Wedding session at Štrbské pleso
Slovak Tatras — a stream by the border and Štrbské pleso in two hours · Štrbské pleso, Tatry Wysokie (Słowacja)
A two-hour post-wedding session on the Slovak side of the Tatras, in two places. The first came up on the way, just past the border: the wide, stony bed of a mountain stream with wooden huts. The second was Štrbské pleso, with its piers and a panorama of peaks.
First stop: the stream by the border
The white stones in the stream bed act like a huge reflector and give soft light from below that no flash can make. They are uneven and slippery, though. A tulle dress and a navy jacket cope well here, but for the stones a spare pair of shoes helps.
To finish this spot, one photo from above, from the bank: the stream bed leads the eye and the couple is a small point in the frame. A shot like this gives the scale of the mountains that close-ups can’t.
By the road there was also a pile of cut logs with peaks behind it. Two frames and we drove on.
Štrbské pleso: piers, reeds and peaks
At the lake there is no need to drive anywhere: a pier, reeds, boulders and larches stand next to each other, with the same panorama behind them all the time. The sun was already low, lit the peaks from the side and didn’t flatten faces. In the mountains that light does half the work.
I don’t pose couples like a postcard. I ask for simple things: walk a little way along the pier, stop, look at each other. The rest happens by itself: fixing hair, a glance at the water, laughter when the dress catches on a plank.
I also shoot portraits of each of them alone, because wedding albums usually lack those. And on a boulder next to the pier a squirrel posed for a moment.
How to plan a post-wedding session in Slovakia
Two hours on site are enough for two locations if they lie on the way, like the stream and the lake here. From Kraków it is about two and a half hours’ drive each way. The best time is September and October: the larches turn yellow, there are fewer people and the weather is often more stable than in summer. Keep a spare day in the calendar in case of rain. I write more about when and why to do an outdoor session after the wedding here.
