Three Weeks in the Dolomites
- Mike Page
- Nov 15
- 14 min read
There's something about the Dolomites that just won't let me go. The inaccessible-looking high craggy peaks that exude drama, especially when the weather matches their energy, are a photographer's dream. Many of the spots haunt me, compelling me to return again and again in order to capture the perfect image. Nowhere else on earth has had the same effect on me and it is a rare privelege to be able to share this passion with others, whether in person or here through these photos.
This autumn I was fortunate to spend a total of three weeks in these mountains; two weeks with Sharon and friends in September for the north-south transit Alta Via 1 and one week in October running my first guided tour/workshop with my good friend Matthias Tannert. Previously, our trips have mostly involved visiting the mountains during the day and staying in one of the valleys overnight. This year we had many nights up high in the mountains in Rifugios or hotels, giving us access to some fantastic dawn and dusk scenery.
The scenery in the Dolomites is dramatic and you'd think that this would be enough on its own to serve as the basis for some great images, but paradoxically the mountains tend to fall flat if the weather doesn't play along. We had a lot of really good hiking weather during the time that we were there, but that also involved a lot of blue-sky days, making capturing commanding images quite a challenge. Fortunately we were able to overcome this by using the pre-dawn and post-sunset light to good effect. With sunrise and sunset at sensible hours, especially in the middle of October (07:30 and 18:30 respectively), this wasn't as difficult as it could have been, though days involving an hour's hike to the spot before the sun came up required discipline.
In the end, I've come away with a set of images that I'm really quite pleased with, especially when I compare them with images taken under similar conditions only two years ago when I spent time at the Seiser Alm and in Ortisei. A number of the images have made it to my recently updated portfolio pages and are available for purchase.
Alta Via 1
Alta Via 1 is a long-distance hiking trail running from Lago di Braies in the north to just above Belluno in the south. The trail is approx. 120 km long and involves a combined ascent of 6300 m, and we completed it in 11 (10½) days. Whilst significantly shorter than last year's TMB, it is technically more challenging with exposed passages, occasional scrambles and narrow paths.
There were many discussions with others en route about the merits of both tours. For me, AV1 wins in all the metrics bar perhaps 1; picturesque scenery, excellent accomodation, interesting routes, fewer people and more wildlife. Only when it comes to the physical challenge does the TMB trump the Dolomites. One of the southern-hemisphere groups that we were chatting with (I forget whether they were South African or Australian) stated that they preferred the scenery of the Mont Blanc Massif due to the prevalence of ice and snow-caps, which I guess can be impressive if you're not used to seeing them, but when it comes to pure majesty, the Dolomites are the mountains that capture my heart every time.
Unlike last year, when we arrived the afternoon before we started the tour allowing ourselves little time to find our (hiking) feet, this year we gave ourselves a couple of days to adjust to the altitude and terrain by arriving early in Cortina and doing a couple of preparation tours. I've been wanting to visit Lake Sorapis for a while now and so we used the first day to tackle the route up there from Passo Tre Croci. I'm glad we did because when we took the group up there a month later (a) I didn't reach the lake because two members of the group were unable to complete the tour (actually a good thing as you'll see later), and (b) most of the water had gone. Sorapis is a seasonal lake and tends to empty out later in the year leaving a clay morass, but at the beginning of September it was shining in all its glory.
Two days later saw us taking a shuttle bus to Lago di Braies (how I despise what this spot has become) and the first leg of our 11-day tour up to Rifugio Biela, first stop of the tour.
Inspired by a recent project for my MA Photography programme, I documented the tour on my Instagram feed with a simple photo out of the front door every morning, showing the changing architecture and scenery. One of the things that I noticed from my TMB photos is that I don't have many to remind me of where we stayed, they were all about the views and scenery. This time I made a concerted effort to document more of the experience and ambience. They certainly aren't the shots that I will be hanging on the wall at the end of the day, but they made for an interesting documentation of the journey, whether it's the B&B we took in Cortina on day one, or the dramatic view from Rifugio Coldai on day 7. These long-distance hikes are a great way to decompress from the hectic pace of life. The usual distractions are forgotten and the main concerns are reduced to where we'd be spending the night on what the weather would be doing the next day.
Last year on the TMB, I decided to take my Olympus (OM-1 Mk I) with me for a number of reasons, including slightly lower weight, better battery life and greater familiarity with the controls. This time I decided to take the Nikon (Z7 II), a full frame mirrorless digital camera. I was confidant that I would be able to charge the batteries at least every second day on both trips (I was) and I wanted the better dynamic range especially for the low light photos, even if this meant carrying a larger tripod. After last year, I knew that the increased weight wouldn't hold me back significantly, plus I was personally at least 10 kg lighter this time thanks to some disciplined dieting. Despite my heavy pack, I was still able to keep up with the others.
