Wow! Who knew that such gorgeous, rugged, mountains could be found so close to Malta?! After years of dreaming about the Dolomites and months of planning, in September 2018 we finally flew to Milan, then drove a 1200 km round trip whilst we explored some of the most amazing places in the heart of the Dolomites!
The Dolomites are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy, they are known as the pale mountains for their light colored rock. The Dolomites are not as high as the Alps to the North West, but what they lack in altitude, they surely make up for in sheer beauty and character!
We spent 9 days exploring some of the best that the Dolomites have to offer, and to be honest, I could easily have spent a couple of months! The place is huge! We had some great weather on the majority of the trip, and if I had any criticism, it would be that it was actually a bit too warm!
Our first stop was Lago di Braies to shoot the Milkyway. Unfortunately in September, the Galactic Center of the Milkyway is not visible from this location.
A 4 image vertical panorama showing the Milkyway over the boathouse at Lago di Braies
After a very short night’s sleep, we shot sunrise at Lago di Braies, before having breakfast and driving to the epic little chapel, San Giovanni in Ranui, where we scouted the location and shot an awesome sunset.
The quaint little chapel of San Giovanni di Ranui at sunset.
We then headed to Alpi di Siusi. Although we didn’t have great conditions for sunrise, we couldn’t complain, simply being in such an awesome location is always a great experience!
A foggy sunrise at Alpi di Siusi.
We left Alpi di Siusi for the long road to Secceda. We took the cable cars up to Secceda pretty early, to give us plenty of time to scout the area before sunset. Unfortunately, a massive thunderstorm rolled in and left us seeking shelter until it cleared. Just check out this iPhone timelapse of the base of the thunderstorm rotating right next to us!
Secceda’s epic ridge line at sunset.
After descending from Seceda, the main highlight of the trip was the 4 days we would be spending at the incredible ‘Tre Cime di Lavaredo’.
The sharp peaks of the Cadini floating in the clouds.
Awesome warm glow before sunrise near Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
Alpen glow hitting the Tre Cime before sunrise as the stars fade into the dawn.
What a view! Amazing colors before sunrise at Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
The ‘Laghi del Piani’ near Monte Paterno before sunrise.
Reflections in a mountain lake.
The Milkyway over the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
We left Tre Cime super happy with what we had seen and captured, We managed to shoot 4 great sunsets and sunrises, and also shot the Milkyway and starry skies every single night! Our last stop was Passo Rolle, and although the sunset was terrible due to being completely covered with clouds, the sunrise was just Insane! Can you believe the difference a couple of hours can make?!
Completed fogged up! A Rifugio (Less than 50 meters away) is barely visible and the mountain peaks are non existent.
Fast forward 11 hours….. What a sunrise! We really lucked out on our last sunrise of the trip!
I think the Dolomites are one of the most under rated locations for landscape photography, there is a huge number of stunning locations and loads of compositions to shoot. Needless to say, I will definetely be heading back to explore more of the Dolomites and will even be running photography workshops to the Dolomites! If you are interested, just follow this link.
If you are not familiar with Fred’s work, check out his website www.fredrickmuscat.com as he has some absolutely amazing images!
I cant wait to go back to this magical place!