The Dolomites, one of the most fascinating places in the world among mountain and landscape photography lovers, offer unique scenery every season. During this month, the landscape will be enriched by colourful flowers, which will cover our foregrounds.
In this photo tour we decided to give you a unique photo adventure experience in the most beautiful locations in the Dolomites.
What can you expect from this photo tour?
Come join us for an exciting summer adventure in the Dolomites. Improve your photography skills with our landscape photo tour, designed to enhance your photos and create lasting memories.
We will make stops at some of the most beautiful locations, staying in multiple strategically located hotels.
We will experience sunrises and sunsets in summer colors and a Milky Way that stands out among the beautiful mountains.
In this period, we will be surrounded by flowers and colorful scenery, we will spend a week immersed in the nature of these fantastic mountains unique in the world.
During this photo tour we will visit iconic spots such as the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Cadini di Misurina, Pale di San Martino, Lago di Braies, Lago di Antorno, lago di Misurina , Lago di Carezza, Passo Falzarego, Passo Giau, Passo Rolle, Passo Gardena and some other hidden gems.
Who is the Dolomites Photo Tour for?
Our Dolomites Photo Tour is designed for landscape photography lovers who want to immerse themselves in the breathtaking beauty of these mountains.
All we ask of you is that you have a passion for photography and a willingness to share this experience with a small group of likeminded people.
Our goal is simple: we want you to go home with great photos, a deeper knowledge of landscape photography and nightscape photography, and incredible memories. We’re here to help you enhance your photography skills and in addition to in-field tutoring, we’ll cover both theory and practical aspects throughout the week, including post-processing classes where we’ll work on the images we’ve captured together.
Dolomites Photo Tour Itinerary
Note: the program may change depending on the weather. We are flexible and will adapt to any situation in order to give you the best possible experience.
The meeting points is: Venice airport (Marco Polo), not after 11am on July 6th
On the 11th in the morning we will bring the group back to the Venice airport (Marco Polo)
Please the departure from Venice on July 11th no earlier than 3pm.
Day 1 – Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Drei Zinnen) and Cadini di Misurina
Meeting point at Venice airport (Marco Polo airport) by 11am.
After the presentation and an introduction of what we will experience during the week, we will leave to reach our first hotel near Tre Cime di Lavaredo in about 3 hours.
After checking in, we will relax and prepare our things for the first sunset and night shooting session.
We will leave in our van to reach the parking lot in front of the Auronzo hut, from here we will walk to the best spots for both sunset and night photography sessions.
Sunset spot: in front of a lake where the red-lit Three Peaks of Lavaredo are reflected.
Night session spot: we will photograph the core of the Milky Way above the famous Cadini di Misurina
After the night shooting session we will return to rest in the hotel.
Day 2 – Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Drei Zinnen)
The next day, after breakfast in the hotel, we take the morning of this day off.
At 2pm we leave to reach the parking lot from the day before in front of the Auronzo hut and start walking to the Locatelli hut.
The walk is about two hours, but you will not get bored, the view is fantastic and we will stop several times to take beautiful photos.
We will arrive at the Locatelli hut where the scenery is truly incredible, we will be surrounded by mountains, lakes and caves.
During the afternoon we will relax and enjoy the landscape looking for the spots where we will do the photo session during the sunset.
Sunset spots: Around the Locatelli hut, among flowers, caves and lakes.
After dinner in the Locatelli hut we will prepare for the night session, we will find the Milky Way above the famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo and at 10:30pm we will start shooting in this playground for landscape photographers.
Night session spots: Around the Locatelli hut, among flowers, caves and lakes.
After the shooting session we will go back to the hotel to sleep.
Day 3 – Passo Giau / Passo Gardena
After breakfast in the hotel, we take half morning of this day off.
At 11am we leave to reach our new hotel in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
During the afternoon we will have our first photo session in front of the computer.
Sunset spots: At the Giau Pass among flowers, lakes and mountains.
Night session spots: Either at the Passo Giau or the Passo Gardena, where the sky will be better to catch the Milky Way.
After the shooting session we will go back to the hotel to sleep.
Day 4 – Braies Lake
After breakfast we will leave by van and in about 1 hour and 20 minutes we will be at the most famous lake of all the Dolomites, that of Braies.
During the afternoon we will have onother photo session in front of the computer.
Sunset spot: Lago di Braies
After sunset we will have dinner at a restaurant in San Martino di Castrozza.
Night session spot: Lago di Braies
We will photograph the core of the Milky Way reflected in the blue water of the lake.
After the shooting session we will go back to the hotel to sleep.
Day 5 – Pale di San Martino, Passo Rolle
After breakfast we prepare our things and we will leave to reach San Martino di Castrozza in about 3 hours by van.
Along the way we will stop at the beautiful lago di Carezza and in another secret spot, where a river flows from a peak mountain creating various waterfalls.
