesting area of abandoned salt pans at Secovlje that has been turned into a nature reserve- I’ve not had an opportunity to shoot there, but passing by while on a car trip to Croatia, has made me add the area to my ‘future photo locations’ memory store. The Julian Alps is the country’s mountain region most known to foreign visitors, and for good reason: stunning limestone peaks, steep forested foothills and incredibly beautiful wild flower meadows in the valleys. The town of Kranjska Gora is a good location as a base to get into the hills and with the tourist hot spot of Lake Bled only about 45km away, easily visited by bus for a day trip.

The Julian Alps can be a challenging arena for photography. When the sun is high, the contrast between the dark pine-clad lower slopes and the glaring, pale limestone peaks, can give serious contrast worries. Grey grads, and polarisers (treated carefully as even the modest altitude of the Julian Alps can darken your skies with overkill) are essential. It is especially true here that the best opportunities are in the early light (dawn or just after) and late evening when the glare is killed and the last light is catching the tops.

Unlike the Scottish hills, strong winds are not generally a problem here in the mountains. I use a small Gitzo- about 1.7kg, steady enough, and I would not want to carry anything heavier. I am still working with film at present; the main reason being that film is the preferred choice of our publisher. I will certainly be buying digital kit this year but expect to keep on using film for a while yet for our latest book project. The Slovene people have a long tradition of mountaineering. You will meet Slovenes of all ages and backgrounds travelling through the Julian Alps. Climbing Triglav, Slovenia’s highest peak, is considered almost an obligation of every Slovene, something that should be done at least once in their lifetime. It’s hard to overestimate the importance that Triglav has in the Slovene psyche.

The doms and kocas (mountain hut accommodation), are well placed in the mountains, being usually within 2-3hrs of each other. In July and August, especially at weekends, the huts can prove to be either a real haven, or a necessary evil. They are supplied with sheets/blankets and can offer all the food and drink you’ll need. This means you can travel light.

Unlike the higher mountains of the western Alps, there are no glaciers or significant snow fields, so there is no need to carry ice axes/crampons/rope. This means you can pack a fair amount of camera kit in your rucksack – but don’t be tempted to overdo it, like I have, more times than I’d wish to admit! The mountain paths can be grindingly steep, often with short sections of scrambling on near vertical rock that is protected with steel cables and pegs. Combined with the usual high summer temperatures, its best to sacrifice a bit of extraneous kit and take an extra bottle of water. In general, images taken for guidebooks need to be more descriptive than purely aesthetic. A hiker in a scene adds scale and perspective and is preferred in about 70% of picture content for a guidebook. So many times, I’ve sat becoming more and more impatient and anxious of the time slipping by, while waiting for a walker to come into view on a particularly impressive section of ridge or high path, and hoping they will be wearing something brightly coloured – a red fleece or tee-shirt can make all the difference for a good guidebook shot!

However, a photography trip to the Julian Alps does not require long hikes in the hills. There are endless opportunities for mountain landscape shots if climbing them is not your thing. Modest height gains can be made to find a planina (hill pasture), with chocolate box views of small wooden chalets/houses as foreground to impressive peaks like Spik and Jalovec. Buses go over the Vrsic pass (1611m) – a starting point for mountain trips, but also a good place for minor hikes to viewpoints.

Macro kit is good if you want to stay in the valleys, the wild flowers are amazing and there may be some good opportunities for candids too, when whole families gather to harvest the hay and stack it onto the big drying racks. Also, local festivals and fetes are plentiful. Its hard not to sound like an over-enthusiastic, fanatical patriot, newly employed by the Slovene tourist board, but this gem of a country rarely disappoints. What’s more, I soon realised that photography really has a special place in Slovenian life and culture. Almost every town has a photography club, with regular exhibitions and competitions and even in very small towns, I am often surprised to find a thriving photography shop. When to go: Mid-May to mid-June is a good time to be in the lower valleys – before the first cut of the flower meadows and when the high peaks are still snow capped. Its also a quiet time and accommodation is plentiful. There are less cultural events and festivals at this time though. July and August is the main hiking season when the high mountain huts are open. Winters are cold and snow plentiful- in January a high pressure system usually builds over the Alps and the weather is clear with lots of winter sun. Where to stay: The principle centres for the Julian Alps are Kranjska Gora, Bovec, Bohinj area and Tolmin.

