In March 2013, the Reactor Infrastructure Centre at the Jožef Stefan Institute hosted a photography team preparing a feature for the Slovenian edition of National Geographic. The article presented lesser-known yet exceptionally interesting locations in Ljubljana, including the TRIGA research reactor.
Photographers Domen Pal and Branko Čeak visited the reactor centre in Podgorica near Ljubljana on 19 March 2013 with the aim of creating a representative photograph of the reactor hall. To achieve the desired visual effect, they selected a demanding perspective from the bridge crane just below the ceiling and used a wide-angle lens to capture the entire space, from the reactor platform to the control room. Due to the complexity of the lighting, the photographers returned two days later in the evening together with Jože Maček to prepare the scene during several hours of work. Special emphasis was placed on natural lighting, since photographs for National Geographic may not be digitally manipulated. The key visual element was the bluish Čerenkov glow generated during reactor operation, illuminating the reactor core.
The final photograph (featured as the cover image of this news item) was published in Volume 10, Issue 4 of the Slovenian edition of National Geographic (2015) and was also displayed in the lobby of the reactor building. You can read more at this link on pages 15 and 16.