Then we will reach the Passo Rolle, where we will stay the next night.
For the sunset we will drive to another of the most beautiful places in the Dolomites, the Pale di San Martino in front of the Segantini hut.
Sunset spot: Pale di San Martino, among flowers, lakes and rough mountains.
We will be in front of one of the most fascinating mountains of the Dolomites, the Cimon della Pala.
In this month we will find the Milky Way above the mountains as soon as it gets dark. We will have fun playing with lots of colorful flowers to put in our foregrounds.
Night session spot: Pale di San Martino, among flowers, lakes and rough mountains.
Here we will face the sunset and the night session, in between the two a dinner at a restaurant cannot be missed!
Day 6
After a rich breakfast our adventure will have come to an end.
We leave by van to reach the airport (Marco Polo airport, Venice).
Additional information
First 2 nights: hotel near Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Third night: hotel located in Cortina d’Ampezzo
Fourth night: hotel near Braies lake
Fifth night: hotel located in San Martino di Castrozza (near Passo Rolle)
The schedule will be optimized according to the weather to give you the best experience. If the sky is clear we will photograph the Milky Way in incredible scenery and rest in the morning. However, when the sky is cloudy at night we will go to sleep earlier and wake up to capture the colors of the sunrise.
- On the first day will face a hike of about 45 minutes to reach the planned spot at sunset.
Same 45 minutes to return to the parking lot. After having a picnic dinner (bought before in a supermarket), in another 30 minutes walk we will reach our spot where we will face the night photography session. - On the second day we will have to walk to the Locatelli refuge (about 2 hours), the path will be easy and with incredible views, you will not be bored. We will stop several times to photograph. Here you need to organize your backpack because we will return to the parking lot only after the night photo session. Two hours hike out and two hours hike back to the parking lot. We will have dinner at the Locatelli hut restaurant (not included in the price) before the sunset photo session. In the Locatelli refuge they do not accept cards, only cash and there will be no Wi-Fi and the cell phone will probably not work.
- The remaining days we will have dinners in restaurants (not included in the price) we will take care of booking for the group.
- Some lunches may be packed, to better optimize our photographic program.
- The purpose of the trip is to improve photographic skills and take beautiful landscape photos but there will also be moments of relaxation.
- During the photo tour we will do several sessions of theory, practice and photographic technique. We will see and apply all the techniques studied in the field and we will analyze the shots obtained.
What will you learn on this photo tour?
Between amazing sceneries, good photography and a lot of fun, we hope to give you an experience and adventure that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.
We don’t just want to give you an experience, though. We want to make sure you’re excited about the photographs you’ve captured on our various sessions.
In addition to teaching photographic theories and techniques, we want to convey our passion and make you feel those emotions that being out in nature with a camera can give.
You will learn…
- Better manage your photographic equipment in easy and difficult situations
- Plan the shot through the use of apps and websites
- Read the histogram, both during shooting and in post-processing
- Compositional rules and the fundamentals to create impactful images
- How to use filters
- Manage various kind of lights, at sunset, sunrise and long exposures
- Choosing the right white balance
- Focus and hyperfocal distance
- The importance of the aperture
- The right shooting settings based on the scene, ISO, aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation
- Masks and layers
- Dodge and burn
- Choice of color profiles (sRGB, Adobe RGB, Pro photo RGB)
- Use the tracker to get the best detail of the Milky Way and less digital noise. From the pointing phase of the Polaris to the shooting phase
- Recognize the night sky without using apps
- Many shooting techniques that will allow you to take home some “wow” photos, including focus stacking, mean stacking, perspective blend, multi exposure, focal blend, time blend
- Panoramic photography, day and night, from the arrangement of the equipment, to the merging of the shots in post production
- How to get details of the Milky Way, from the shooting phase to the edit
- Milky Way Color Processing
- Tips and tricks that pertain to our specific workflow.
Tour leader
Giulio Cobianchi is a professional landscape photographer, expert and specialized in night photography with 10 years of experience. Aurora and Milky Way are his great passions. Being an outdoor enthusiast, since he was a child he loved immersing himself in the beauties of these mountains. The Dolomites are his photographic cradle, where he took his first photos. With him, you will be in the right place at the right time!
Participation
In order to offer the best quality, the maximum of attendees has been limited, so that we can follow each participant closely and in the best way possible.
A minimum is also been set for the tour to be confirmed.
Minimum: 4 participants
Maximum: 7 participants
Difficulty: Easy / Medium
Payment
To reserve your seat, you can pay a deposit at the moment of the booking and the remaining part within 30 days before departure.