Claire: “Thanks Roy for this informative and inspiring article. I highly recommend his book for any travellers in this region. The Julian Alps: Walking Routes and Short Treks“

A rucksack, camera and 550km of mountain trail – The Slovene High Level Route.

This is the second guest article by Roy and Justi and it helps to celebrate the publishing of their second book :
Trekking in Slovenia – the Slovene High Level Route by Justi Carey and Roy Clark.

“The outdoor life appears intrinsic in Slovenia’s culture, not only for many local rural
livelihoods but also for their recreation and great sense of adventure. For such a small
country it has a fantastic wealth of waymarked trails that crisscross every county and
over 300 manned mountain huts and valley refuges can be found strategically placed
along the routes. “

The PTR team have a special affinity with Slovenia following two trips there and this book and country come highly recommended to anyone who loves mountains and walking. This article, especially written for our photo travellers, touches on some of the trials and decisions photographers following the wilder paths have to face.

As well as having the more well known long distance trails that pass through the land, like the European E6 and E7 and the Via Alpina, it also has another, known mostly only to Slovenes themselves – the 550km long Transverzala or Slovenska Planinska Pot. This is a trail that crosses the country’s high ground, from Maribor in the north east to Ankaran on the Adriatic coast in the south. It takes in the Pohorje hills, the Kamnik-Savinja and Julian Alps, the Karavanke range that forms the natural border with Austria, the Bohinj mountains, many central lower hills and eventually passes through wild maquis and scrub as you approach the coast. When you realize just how passionate the Slovenes are about mountaineering and trekking, it doesn’t come as a great surprise to discover that the Transverzala was the first long distance route to be established in any of Europe’s alpine countries. Like all Slovene mountain trails, it is waymarked with the characteristic ‘target’ sign and also with a number 1.

It was a challenge to be taken up and being given the opportunity to write the first English language guidebook for the route was definitely an added bonus. One of the most enjoyable parts of the challenge for me was to get the best photos I could for the guidebook. As with our first book, the goal was to get descriptive shots that showed important sections of the route, cols and passes, path junctions, hut accommodation etc., but, as always, I was hoping for those magical elusive moments when good light and spectacular mountain scenery combine and a lone walker is highlighted on a summit ridge, adding scale and perspective – rare moments indeed when you have to keep walking to get the route done and meet publishing deadlines – you don’t have the luxury of being able to have a short walk and a purely ‘photos only’ day out!

I was not so concerned with getting useable shots in the high mountain sections – the Julian/Kamnik-Savinja Alps and the Bohinj hills offer enough drama and beauty for most folk with an interest in photography – but I had my doubts about the lower hills on the southern section of the route. Many of the southern hills are below the tree line and I wasn’t sure how I could make shots of forest paths and hill tops (where any available view would likely be of more endless tree tops) interesting. This proved to be the case for some sections, so I concentrated more on flower images and macro shots of butterflies when time allowed. Fortunately though, the route also travelled through scenic villages and passed many places of interest – like the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Škocjan caves.

