The Italian Dolomites

The Ital­ian Dolomites are a dra­mat­ic moun­tain range in north-east­ern Italy cov­er­ing an area of almost 16,000 km², the high­est moun­tain of which Mar­mo­la­da, reach­es an alti­tude over 3,343 meters. It has been des­ig­nat­ed as a UNESCO World Her­itage Site. The lime­stone jagged tow­ers rise almost ver­ti­cal­ly from the lush val­ley floors in which nes­tle many beau­ti­ful vil­lages with tra­di­tion­al moun­tain cab­ins, hotels and church­es which are often perched on steep val­ley slopes. Many of the upper moun­tain areas are made acces­si­ble by mag­nif­i­cent moun­tain pass­es which take you high onto the upper val­leys and close to the white moun­tains themselves.

As we are vis­it­ing, autumn is start­ing to set in and the trees, specif­i­cal­ly Larch, are start­ing to turn colour and the sun is becom­ing low­er in the sky chang­ing con­stant­ly through­out the day cast­ing long shad­ows into the val­leys below and light­ing up the moun­tains spires with warm sunlight.

Along with the clas­sic view­points in the Dolomites, we will take you through val­leys and into some of the less vis­it­ed areas and expe­ri­ence the mir­ror-like alpine lakes and autum­nal wood­lands which are always sur­round­ed by the grandeur of the sur­round­ing peaks.

To get the most of the light and loca­tions we will be based in two loca­tions. Fur­ther west we will be stay­ing close to the amaz­ing areas of Carez­za , Val di Funes, St Mag­dale­na and the stun­ning Alpe Di Siusi which we will access via cable car. Fur­ther east we will be stay­ing with­in easy access to the amaz­ing Val Gar­de­na, Sas­sol­un­go, Sece­da and Odle Geisler Peaks. In the East we will be based in Corti­na d’Am­pez­zo where we head over the moun­tain pass­es to Tre Cime di Lavara­do, Lago di Braies, Cinque Tor­ri and the Pas­so Giau.

Whilst the grandeur of the Dolomites is ever present trav­el­ling through the val­leys and stand­ing on the banks of the many lakes, the true essence of this moun­tain­ous land­scape comes into its own from the tops. Don’t wor­ry as we are not going to be expect­ing you to scale the sum­mits on foot, but we will be tak­ing you via cable car, if the con­di­tions allow, to wit­ness this for your­self. We will take you up on the Sass Por­doi to a height of 2240 (7349ft) in the Canezi area to the west of the Dolomites, and also to the thrilling heights of the Mount Lagazuoi from the top of Falzarego Pass at a height of 2732 (8963ft) above Corti­na d’Ampezzo in the east.

Paul Gal­lagher and Michael Pilk­ing­ton will be your lead­ers for this pho­tog­ra­phy work­shop and the Dolomites is an area they love to pho­to­graph them­selves and they will be on hand to make sure you make the most of your pho­tog­ra­phy dur­ing your time here. They want you to be cre­ative and cer­tain­ly to find your indi­vid­u­al­i­ty whilst in the Dolomites. When­ev­er pho­tog­ra­phers share their work in a group it is always fas­ci­nat­ing how every­one as seen the same places in a very dif­fer­ent way and that is what we will want to explore with you. We will encour­age you to take your time and allow your­self to soak up the expe­ri­ence and make images that mean some­thing to you.

This pho­tog­ra­phy work­shop has been designed to be one of the most inspir­ing moun­tain pho­tog­ra­phy expe­ri­ences and adven­tures at a stun­ning time of year, the mem­o­ries of which will stay with you for many years to come!