How a Solo Adventure Through the Dolomites Helped My Photography
My name is Chris König, a 23-years-old self-taught photographer based in The Netherlands. This story is about my one week adventure in the Italian Dolomites, in which I tried to challenge myself, not only on a photography level, but on a personal level as well.
I crawled through 2 meters deep snow, sweat so much I thought there was no water left in me, and climbed for so long that it felt like my legs left me halfway through the trip… It was all absolutely worth it!
It is very easy to be distracted from what you do, even if you are truly passionate about it. For example, when I am planning new photo shoots for my portfolio, I find it very easy to just postpone it until I kind of forget about it, even though I still love to shoot every day.
Kind of strange how this works, but in order to fight this, I decided to just book a trip to Italy to explore the mountains by myself, and make use of this opportunity to come back with some new work.
This wasn’t just about adding to my portfolio, it was also about improving my improvising skills by making the most out of the unexpected and rather uncomfortable situations I would find myself in.
Skiing in fresh powder with a beautiful mountain backdrop!
Lago di Braies
A lake during winter is hardly a lake, right?
More powder shredding!
Near Sexten, a beautiful area in the north of the Dolomites
Tre Cimes
Nightly views after a hike to the mountain top
Best spot to stay for the night!
View from my tent.
The orange is just a distant city, the sun was long gone… Looks unearthly though!
Hiking near Tre Cimes. Lots of snow, no people!
Puez-Odle from the other side
Me, after some harsh nights in the cold :D
During this week I found it incredibly easy to stay focussed on creating new pictures: I was in this situation, all by myself, with no real options to do something else than what I had come here to do.
Once all distractions were gone, it became so easy to just what I had to! I guess the key element is just doing something: throw yourself in that new situation and make the most of it instead of overthinking it until nothing really happens.
That doesn’t apply only to photography, I think :)
About the author: Chris König is a self-taught photographer and adventure storyteller specializing in outdoor lifestyle and travel photography. To see more of his work, visit his website and follow him on Instagram and Facebook. This article was also published here.