As usual, I was trying to be selective with which camera kit to take/leave out – but even more so on such a long trail which involved more consecutive nights spent in mountain huts than was necessary for our last book about the Julian Alps. I used an old Nikon FE, as its low weight, solid construction and simple functions make it a good outdoor choice, complimented with some sharp primes, 50mm, 35mm and a 200mm in the high mountains. On the more featureless southern sections, I swapped the 200mm for a 100mm Macro. I took my smallish Gitzo (1.7kg) tripod with me for most of the route but swapped this for a more basic aluminium and plastic job to try and reduce the weight on the longer sections. I use a tripod a lot for setting up delayed timer shots, with myself in the picture when no-one else is around to add scale to the shot. Occasionally I took a small flash unit for hut interiors and fill flash. This was to be my last serious outing using 35mm film camera and lenses. I’ve always liked the excellent vibrancy and colour of good slide film and even the anticipation of picking up the results of your efforts from the developers, but this year a few ‘incidents’ left me looking forward to next year when I’ll be working with digital. Some examples being – having a few rolls of supposedly fresh film being developed with a strange magenta colour cast, the usual trials of loading film on exposed summits, but one of the worst moments was going to the developers to collect a week’s worth of film for a particularly remote section of the walk, only to find dozens of slides of a child’s christening! Fortunately disaster was averted and the proud parents of the child returned my slides to the developers, but only after six weeks of very anxious waiting and hoping.

For photographers looking for dramatic mountain shots, the Julian and Kamnik- Savinnja Alps won’t disappoint.  The Karavanke is a more gentle range – still high hills, but wonderful for grassy, flower covered slopes, and they also give great views of the higher ranges. One particular section, south of the main peaks, is a long escarpment high above the town of Ajdovšcina, known as the Gora. Its diversity of flowers, wildlife and interesting geology is stunning. It is also an area that appears to mark a strong change from an Alpine climate to a Mediterranean one.

Further south again, as the coast is approached, the scenery becomes less dramatic but there is plenty of scope for wild flowers, butterflies and sunsets over the the Adriatic Sea – the routes final destination. The Slovenska Planinska Pot is a beautiful route in a beautiful country, demanding in some sections, gentle and easy in others, where peace and solitude can be found, particularly in some of the less frequented southern sections where you may be more likely to encounter a deer or even a bear rather than people.

Links

The Julian Alps of Slovenia, Europe – walking and trekking the first book in this series.

Trekking in Slovenia – the Slovene High Level Route – Europe

See the first PTR article here.

Cicerone travel guides.

By Claire

Image by Kaz (Lake Bled)

PTR held its workshop in October 2008 and here I present some of the images taken by (and of) participants.

The workshop was a huge success. The accommodation turned out to be even better than expected, the apartments gave everyone a bedroom to themselves, two nice lounges where we could meet and free Internet access.

We had cooking facilities but the added bonus was home cooked food that had been reared and grown on the farm where we stayed.

Initially we had some confusion due to the clocks going back in Slovenia and people arriving from 4 different countries. For a day we couldn’t decide what the time really was and we had one early start waiting the sunrise, which turned up an hour later than expected! The added bonus to this was we arrived on the top of the mountains in the pitch dark and the stars were out, I can’t remember seeing stars like this before – magical. The clear sky that followed sunrise was a challenge but the mist in the valley was breathtaking.

Photo by Claire

The first two days proved to be the best weather wise and everyone got some good shots. This always lifts the mood, as you know you won’t be going back home disappointed.

Photo by Kaz

Image by Herman

Image by Bill

Slovenia in autumn was a delight. We had previously visited the location in May and had chosen the area around Lake Bled as “base camp” due to its proximity to water, forests and mountains. We had our fingers crossed that the autumn colours would hold on and we were not disappointed.

Photo by Kaz

Photo by Herman

The weather at this time of year is unpredictable, we could have had deep snow in the mountains but initially we were stripping off layers rather than adding them.

Photo by Claire

By mid-week the weather had changed and we sought some height to meet the snow. It was time to use all the cold weather gear we’d brought.

Photo by Roy

The last few days were wet. This found us still out and about and there were some brief moments of light worth catching…

Photo by Kaz

Photo by Bill

Image by Herman

There were villages to explore………

Photo by Bill

And the leaves took on even better colour after a wash……..

Photo by Claire

Photo by Herman

Bill also found some wildlife and demonstrated what a Canon G10 can do in capable hands.

Photo by Bill

We hope to repeat the Autumn trip in 2009 and if you want advance notification I can add you to a mailing list. As an added bonus we may add a day trip to Venice.

Image by Claire

A big thanks to those who have provided images for this article.

Claire