For as long as I can remember it has been my ambition to go skiing. I grew up watching Ski Sunday every winter, still do,  and I'm always glued to the tv when the winter Olympics come round again. So why is it that it's taken until this my 38th year for the dream to become reality?! Now both as a photographer and as someone who would definitely want to remember this trip there could be no way that I wouldn't take a camera. Leaving my rather bulky Nikon cameras and lenses at home I opted for a Canon G12 and a Sony HDR-AS100VR. The Canon has physical controls I'm used to and is just about small enough to fit in a ski jacket pocket and the Sony has a range of mounting options making it easy to capture video along with the stills. 

The little Canon coped well with the airplane window allowing me to capture some interesting cloud shots.

Without a sense of scale you could almost believe you're looking at a footprint in the snow!

You only need to glance at an app like FlightRadar24 to see how much aviation is happening above us so it should be no surprise to spot other aircraft but it's still slightly disconcerting.   

The Alps pierce through the cloud blanket looking like islands in an ocean. 

Snow covered peaks seemingly uninhabited 

But on closer inspection the signs of life are there

Skiers dwarfed by the snow covered trees

The Dolomites are simply stunning 

Cable car gondolas run up to a mountain top restaurant during an evening snow storm

The Sony gives an extreme wide angle field of view which is ideal for capturing some of the stunning scenery on offer in the Italian Dolomites

Shooting into the sun is always a problem but the Sony handles the situation extremely well in both stills and video 

Ice with your drink sir?!

 The Sony is a 'bullet' style camera so can be mounted fairly discreetly on the side of your head giving you an 'over the shoulder' experience

Remember where you parked your skis! 

With every Bombardino you get slightly braver on the slopes

How this landscape could fail to impress is beyond me, every direction looks like a film set

 Leaving the Dolomites behind to come home, bitter sweet, already dreaming of return visits

#skiing #winter #snowsports #altabadia #italy #dolomites #alps #photography #canon #sony