Every choice of camera gear involves a compromise and there is no perfect set up. There will always be considerations about things such as weight vs. flexibility, image stabilisation vs. image quality, weather sealing, focus speed, etc. Armed with the trail experience from 2024, I elected to take the full frame camera and didn't regret it.
One of the Rifugios that we were really keen to get into for the tour was Lagazuoi, the highest point on AV-1 at 2,835 m. The views southward over Passo Falazarego and beyond are normally incredible, but (a) we didn't get a spot there for the six of us and (b) day three (the day in question) ended up being the rain day again this year. Instead we ended up at Col Gallina on the pass road that night before walking up to Rifugio Averau the next day. Given that this is arguably the shortest hike of the tour, we decided to make use of the blue skies and gondola the next morning to retrace our steps and explore the views from the top of Lagazuoi. This would be the only chance for our Colorado companions to catch the unparalleled views from this unparalleled vantage point.
Digesting our experience at the end of the tour, we were unanimous in declaring the stretches from Averau to Forcella Col Duro and from Rifugio Vazzoler to Passo Duran as our personal highlights. The section from Passo di Giau to Forcella Ambrizzola was a particularly delightful surprise.
On the trail we tended to be very early to bed and so I was often wide awake before dawn the following morning. If the weather was good, I would make use of this to get up and try to catch the sunrise with the camera. Dawn at Averau was particularly rewarding with the valley mist rising and falling below the top of the Torre Grande
We'd met our travelling companions last year on the TMB and I have to admit that my first impression wasn't very kind; a bunch of old Americans who had probably completely under-estimated the physical demands that the tour would place on them. In my mind, I'd given them two, three days max. before they realised that they'd bitten off more than they could chew. Imagine my surprise the next day when they nonchalantly overtook us on a long uphill section. It wasn't until the fourth night that we actually sat down and spoke with them as we realised that we were the only two groups staying at the same refuges every night. It turned out that we had all booked with the same agency.
Although they were all well into their 70s, it turned out that they lived in Colorado above 1,600 m and hiked all the day long. They were also carrying significantly lighter packs than us and were more used to treking with all of their gear, tents and all. Another couple of nights later and it came to light that Mike (centre below) had hiked the Seven Summits - the highest points of each continent (!). No wonder we were eating their dust every day.
Come the end of the tour we had established that they were absolutely not MAGA and were really quite fun to hang out with and we decided that we wanted to repeat the experience next year and had we thought about AV-1? The thought had definitely crossed our minds and so we were both up for it without hesitation. We loved the Dolomites and welcome every chance to head down there.
Although we were all agreed that Rifugio Averau stood out as the culinary highlight of the tour, the one that will stick in our memories was the tiny Malga di Pramper with only 8 beds. Malga Pramper is a working farm with fresh ricotta and butter at every meal.
As we pressed on from Pramper we hit the section of the trail with the most wildlife with abundant marmots, chamoix and even a glimpse of a pair of eagles above Plan de Fontana. With the Olympus and my big wildlife lens I would have been able to capitalise on the opportunity. With the Nikon I was not and had to make do capturing the land-based wildlife.
Drawing back into Cortina at the end of the tour, I noticed Mike (he of the Seven Summits) filming with his phone out of the window of the bus in the row behind me. I looked quizzically at him as this wasn't his usual style. He shrugged nonchalantly and said "Well, I might not come back here again." That sentence has haunted me ever since. The thought of never being able to come back to this incredible part of the world makes me beyond sad and my eyes grow moist every time I think about that shared moment.
After a night back in Cortina at the end of the tour, Sharon managed to find a cancellation back at Lagazuoi. Here we bumped into a workshop being led by a photographer of some reknown in the landscape circuit. I was quite amused to note one of their participants packing up their camera as soon as the direct sun disappeared from the peaks opposite. It was a clear evening with no clouds. Those who know about landscape photography, particularly in the Dolomites, know that the real magic doesn't start until around 15-30 mins after the sun sets behind the mountains and the Belt of Venus lights up the eastern sky. This phenomenon happens when the light from the setting sun hits particles in the twilight sky. It's especially beautiful in the Dolomites as the pale rock picks up the colours beautifully as you will see below.
October Workshop
Three weeks after we returned from AV-1, I was collecting three photographers from the station at the crack of dawn before driving back down to the Seiser Alm via Val di Funes. A first hike up to the Geisler Alm for lunch gave us our first glimpse of the marvellous Geisler ridge.
