Dolomites
A photography workshop in the magnificent Italian Alps
I’ve always brought my camera along on my hikes. I love capturing landscapes and mountains, and it’d be incredibly frustrating to witness an amazing view and not be able to take it home with me. I’ve always enjoyed revisiting those photos and sharing them with the people close to me, but they never quite looked like the work I kept seeing from the talented landscape photographers I follow on Instagram and YouTube.
I had a few ideas why, but I decided it was finally time to join a photography workshop and learn directly from someone who really knows their craft. I’ve been following Andrea on YouTube for a while now. I love his work, I enjoy the way he teaches, and the amount of knowledge he shares online had already convinced me I’d get a lot out of learning from him in person. On top of that, he had a workshop coming up in one of my favourite places on earth, the Dolomites. How could I possibly resist?
And what a week it turned out to be. Andrea and Sabrina had put together a route through some of the most iconic spots the Dolomites have to offer:
- Tre Cime di Lavaredo
- Cadini di Misurina
- Lago Federa and the Croda da Lago
- Lago di Braies
- Passo Giau
- Cinque Torri
- Alpe di Siusi
- Passo Falzarego and Lago di Limedes
As if that was not enough, they pulled a lovely surprise out of their hat and managed to book us a night at the incredible Rifugio Lagazuoi, perched high up with a view that genuinely takes your breath away.
Our days followed the rhythm of the light. Early starts to catch the blue hour at sunrise, late evenings for the golden hour at sunset, those two magical windows when the sun sits low or just below the horizon, the shadows carve beautiful structure into the rock, and the colour temperature does half the work for you. The weather, sadly, didn’t always play along. Clouds and rain stole quite a few of those moments, but I honestly didn’t mind too much. I’m always happy in the mountains, the group was wonderful company, and I still learned a huge amount, both out in the field and during our editing sessions, where Andrea shared a treasure trove of tips to level up my work in Lightroom and Photoshop.
A few things really stuck with me from Andrea’s teaching during the week:
- Time of day matters. Sunrise and sunset are when the most iconic shots are easiest to capture. Not a strict rule, but your odds go up dramatically.
- Since it is all about how the light hits your subject, certain spots only really sing at a specific time of day. Doing your research beforehand makes a massive difference.
- Nailing the ideal shot means being at the exact right place at the exact right moment. That’s hard to combine with hiking, so you often have to choose between chasing the picture and enjoying the walk.
- Weather is everything. You want clear visibility, beautiful light, and a few clouds in the sky, ideally not between you and your subject. The exception is when everything is socked in and your subject pops out of the clouds. That’s when you get a real banger.
- Editing won’t save a bad photo, but great editing is a big part of what separates an amateur shot from a professional one.
All in all, I loved this workshop. Being in the Dolomites with a friendly group, a perfectly organised week, and plenty of opportunities to push my landscape photography forward was exactly what I needed. If you’re thinking about a photography workshop, I can’t recommend Andrea and Sabrina enough. You can find Andrea’s work and their upcoming workshops through the links just below.