I capture this image in Santa Magdalena/St. Maddalena, Italy on a busy multi-country tour of Europe. This is a location I researched beforehand but we only had 2 days to see as much as possible in the Dolomites, luckily the conditions were amazing the day we visited.
Time
Based on the position of the valley, mountains, and church, I knew I wanted to get here for afternoon light. We started our day hiking high in the mountains of Parco Naturale Puez Odle featured in the image, before returning to the nearby town of Selva di Val Gardena to drive to this location. After navigating the narrow roads and limited signage, and a stop to photograph another church, we arrived a little later than I had planned around 6pm. This actually ended up working perfectly though as the lower sun cast shadows through the valley that helped to highlight the mountain range.
Lighting
The clouds were moving fast causing the areas of light and shadow to change quickly. I waited about 20 minutes for the right combination of light on the church and mountains to capture the image I wanted, and within 30 seconds the scene was gone.
Equipment
I shot this with a Sony a7R and Zeiss 24-70mm f/2.8 lens on a Feisol carbon fiber tripod.
Inspiration
Years ago I came across an image of this location from Danish photographer Hans Kruse. I knew it was a spot I wanted to visit someday but after my wife suggested a high-paced trip to Europe in 2014 I knew we had to make the Dolomites part of the trip. There wasn't a lot of info on the location and Google Earth wasn't much help but after digging around I had a good idea where I wanted to capture the image from and how to get there.
Editing
This image is a single shot that really shows off the dynamic range of the a7r's sensor. To process the shot I primarily worked in Lightroom with small adjustments to contrast, shadow/highlights, and color. I used an exposure brush to reduce the brightness on the white stones of the church and brought the final image into Nik Color Efex to process tonality in the clouds and mountains.
In my camera bag
Right now I have everything in a first gen F-Stop Loka pack or my Osprey Exos 58 backpacking pack. Since switching to mirrorless I've been able to get most of my gear in a small ICU while my camera sits in a chest pouch for easy access. In my bag I currently have the following camera gear: a7R II, a7R as backup, Sony's FE lenses: 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm f/4, and 70-200mm f/4, a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 for night work, Rode shotgun mic for video, Neewer L-Plate, Hoya HD3 and Firecrest Polarizers, about 7 batteries and large external batteries (better to have too many I guess), Feisol CT-3442 tripod with Photoclam Gold ballhead, and a Lee Big Stopper filter. Depending on how far I'm hiking I'll remove certain items to make my load lighter. For non-camera equipment, I usually have rain gear, puffy jacket and pants, and a Steripen to filter water while hiking. My favorite piece of gear is probably my Western Mountaineering puffy flight pants, never underestimate the value of warm legs while photographing at night!
Feedback
The biggest thing that can help in getting a great shot in a new and far off location is planning. It's likely someone else has been there before and by searching maps, images, online guides, and forums, you can usually find enough info to work out most of the details before the trip. Another big help is if you have it, give yourself plenty of time and possibly multiple days at a new destination; even going to the location in sub-optimal light to get a feel for the spot can make a big difference when the light gets good. As a side to that though, sometimes I just start driving down a new road or trail without knowing where it leads, and that can result in a great image few others have seen.