I Have Been Photographing Alps For 10 Years

It is night and I stand on the highest mountain of the Vallée Étroite, the Mount Thabor (3.178 m), Hautes-Alpes (France).
The mists along the valley, illuminated by the pale light of the full moon, offered me the opportunity to admire this almost otherworldly scene. The colors and the moderate brightness is perfectly faithful to the observed scene.
For an instant I've thought to be landed on a distant planet, lost in space, were it not that my eyes could still recognize the various surrounding mountains, like: the Grand Seru (2.889 m), Guglia Rossa (2.548 m), Fraiteve (2.702 m), Rognosa di Sestriere (3.280 m), Chaberton (3.131 m), Pic de Rochebrune (3.324 m)...

Sunrise admired from the summit of mount Rocciamelone (3.538 meters / 11,603 feet), Italy, near a snowy crest.
Below, mountain summits shaking the sea of clouds like the bow of a ship.

The Milky Way aligned with the north east face of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Dolomites) seems flowing into the two rivers of clouds below. Hence the title of this photograph.
Among the many stars, is perfectly recognizable Altair, the biggest and brightest on the left of the Milky Way.
I've then mounted my tent (visible in the lower center) for the night.

Shot taken on September 7th 2012, at 7:15 a.m. from the summit of mount Rocciamelone (3,538 m), Italy.
Distant valleys, ridges, shrouded in the ethereal golden light that follows the sunrise, seemed still wrapped in a mystical dream.
As in an ancient Chinese print...
Picture captured with a 300mm telephoto lens. These are places quite far from the summit of mount Rocciamelone, but to be looking for these details, "fragments" in an immense landscape, is always my priority.
Actually to search the otherworldly on Earth is my priority.

I took this photo at dawn on September 10th 2010, after a night spent on the summit of Mount Rocciamelone (3,538 m - 11,608 ft), Susa Valley, Italy.
The rising sun was magically enlightening rivers of clouds sinuously caressing the steep mountain ridges below.

Rosengarten, Dolomites. The Vajolet Towers at dawn, mystically shrouded in mist.
There are scenes, moments, experiences of our lives, which can hardly be expressed in words. In some cases a simple image can be more direct, although even here it is not always easy to "grab the instant" but it's always worth at least a try.

A little tree somehow "lost" in vast expanses of pure snow, when, towards evening, it takes shades of colors ranging from white to delicate blue.

Night Shot, portraying the Pointe Walker (4,208 m; 13,806 ft), main summit of the Grandes Jorasses, illuminated by moonlight.
Mont Blanc massif, Italy.

A look on the Vallée du Vénéon in autumn livery, with the French road D530 that runs along.
Écrins National Park (France).

The west wall of the Matterhorn (4.478 m) stands outside of my tent!
Shot taken on the highest point of Stockji glacier (3.600 m), a hundred meters below the summit of the Tête Blanche, along the ski mountaineering Haute Route Chamonix-Zermatt.
When I can, I do not miss the opportunity to take a picture from the inside of my tent :-) whose tentine, by their very nature, lend themselves to frame the subject. Also it can be fun to try correlations between the geometric interior design of the tent and the structure of the landscape outside. In photography the geometry is relevant as well as the light.

Here you can see part of the Aiguilles de Chamonix (Mont Blanc massif), in the exact moment when a turbulence began to set free a few summits, revealing a magic world completely encrusted in ice.
A view that does not happen every day, even in winter, because of the very vertical walls.
This is the light just before sunset. I would say the best one for this kind of subject, since a warmer light would have somehow interfered with the glacial atmosphere.
From left to right: Aiguille de Blaitière (3.522 m), Dent du Caiman (3.554 m), Dent du Crocodile (3.640 m), Aiguille du Plan (3.673 m).

View of the rising sun from the summit of mount Rocciamelone (3,538 m - 11,608 ft), Susa Valley, Italy.

This has been certainly one of the most impressive sunsets I've seen in the Alps.
Admired on September 27th 2012, from the summit of Mount Rocciamelone (3.538 m), Italy.
Clearly visible the Dauphiné Alps. The Massif des Écrins with the glorious Barre des Écrins and La Meije.
High glaciers and peaks were not particularly interested by the classic alpenglow phenomenon, all the slanting rays of the setting sun were concentrated on a huge mass of clouds, like a sort of devastating blaze, as on some planets that have the misfortune of being too close to their star.

These are the gorgeous Aiguilles d'Arves (Savoie), also nicknamed by the French local as "the three sisters", admired at sunset during a cold evening at the end of March.
From left to right: Aiguille Septentrionale (3.364 m), Aiguille Centrale (3.513 m), Aiguille Méridionale (3.514 m).

Early morning on the Gardetta plateau, with beautiful view towards the Rocca la Meja (2.831 m). Val Maira, Italy.

Mist, reddish leaves on the ground... the torpor of the woods... a prelude to autumn that was approaching.

A sunset rich of nuances, calm and expressive, viewed from the hill above Lake Rosset (2.709 m), Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy.
In the distance, across the valley, you can see the Piccolo Paradiso (3.926 m), Gran Paradiso (4.061 m) and Tresenta (3.609 m).

Just a detail of a waterfall.
Interesting especially because it shows the water ability of adaptation to the slightest geometric shapes... which reminded me a lot of the most useful skill that it's necessary to have on the mountains: the ability to adapt (to places and to atmospheric agents).
Location: Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy).

I've always thought that marmots were cute animals... well, when they are cubs it's even better.
Just met these two soft puppies in the Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy.

A succession of valleys shrouded in the mystery of a misty night, in the distance on the left stands the lovely Pic de Rochebrune (3.324 m).
Shot taken during a night spent on the summit of Mount Thabor (3.178 m), Hautes-Alpes (France).