Sailing boats glide about under a cloudy sky off the coast of Amalfi in Italy.

Amalfi, Italy, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS

Tags:   Amalfi Italy ITA Amalfi Coast boats sailing minimalist sea summer SixteenByNine camera:canon_5d2

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What remains of a 16th century coastal lookout tower dominates the highest point of this Sardinian coast just West of Alghero.

During our week long trip around Sardinia, we'd seen small defensive towers all along the coastline. At the end of the trip, while driving around Capo Caccia heading to Cala D'Inferno (a dramatic cove) we spotted this tower at what appeared to be the highest and most remote point along the cliff.

After seeing the cove, we decided to simply continue along the coast until we reached the tower. Given that there were no high trees and all we had to do was follow the edge of the cliff it should have been an easy trip. We were wrong! The short bushes that carpet the cliffs in this region are sharp and stiff and being waist height meant that wading through them was a painful necessity due to the lack of paths. Given that I was only wearing shorts and trainers (the walk to the cove was easy) this soon turned into a bloody affair. To make matters worse, we were turned around a few times and so by the time we were back on track the sun had already set and we had to turn back.

The next day we canceled our prior plans and decided to try and reach this unnamed tower again. This time I wore appropriate clothing and paid attention with the navigation. It still took us longer than we'd expected and since we ended up being there near sunset we decided that we may as well wait for the day to end before making the trip back in the dark. The views we got as the sun took the sky through the different shades of sunset was worth the difficult trek back down in the dark.

Sassania, Sardinia, Italy, 2012

Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Canon 17-40mm f/4L

Tags:   italy sardinia island coast tower defense cliffs sea sunset hike genoan history panorama f:ultrawide SixteenByNine camera:canon_5d2

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The south-western view of Tre Cime reflected in Lago Antorno under a windswept night's sky.

We'd spent the bulk of the day hiking around Tre Cime in the Italian Dolomites. The heavy snowfall of the winter of 2013/2014 meant that even on the last day of May the majority of the path was invisible under a metre of snow and so much of the hike was made knee deep in snow along steep ridges relying on GPS tracks. We hadn't planned on making the full round trip due to the weather, but the views were so enticing that we risked it, despite only carrying food for breakfast.

At the far end of the hike in the early afternoon and with our breakfast eaten hours ago, we dug into our emergency food (i.e. Snickers!) hoping it would sustains us for the hike back which we agreed would need to be fast with no photo stops. What we didn't plan for, however, was the weather improving on the way back which meant that by the time we got back to our car the sun had set and we were cold, wet and in possession of some awesome photos.

After a warm shower and big meal, everyone went back to our hotel to bed. I made the mistake of looking out of the window to see a clear night sky and knew that I would need to head back out into the cold. The others were too tired and cozy in their beds to head back out, so I popped on my wet socks and shoes and head back up. This effort was rewarded by this view shortly after midnight.

Lago Atorno, Italian Dolomites, Tyrol, Italy, 2014

Sony a7r with Sigma 35mm f/1.4mm Art

Tags:   italy night astrophotography mountain tre cime Lago Antorno reflection lake stars antorno dolomites dolomiti camera:sony_a7r f:wide panorama square

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Across the Ligurian Sea, Monterosso glows under a starry sky.

After dinner at Vernazza, we killed some time waiting for our train back to Levanto by taking some nightscapes. This one is a stitch of two vertical long exposure photos taken at 14mm.

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy, 2014

Sony a7R with Samyang 14mm f/2.8

Tags:   monterosso night stars italy cinque terre Cinque Terre cliff coast seascape ocean camera:sony_a7r f:ultrawide square

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A characterful Amalfi Coast church overlooks the view towards Capri through the hazy afternoon air.

Even though the weather on our hike out from Positano wasn't ideal, the views were still spectacular. The coastline along the southern coast of the peninsula is extremely steep and rugged and driving along it is a series of frighteningly tight bends filled with reckless drivers. Hiking is a far less dangerous and peaceful way to enjoy the stunning views.

Amalfi Coast, Italy, 2010

Canon EOS 5D Mark II with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS

Tags:   italy amalfi coast church peninsula coastal cliffs hazy capri f:long seascape mediterranean SixteenByNine camera:canon_5d2

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