Other winning photos were of a sunrise at Lake Bohinj by Bor Rojnik (2nd prize), Triglav by Jure Vrcko (3rd prize) and Kongresni Trg in Ljubljana by Tija Mikeli (most votes).

No less than 171 photos competed in the photo contest, which had as theme Perfect View. Slovenians, expats and tourists sent in photos of their picture perfect views of Slovenia in summer time. As organizers we at The Slovenia Times are very happy with the outcome of the contest and thankful for the amount, quality and diversity of the entries. It is all very encouraging for a next contest.

The jury, which consisted of Brane Krajnik (CEO of The Slovenia Times), Arne Hodalič (photographer and photo editor National Geographic Slovenia), Janez Skok (publisher, photographer and alpinist), Marko Pentek (designer) and Mark Koghee (journalist and editor of The Slovenia Times Summer Guide 2014) didn't have an easy job to choose three winners out of the 171 entries.

We noticed that it also wasn't easy for the participants to pick their favorite summer views of Slovenia. "There are so many pictures to show because there are so many beautiful landscapes in Slovenia", wrote Alison Rouvera from France who sent in a picture from Kobarid.

The most photographed place was Bled. Of all photos, 30 were taken in Bled, 15 photos (among which the second prize) were from Bohinj, 14 from Ljubljana and 13 from Piran. There were four photos from Slovenia's highest mountain and national symbol Triglav (among which the third prize). The winning photo was taken in Šentrupert na Dolenjskem.

One of our reasons to hold the contest was to let the world see the many beautiful faces of Slovenia. And we saw that also many of the participants just wanted to show the beauty of the country. "I'm not looking to win the contest. l want people to see your beautiful country", wrote Roula Vrsic from Canada.
Participants from all over the world sent words of praise about Slovenia and testimonies of great experiences. António Santos Silva (Portugal): "I'm from Portugal and until June 2014 Slovenia was just a country in Central Europe. I decided to go to Slovenia because it was so close to Italy! I was dazzled and truly obsessed and I will be back more often. "

Neslihan Akdemir (Turkey): "I am an Erasmus student for the summer period in Slovenia and I was very amazed by how beautiful this country is."

"My name is Sylvia Radulovic from Sydney, Australia. I was here to visit relatives and re-visit the most beautiful lake in the world, in one of the most beautiful countries. Hope you enjoy as I did!"

Robert Krasevec from the USA: ""We took my father, who was 85 years old, back to his town of Martinjak near Cerknica! He hadnt seen it in 65 years!"

Hendrik De Backer from Belgium: "Our neighbors told us Summer in Slovenia would only come in Autumn, and we will see during harvesting, but I am happy to send you our most beloved picture of our grapes in the sun in our little re-booted vineyard in Jeperjek, where we spent 7 fantastic weeks. Many regards and thanks for the nice magazine and stream of info!"

All 171 photos can be seen on the website of The Slovenia Times: www.sloveniatimes.com