Image Focus

Standing on the plateau of Castelluccio di Norcia – a small village in the Apennine Mountains of central Italy – is an extraordinary feeling. The plateau sits at an elevation of 1,200 metres, which is already a curiosity in itself, but the surrounding hills rise over 2,000 metres.

You have the feeling of being in the high mountains and the plains at the same time.

I had been planning to visit Sibillini National Park and Castelluccio di Norcia for years, and finally had the opportunity to stay in the autumn of 2021. I spent about a week there, hiking and riding my bike everywhere. From this exploration, I got to know the place well and saw for my own eyes its recent history with all the devastating earthquakes.

These first visits to areas serve as appetizers for me to go back in the future and dive more deeply into these natural gems. But one of my aims on this particular visit was photographing the rolling Sibillini Mountains, and the early morning fog as it sweeps across the hillsides. This shot is the meeting of these two different components, coming together in one as the sun rises.

I started hiking at 4am, climbing with all my camera equipment to capture the scene on the plateau below. I knew the type of image that I wanted to take and had already scouted the peak I wanted to climb; it offered 360-degree views over the surrounding valleys and mountains.

Coming with me on the hike was my Sony Alpha 1 and the FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens. The telephoto zoom and powerful 50 megapixel sensor of the Alpha 1 are ideal for shooting these telephoto landscape images. I have everything I need in one combination.

In this scenario, the subject was many kilometres away from me, and it was still the early hours of the morning. So, I shot with the lens aperture wide open at f/5.6 and lowered the shutter speed to 1/100 sec.

Having the in-camera and lens-based SteadyShot means I can shoot images like this one handheld, even with long telephoto lenses. I also used the autofocus of the Alpha 1, which was able to find focus, even in the low contrast foggy conditions. It's fantastic, even from a far distance and in such low light, hazy conditions. The Alpha 1 always delivers.

Once I knew I had captured the shot, I ran back down the mountains as I wanted to capture the fog from another perspective – in the collapsed town of Castelluccio. It was one of those moments where the light and conditions were great, and although I always feel that this moment is special, I only realised it when I saw the final images on a big screen.

This is when everything has already calmed down, and the moment had passed so that the only thing that can speak now is the final image. And I can’t wait to visit again with my Sony kit in tow.