Total cost: 2390€
Deposit: 500€
Tour dates: July 6th – 11th, 2024
Single room supplement: 800€
The cost include
- A professional photographers who will teach you his special personal techniques
- All the accomodations in private double rooms in hotels (private single room available by booking at the time of photo tour registration and paying the supplement of 800 euros at the balance)
- All breakfasts
- All transfers by van
- Fuel
- Tolling of private roads / parking lots and any lifts used to reach spots
- Transport to and from the airport
- Support Whatsapp private group
- Photo editing lessons with registrations
The cost doesn’t include
- International flights
- Lunches and drinks (which will sometimes be packed)
- Medical health insurance
- Theft / damage insurance
- Everything that is not included in the item “The fee includes”
F.A.Q.
How can I reach the meeting point?
The meeting point is: Venice airport (Marco Polo airport) not after 11am on July 6th
On the 11th in the morning we will bring the group back to the same airport.
Please the departure from Venice on July 11th no earlier than 3pm.
You can reach the Venice airport by plane, if you want to spend a night in Venice and you need advice on where to stay feel free to ask us.
If you are staying in one of the hotels near the airport, we can pick you up directly there.
What level of photography is required?
All of ours tours and workshops are open to beginners as well as professionals.
It’s only required that you know the menu of your own camera.
We just require a lot of passion for day and night photography and motivation to be out there every day at the right times to capture great photographs.
What physical level is required?
No particular level of preparation is required, the paths to be done on foot will be quite easy.
Only one, the longest, the one that starts from the Auronzo hut where we park our van and goes to the Locatelli hut where there are the most beautiful spots, about 2 hours, may not be easy for everyone. The trail is wide and there are never any exposed or dangerous sections. (We will do it the second day).
What kind of weather should I expect?
The weather in the Dolomites can be unpredictable, but on average this month you can find 25/30 grandees during the hot hours and temperatures will drop close to zero during the shooting sessions at the Milky Way. Thunderstorms are frequent during the summer, even during the beautiful days, especially in the afternoon.
Documents and currency
- Passport/ identity card valid for travel broad
- The country’s currency is the Euro
- Visa/MasterCard credit card are accepted (you may have some problems with American Express)
- You can withdraw Euro in every ATM with a debit card
- Some shelters do not accept cards and it is better to have cash
What camera gear should I bring?
- A digital camera
- A stable tripod
- A remote control that allows you to take photos with exposure over 30 seconds
- A bright wide angle lens (f2.8 possibly) for example a 14-24 or a 15-30. Paired with a 24-70 or a 24-120 would be perfect.
- Photo filters (optional) GND, ND, polarizer.
- Astro tracker (optional)
Feel free to ask for advice regarding the equipment.
Tip: Extra batteries, as the batteries run out quickly in cold weather. Various lens cleaning cloths.
What clothes should I bring?
The weather in the Dolomites can be unpredictable, but on average this month you can find 25/30 grandees during the hot hours and temperatures close to freezing during the shooting sessions at the Milky Way.
We recommend that you dress lightly during the day, especially when we will face the hikes but, have thermal and padded clothes with you to wear after the sunset.
Thermal socks, waterproof boots and a waterproof and windproof outer shell are recommended.
For people who suffer from the cold we also recommend a hat and gloves.
The paths will be gravel and rocky, therefore slippery, so we recommend shoes or boots with a good grip.
How should I manage my suitcases?
Each participant can bring a suitcase and a photographic backpack.
This is to optimize the space in our van while traveling between the various places and from the Venice airport to the Dolomites / from the Dolomites to Venice.
How should I organize the backpack and the various things to carry around?
Only the first two days we need to organize our backpacks to best optimize the photographic program.
The first day we will reach the Auronzo refuge by van and from the parking lot we will start walking for the sunset photo session. In 40 minutes we will reach our spot. After at the sunset session we will have a picnic dinner and get ready for the session.
Before leaving our hotel for the achievement of the best photographic spots we will organize the backpacks together.
On this day It is important to have:
- Mirrorless or reflex
- Bright wide angle lens (for example a 14-24 f2.8 or a 16-35 f2.8)
- Tripod
- Remote control shutter to be able to exceed 30 sec of exposure
- Headlamp
- Warm clothes to face the night photo session
- Water
- Sandwiches and some snacks (we will stop at the market before going up to the Three Peaks)
On the second day we will leave on foot from the same parking lot to reach the Locatelli refuge (the longest hike)
On this day It is important to have:
- Mirrorless or reflex
- Bright wide angle lens (for example a 14-24 f2.8 or a 16-35 f2.8) and a medio tele lens (for example a 24-120 or a 70-200)
- Remote control shutter to be able to exceed 30 sec of exposure
- Headlamp
- Warm clothes to face the night photo session
- Water
- Some snacks (after breakfast we will stop at a market before reaching the tre Cime di Lavaredo.
The following days we will always be close to our van and have dinner at restaurant, no need to organize backpacks.
