Documenting the Dolomites
Stefano Perrone was born in 1978 in Italy and is a researcher, now based in The Maldives, specialising in Natural Sciences and Astronomy, or more precisely, Cosmology. Fuelled by a lifelong love of nature, Stefano soon found his second passion in life; photography. Absolute Sussex are proud to bring you the works of Stefano and Matteo Parozzi, produced during a fascinating journey towards the peak of the Dolomites in Northeastern Italy. Here we hear, in his own words, how his journey began and what went on behind the scenes of these captivating images.
“This photographic journey was formed by some very intense days as we travelled between lakes, mountains, snow and waterfalls. On the first day we arrived at Lake Misurina where we immediately took some shots before moving to the nearby Lake Antorno; a small frozen lake situated at an altitude of 2000m. Using a drone, we were able to take some great shots, making it fly on the ice. It was quite possibly one of the best astrophotography sessions I’ve ever conducted, with the magnificent Milky Way rising from the mountains just behind the lake. I thoroughly recommend this location.
Another not-to-be-missed stop is Lake Braies; the characteristics of the colour of the water, the pines that surround it and the wooden rowboats make it particularly suitable for shooting and photography and it is a popular destination for tourists.
On the third day we got up even further in altitude, taking the cable car to reach Rifugio Lagazuoi at 2750m. Going through the shelter, you can reach a ridge that for most of the year is covered with snow and allows you to have a perfect overview of all the surrounding mountain ranges. Here we seized the opportunity to shoot with the drone, widely exceeded 3000 meters in height.
On the fourth day we moved to the area of Alta Badia. Here you’ll find a perfect location for photography around every corner. It is probably the most beautiful area of the Dolomites, photographically speaking. Finally, the day ended by filming the spectacular sunset from the Gardena Pass.
The fifth day was dedicated to two breathtaking locations. The first was the Fanes Waterfalls. Leaving the car at the roadside, you enter the woods and immediately a natural photo set opens up. We had a great deal of fun using a wide exposure here. The second was Passo Giau. In the afternoon we went up to the refuge of the pass (2200 m) where we slept. Going up to the small promontory nearby, you can watch a spectacular sunset and we were able to recharge the batteries of all our equipment. Finally, as the day drew to an end, we set our alarms to 02:00 at night and went into the snow not far from the shelter to photograph the Milky Way, when light pollution is reduced to an absolute minimum. The natural light show that we found ourselves in front of simply cannot be explained. We counted more than 50 shooting stars in 2 hours and we all agreed this is definitely one of the most spectacular locations in the world for photography!
Photography Equipment Used:
Drone DJI Mavic Air Pro2
Pentax K1MK2
Irix 15mm.f2.4
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