Rifugio Lagazuoi, situated high up in the Belluno Dolomites, is a mecca for fellow landscape photographers and tourists who visit the Dolomites. We arrived at the cable car station with plenty of time before sunset. As we were sleeping over for sunrise, it also left us plenty of time to enjoy the breathtaking scenery, which is so iconic in this part of the Italian Dolomites. Although it was the beginning of Spring, freezing temperatures and strong winds kept the temperatures feeling as if we were still in the middle of winter.
In this shot, the world-famous Cinque Torri is illuminated by the last rays of sunshine and stands out from the already darkening valleys. These are a small mountain range belonging to the Nuvolau group (which culminates at 2,647 m on Monte Averau) within the Dolomiti Ampezzane in the Northern Dolomites. Like most mountain formations in the area, the Cinque Torri is also formed of Dolomite, characterized by the peculiar light grey colour that distinguishes them and is formed by five spurs from which it derives its name; the maximum altitude is 2,361 metres on the Torre Grande.
Behind the Cinque Torri, one can see the Croda da Lago mountain range, also catching the last rays of light just east of the Giau Pass and featuring some of the most spectacular peaks in this area.
I love the Dolomites, and living not too far away has enabled me to get to know most areas very well and is reachable in a short space of time. However, it is an extremely popular area with locals, Italians and many foreigners. With this said, for landscape photographers like myself, I would strongly advise visiting the Dolomites out of season, mainly to avoid the Italian and European summer holiday season, as crowding at iconic places has almost become impossible to deal with the chance of getting good clean shots diminishes.
I used my tripod for this shot as the wind was very strong, and I also used a polarizing filter.
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