“The Dolomites offer an incredible mix of nature, culture and history. It is one of Europe's best spots for landscape and travel photography,” reveals Austrian photographer Josef Bollwein.

Josef is right; the spectacular mountains, crystal clear lakes and beautiful alpine valleys lure photographers, including him, from all over the world.

“The light in the Dolomites is very special, particularly during golden hour when the sun is low on the horizon, and the mountains are bathed in a warm orange glow. This creates a beautiful mood that photographers love to capture. Then there are the colours that change. In winter, the snowy landscape offers a magical atmosphere, while in spring and summer, the wildflowers bloom, and in autumn, the foliage is ablaze with warm colours.”

The Dolomites is a place Josef has explored and photographed many times, including recently with his Sony Alpha 1 and Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM, FE PZ 16-35mm f/4 G and FE 50mm f/1.2 GM lenses.

When most people think of landscape photographers, they imagine someone finding a spot and carefully setting up a tripod. Yet, thanks to the SteadyShot image stabilisation of his Alpha 1 and lenses, Josef only needs to use a tripod if essential.

“There are situations where carrying a tripod is impractical, such as hiking or rock climbing. In such cases, handheld photography may be the only option. For me, handheld photography allows flexibility and freedom of movement, which can be useful when quickly switching between different perspectives and compositions.”

Reacting quickly may not seem like something you would associate with landscape photography, yet in a mountain environment, the light and conditions can change from one minute to the next. Being able to react is crucial to capture the spectacular scene in front of you before conditions change. And if it rains, photographers must have a camera they can rely upon to keep shooting. “The Alpha 1's weatherproof body is ideal for the unpredictable weather in the mountains.” says Josef reassuringly.

No one lens will enable a landscape photographer to capture every scene. However, Josef recommends one Sony lens that he will always take with him hiking in the Dolomites. “For landscapes, the 12-24mm f/2.8 is the best due to its exceptional wide-angle perspective and ability to deliver stunning landscape images with impressive corner-to-corner sharpness and detail,” Josef claims.

The wide-angle zoom lens allows Josef to capture the vast vistas of the Dolomites. The zoom function enables him to perfectly frame the scene to capture elements at the edges of the frame, or to zoom in to emphasise a particular element in the foreground. However, landscape photography isn't just about sweeping wide-angle images.

Not knowing what he will come across on a particular adventure, Josef also takes his PZ 16-35mm f/4, 50mm f/1.2 and sometimes his FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lenses when shooting.

“The 16-35mm is great for wide-angle shots. It offers amazing sharpness, no matter what focal length of the zoom I use, plus it has excellent colour reproduction and contrast.”

“The 50mm f/1.2 is incredible. It is great for shooting portraits, but I also love using it for landscape images. Again, it is super sharp and has excellent colour, contrast, and of course, the bokeh of out-of-focus areas is beautiful. Every Sony lens I have used has delivered incredible sharpness and clarity, making it easy to capture stunning landscape images.”

Mountain regions can be particularly taxing to photograph, thanks to the bright sunlight and dark areas that mountain shadows can create. Maximising the potential of each requires a camera with a wide dynamic range to allow highlights to be retained and shadows to be lifted. It is one of the main reasons Josef chooses to shoot with the Alpha 1.

“The exposure settings are essential to achieve the desired impact when shooting landscapes. I use Exposure Compensation to adjust the image to retain the highlights or brighten shadows. However, these settings are very individual and depend on the shot's conditions and the photographer's artistic intentions.”

“If I could give one word of advice, it would be to experiment with different settings to get the look you want.”