photographer

life . Portrait . street

madison, WI

Flavia

Fontana Giusti

To rifugio Miserin & finestra di Champorcher with plastic cameras

On this hike we decided to split in two days to sleep in the glorious Rifugio Miserin, I took three cameras: the Diana Mini, the Holga 120F, and the Olympus OM2, which served me so well in the past in these landscapes.

In the Diana Mini I had Fuji Superia 400, in the Holga I had Kodak Gold 200, and the blank roll in the Olympus was Kodak Ektar 100 (RIP – I should stop thinking about it, it makes me sad).

But something happened, I didn’t load the roll properly in the Olympus, and my roll was blank.

So I’m embracing this, and present you my album of memories through plastic lenses – which are truly the best lenses for memories…

Day 1 - the way up, afternoon hike from Dondenaz to Rifugio Miserin.

The plan was to sleep at Miserin, so we took it easy, and left in the afternoon. That also had the advantage of giving us a break from the hottest time of day, which was hot this year, even in these altitudes.

The hike goes through the Mont Avic Park – which is a beauty, by the way – so if you’re lucky you run into a park ranger car. Isn’t it cute?

As you get close to the rifugio, there’s cows to greet you. I love them so much, but I’m also sort of scared of them, they’re big, they have horns, they come in groups, and they know where they’re headed, so I’m of the opinion that they have the right of way, and I’ll just wait as long as needed…

And then, all of a sudden, you get to the lake, and at the next turn around a boulder, there’s Miserin’s austere beauty in all its splendor!

Day 2 - Little dip, up to the finestra di Champorcher, and then down all the way.

Let’s call this what is is, a failed attempt at product photography. However, since we’re talking about this, I do strongly recommend my pair of hiking boots: the Zamberlan Frida, they’re tough, but also light, require no breaking in, are gentle and supportive to my battered feet, look amazing, and they can be resoled, which is an important sustainability feature and everyone should be into that…

I’ll be honest, on the way down I reactivated my plantar fasciitis, which so far had behaved itself, so at some point I stopped taking pictures – or maybe I was just using the Olympus, that’s also possible – so there isn’t any more.

Little bonus - the following day we went to Retempio

That’s another part of the valley entirely. We started with lunch at Louye su la Goumba – truly one of the best restaurants in the region, and then we hiked up, up up. It was brutal, it was hot, and I only had my Diana Mini – the Olympus came along, of course, but that didn’t happen, same roll, same story – and that’s a brilliant illustration of why I need – NEED! – to carry more than one camera everywhere I go.

stay in touch

subscribe to my newsletter to keep informed about my next events and whatever I’m concocting… 

– I promise I won’t spam, I can barely send an email…