“Afternoon Shower, Albanian Alps” — An afternoon shower in the Albanian Alps of the Valbona Valley.
My experience in Albania is extremely limited — a single day driving from Kosovo up into the Valbona Valley, to what I believe was the end of the road. We started in Kosovo lowlands, gradually ascended, and passed through small towns. Eventually the land became more rural, somewhere we crossed the border, and we saw signs of past military conflicts in the valley. At the end of the road there is a big lodge where we stopped to eat and admire the stunning panorama of alpine peaks looming above us.
The weather was the sort where it is sunny but there’s so much humidity that a shower could develop at any moment. That’s precisely what happened here as we headed back toward Kosovo – a cloud passed by and surprised is with some rain. (“Hey, it is raining! And the sun is out!”) This is some of my favorite light — dappled sunlight moving across the landscape of mountains and trees, with peaks looming overhead as mist swirls and gentle rain falls.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
We visited Kosovo and Croatia and briefly entered a few other Balkan countries back in the summer of 2023 during a very long trip to Europe. There’s a lot to say about this remarkable and complex part of Southern Europe — more than will fit in one post. We stayed in Kosovo, at the home of people with extended family connections. Our closest Kosovo family contact enthusiastically showed us many places we would not have seen had we traveled on our own. One day we headed briefly into the mountains of Albania.
I have to admit to almost complete ignorance about this part of the world. Like most Americans, my knowledge was limited to very outdated Cold War history and a vague recollection of the war there during the Clinton administration. I knew literally nothing of the people or the landscape. Imagine my surprise when our drive took us deep into the Albanian Alps, where the scenery competes with the most spectacular mountains of my California Sierra Nevada.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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