I've just arrived back from a weeks climbing in Finale Ligure in north west Italy with the people from UKClimbing and Rockfax. It definitely provided a contrast to the shooting and climbing over the winter months (lots of sunshine, short walk-ins, cafes, good food, no numb fingers etc) and it was great to properly explore an area i've only been to briefly before.

We were lucky enough to be staying in Colletta di Castelbianco, a tiny 13th century village in the Val Pennavaire of Oltre Finale, which gave great access to the surrounding climbing. As one of the aims of the trip was to explore the area for the new Rockfax guidebook to Finale we visited a different crag and area every day and this gave a good opportunity to take photos in lots of contrasting locations. It's often difficult to get the balance right between shooting and getting a chance to climb but it worked out really well on this trip, where i'd usually just climb an adjacent route and shoot across, something that sport climbing on bolts allows you to do with ease (and is much less hassle than rigging ropes!).

Although I probably took a lot more camera gear than was needed I ended up using most of the kit I brought. The LEE grad ND filters especially came in handy as a lot of the crags we climbed on faced north (to avoid the sun) and so often had brightly lit backgrounds and dark shaded foregrounds.

I've only begun to process the images from the trip (I shot around 8,000 in total!) but below are a few of my favourites so far.

Martin Mckenna climbing La Cengia Allegra (7a) at Bric Scimarco. Shot on Canon 6D + Canon 24-70 f/2.8 + LEE Filters .6 Soft Grad ND. — Martin Mckenna climbing La Cengia Allegra (7a) at Bric Scimarco. Shot on Canon 6D + Canon 24-70 f/2.8 + LEE Filters .6 Soft Grad ND.

Natalie Berry climbing Pudong (6c+) at Terminal crag, Oltre Finale. Shot on Canon 6D + Canon 14mm f/2.8

Natalie Berry climbing Orly (6c+) at Terminal crag, Oltre Finale. Shot on Canon 6D + Canon 14mm f/2.8