Gran Paradiso National park photos.

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

Marco74

Well-known member
After several months without the possibility of going to the mountain due to the Covid restriction, yesterday, one of my best friends and I went to Gran Paradiso National Park.
It is a place that I know quite well, and I have a few friends living near it.
My primary intention was to meet a friend, but I take some time to take some pictures.
They are nothing special, and yesterday was a rainy day, some small drop during the early morning, a lot after lunch.
Chamois and ibex are shedding their fur.
They are at a low altitude because above the snow has just melted, leaving the grass burnt by the cold, while below it grows fresh and luxuriant.
Going up with the car, we ran into a herd of chamois, at least twenty. We parked and walked up into the meadows. Nothing challenging; anyone could get there.
_DSC2119.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

_DSC2098.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

_DSC2108.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

_DSC2103.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

_DSC2165.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

Just enough time to take some pictures, and then we moved to another place, further down the valley, hoping to find the fox or at least something more "valuable". But nothing, we saw a small bird, its name in the Italian language is Rampichino (Certhia familiarise), two black squirrels running in the middle of the woods and we found the wolf tracks. We climbed a little but even looking carefully with the binoculars; nothing was interesting above us, so we returned to the first place.
 
Along the way, we found 8 ibex. When I say along the road, I mean that we quietly got out of the car, and they were 10/15 meters from us on a ridge in the middle of the woods intent on eating, regardless of our presence. The photo below is with the 500 PF without crop. I didn't change lenses because the environment was very dense and confusing and because, as written, most of them had ugly hair. Nothing worth wasting more than a few minutes. A little further down the valley, there was polenta with sausage and mushrooms steaming for us. It wasn't nice to let her cool down .... After lunch starts a heavy rain, so we come back home. From tomorrow, that place changes the rules of restriction again, and we will need to wait a minimum other two weeks before to have a chance to go there another time. :(
_DSC2187.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Ehi friends, critique or comments are welcome.
I know that we can be nicer photos with better landscape or more exotic animals, but given the period we are going through, I feel lucky to take two steps and two photos in my beloved mountains. Next time I hope to be luckier. ;)
 
Very cool animals and nice job getting up there to find them! I really like the last Ibex photo, well framed, nice setting and those eyes and horns are terrific. Well done!
 
Thanks, DRwyoming.

I really don't know if Ibex and Chamois are common abroad. But, for us, they are quite common, especially the Chamois.

Except for the last photo of Ibex where we were too close to the animal (but we was on the road), I like to take animalscape photos to show non only the animals but also the surrounding environment like in the previous photos.

Honestly, this time we didn't go up too much; the animals now are at a very low altitude, so we walked more or less for half an hour and very slowly.

I have two big friends; one is very athletic like me, and when we are together, always starting a friendly race to see who of the two has the fastest pace uphill. At the same time, the other, the one who was with me on Saturday, is a bit lazy and has a fairly limited walking range. But it doesn't matter, ours is a hobby and not a job, to be fun it doesn't have to be a pain for anyone.

All the photos were taken with the 70-300 AF-P and the 500 PF on Z6II. For the post-production, I used the DXO PureRaw and Lightroom.
 
I hope to be lucky enough to be able to visit your beautiful country in the next future.
Meanwhile, if you have the idea to visit Italy and come to the north, let me know, and we can organize a trip into the park.
It is not so far from Milan. ;)
Have a nice day,
 
Thanks much for posting those pictures. I really enjoyed the chance to view them. I hope that you will post more pictures of that absolutely wonderful national park. I looked for information on that park and was simply stunned by its beauty.
thanks,
Dan
 
Thanks, Dan.
I hope to be able to go there also this weekend. Now they are under higher Covid restriction, but it looks like that I can go there after I have done a swab to check my health.
It is not a nice thing, and it is paid, but it is a sacrifice that I can accept to go to such a magnificent place.
This year, I went there only a very few times. Before the Covid as a minimum of two times in each month.

Here some old photos of a place that is called Mont Avic in December 2020 before the severe Covid restriction.
Knowing it would be my last excursion of 2020, we spent the day there with a dear friend of mine. From morning until sunset. Pretty cool.
PHOTO-2020-12-27-20-45-50_2.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

PHOTO-2020-12-27-20-45-50_4.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

PHOTO-2020-12-27-20-45-50_5.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

PHOTO-2020-12-27-20-45-50.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
PHOTO-2020-12-27-20-45-50_1.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.


Sorry if the quality is low; I recover the photos from my mobile phone.
Kind regards,
Marco
 
Thanks, Irap,
I hope to go there more often; the last two years were terrible regarding the photography for me.
All of Italy was locked for Covid restriction.
The restriction leaves me the possibility to move around my house first step and my city second step. Two places where nothing is interesting to photograph.
Now it is a little better, and I can move outside them.
Kind regards, Marco
 
Your photos are beautiful and the location also is beautiful. Well done Marco. As great as the photos are, I'm even more happy you were able to get out and enjoy the park after all the COVID lockdowns. I do hope things are getting better for you and the virus is subsiding.

Someday, I hope to go back to Italy. I was there about 20 years ago on business but really did not get out of Rome. I would love to spend a month or so in the countryside. Your photos make me want to go.
 
Dear Jeff, thanks. The situation here is a little better. There are always some restriction but finally I can move outside my city and it is a great think for us. We hope that the summer will help us to go outside this situation and on the same side the vaccine reduces the number of people affected by the virus. My time for the vaccine will be between June and October. :rolleyes:

I readed today that American people will avoid spending their holiday in my country because the situation is complicated. I sad to say that I agree and I can understand their idea perfectly. However, I hope that from the following year, the situation will be better and if you will plan a trip in my country, is imperative that you will let me know so we can meet and it will be my pleasure to make for you the guide to the Gran Paradiso National park. 😉

Kind regards, Marco
 
Back
Top