We just made it down in time to catch the last direct sun on San Giovanni in Ranui, albeit with a freshly ploughed field directly in front of it. Roll on winter when the snow covers such sins!
From the San Giovanni viewpoint we headed up to join the waiting crowd of photographers at the wel-known outlook over Santa Maddalena where we just happened to bump into James Rushforth, author of the seminal work on Dolomite Photography. Good news readers, this out-of-print book is about to enter its second edition and James assures me that it's going to be even better than the first edition and should be available early 2026.
The first dawn raid of the week saw us hiking from the hotel at Compatsch up on the Seiser Alm to the viewpoint over the iconic hay barns below the Lang- and Plattkofel. One day I'll make it up here with mist on the ground to catch the first morning rays!
After capturing dawn up on the Alm, day two saw us heading up to Rifugio Fermeda below the legendary Seceda ridge. We spent the afternoon hunting for compositions to shoot at sunset where we experienced our first Venus Belt of the tour. One of the many things we were praised for on this inaugural workshop was that we were always at the spots in good time to set up before dawn/dusk. From our own practice we know that this is important when shooting at a new location and we wanted to make sure that our participants had time to find their compositions in good time before the light hit.
Only Stefan kept us company that first evening after the sun went down, the others would take a day or two to believe us that the best was yet to come.
Dawn on the Seceda ridge gave us our second Belt of Venus-experience with an intense pink band over the snow-capped Ortler massif. Despite this being my third visit to Seceda, I've yet to take a photo that I'm really satisfied with.
From Ortisei/Santa Cristina we drove to Passo di Giau (The Pass of the Wind) to hike over to Rifugio Palmieri. In Val di Funes and on the Seiser Alm the larches - the only coniferous tree that turns colours in autumn and looses its needles in the winter - were still green(ish), but this high up and further east they were showing really good colour. One of our main considerations when planning the tour was to time it right to coincide with this phenomenon. There's a narrow window between turning yellow/orange (happens about two weeks after the first snow or major frost) and the needles falling. We had to balanced this with the availability of the Rifugios; the huts around Falzarego and Tre Cime were all closed already this late in the year.
Where the larches on the path between Passo di Giau and Palmieri were good, the trees at Lago Federa were on fire, particularly in the glow of the sunrise the next day. This was an image that I've been dreaming of capturing for around a decade ever since I saw it in a mountaineering magazine. Getting spots in Palmieri had been worth it as it meant that we could pretty much roll out of bed and hit the photo spot without an hour's forced march!
Returning to Passo di Giau the next day, we carried on to our last accomodation at Passo Tre Croci. The hotel there was a bit of an unknown gamble, but turned out to be a great choice. The rooms were big, clean and comfortable and, perhaps most importantly, the meal times were very flexible allowing us to be in the mountains when and where we needed to be. On our first evening there we drove up to Lago d'Antorno. I remember my first time visiting this picturesque stretch of water almost 20 years ago and immediately recognising its potential, long before it became Instagram famous.
The last few days of the workshop fell into a regular rhythm of sunrise and sunset, and included an aborted trip to Lake Sorapis, which apparently had shrunk significantly in the intervening weeks. Dawn below Rifugio Auronzo at Tre Cime was especially photogenic.
We started the last day by driving up to Cinque Torri - something that's not possible in the summer months. This is one of those places that I keep coming back to (see above). We didn't have much valley mist this time - just enough to give a bit of separation behind Torre Grande, but the frost and the brown autumn grass gave us a very different set of images that we had back in September. Photographing at Cinque Torre is a lot about getting the balance right between the visual weight of the towers compared to Tofana di Rozes, either through size (below) or lighting (see the image "Spotlight on Cinque Torri" above). It's also important to be deliberate in whether or not you chose to include Rifugio Scoiattoli and the chairlift in your images. I was able to find a small hillock in the pre-dawn light to hide it in this first image below. As with many of my photos, the impact of this image is greatest when printed large. Details such as the frost on the foreground grass and the smattering of snow on top of Tofana really bring this picture to life. I genuinely think that this image is my favourite from the tour.
The last evening saw us back at Passo di Giau for one last shoot. Although we'd visited the pass at sunset a couple of days previously, the wrong sort of low cloud had meant that we hadn't got the images we wanted. Returning to this spot by popular demand gave us some of the best images of the tour.
I've spent a lot of time over the last five years preparing to lead workshops like this. Although we encountered some minor hitches along the way, mostly associated with missed communications concerning expectations about the amount of hiking that would be involved in the tour, our first workshop was an unqualified success. All of our partipants were accomplished photographers and it was a real privelege to introduce them to one of my favourite places in the world, enabling them to capture some amazing images of their own.
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