Rain-dampened wildflowers line a lonely mountain road in the Apuane Alps in Tuscany, Italy.

Having reached the summit of Monte Altissimo the day before, we were tired as we drove to the start of our next hike in the Apuane Alps of northern Tuscany. While we managed the summit of one particularly tall mountain the day before, this day we were planning on getting to the top of three slightly shorter peaks before the sun set. The weather wasn't favourable, and the rain and fog combined with achy legs resulting in a rather quiet drive to the staging point.

Halfway there, I noticed that we were driving through some really lovely country lanes. Snapping out of my 'just get there' mindset. I stopped the car and reversed several hundred metres muttering something to my companions about 'time to take a photo'. A few seconds of creative reversing and I had the framing I wanted. I hopped out of the car with my trusty Sony point and shoot camera, but after taking a few with it, I realized that the scene deserved some time with my main camera. This is the result.

Since out trips are usually tightly organized so that we can see and do as much as possible, we tend to miss out some of the lovely sights along the way. I really appreciated stopping here for a few minutes, not only to take a quick photo but also to smell and hear the rain (that we had been cursing earlier) patter euphoniously on the foliage all about us.

Apuan Alps, Tuscany, Italy, 2014

Sony a7R with Zeiss FE 35mm f/2.8

Tags:   square camera:sony_a7r italy alpi apuane Alpi Apuane Apuane Alps alps lane wildflowers flowers foliage green small road

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As dusk settled over the Italian Alps, the clouds winged their way south where the sun had set, leaving behind a clear night and a flurry of stars.

This photo is a great reason to have a camera with you at all times. We'd spent the day driving up to the Dolomites from Lake Garda. This involved a multi-hour drive and then the scenic meander through the Dolomites from Bolzano to Cortina D'Ampezzo, probably the best scenic drive I've done. The day culminated with us watching the sun's waning light slipping down the face of Tre Cime which was another sight I won't soon forget.

By the time we started thinking of dinner it was late and there was only one place serving food in the sleeping town of Misurina. After dropping off our camera and hiking gear we dragged our sore and tired bodies over to a nearby pizzeria.

As we waited for our orders to arrive I happened to look out the window and saw this scene unfolding over Lake Misurina. The clouds that had provided us with character during the sunset were slowly dispersing and scudding away to leave a clear night's sky. One cloud in particular was forming a very nice compositional shape and I had a few minutes to take the shot.

I didn't have time or energy -- not to mention the indecency to keep my travel mates waiting for me at dinner -- to run back to the hotel and get my 'real' camera and tripod but luckily had my trusty Sony RX100 point and shoot with me. A short walk outside, some inventive balancing of the camera on the floor and this image is the result.

Misurina, Italy, 2014

Sony RX100

Tags:   square italy dolomiti dolomites alps misurina lake reflections waterscape clouds dusk twilight reflection camera:sony_rx100

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A small pier reaches toward the last remains of a cloud-muted sunset.

It had been a rather cloudy evening and so not terribly conducive to photography. We decied to wait for dark to descend when we could shoot the cliff-perched town of Maranola as the town lights flickered on.

While waiting for darkness to descend we split up and wandered around the waterfront. A 10 minute walk from the town we found this pier that seemed to read out towards the distant horizon.

Maranola, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy, 2014

Sony a7R with Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L + 6-stop ND

Tags:   italy reach maranola longexposure square Cinque Terre ndfilter f:ultrawide camera:sony_a7r

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In the middle of an ancient forest, a small stream steals its way from a sunlit glade and into a shadowy pond.

It wasn't the best day that we had in the Alpi Apuane park in Northern Italy. The day before was spectacular and the hike to the summit of Monte Altissimo was brilliant but this day was foggy and cloudy and even though we made it to another summit we could barely see each other in the mist.

We decided that our best bet to salvage the day with a good photo would be to shoot something close range where the fog would not affect composition. We decided that we'd get to a stream somewhere.

Despite being in the mountains, it wasn't terribly easy to find a stream when you can't see very far. With a combination of looking at maps and our GPS we found this nondescript stream in the middle of nowhere which I thought was worthy of a photo. It's not the biggest waterfall and you could probably walk right past it, but the adventure of finding it makes the photo special, at least to me.

This is a panorama of two vertical frames shot on a tripod. It was very dark here so I managed to get motion in the water without needing an ND filter.

Alpi Apuane, Italy, 2014

Sony a7R with Zeiss FE 55mm f/1.8

Tags:   italy waterfall longexposure foliage trees forest green square camera:sony_a7r alpi apuane Alpi Apuane pond stream Apuane Alps alps

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A stormy horizon breaks momentarily to allow sunset colours to wash over the summit of Monte Stino.

We hadn't had very good weather while we were touring around the Lakes of Northern Italy and this day was the best of the bunch. While waiting at water level on the South side of Lago Idro, we spotted some transmission towers that seemed to be in the light and have a good view of the lake. A quick look at the hiking book and we discovered that this was Monte Stino, the very peak we had attempted to make the previous day (from a different direction) in a heavy downpour.

We took the lazy way up to Monte Stino since there was no way we'd make the hike in time for sunset. A rubbly road with a penchant for switchbacks got us close to the summit and the rest we made on foot. The views from the summit itself looking down over Idro were stunning, and the history of how this spot was used during World War II made the spot come to life. Sadly, the weather wasn't as good as we'd hoped and the lake itself was in deep shadow.

Thankfully, as I was wandering about just East of the summit the clouds only cleared up and this small puddle of snowmelt was nearby to provide something of interest in the foreground.

I took this photo while lying prone on the grass by this small pond. The pond was full of flying insects that got into my bag and ears and made waiting for the sun to poke through rather unpleasant. In order to include the entire pond, I shot 3 vertical frames with a 14mm lens to get this panorama which covers a horizontal FOV of around 160 degrees.

Monte Stino, by Lago Idro, Lombary, Italy

Sony a7R with Samyang 14mm f/2.8 UMC

Tags:   reflection sunset italy Ladgo Idro lake lago idro monte stino Monte Stino puddle camera:sony_a7r f:ultrawide panorama lombardy pond

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