Photo story by Alessandro Terzi - 1st September 2016

Let take a mountain lake, then let add low temperatures, strong wind, shallow water, then let mix it all with a sunset, worthy to be called that, and we'll get a spectacle of Nature! It was early January 2012, when I decided with some friends of mine to try a sunset in one of the lesser known parks of central Italy: the Regional Park of Matese. Always looking for some new ideas, planning a good position with Google Map, almost by chance, we found this small park located into the central Appennino nearby Molise and Campania regions.

Matese Park contains a small lake that takes its name, elongated and surrounded, in the long sides by mountains that alternate between 1300 and 1700 meters. The direction in which the lake is symmetric follows the north-west direction. This, in the winter season, means a lot to an attentive photographer. In fact, in January the sun exposes its rays almost perpendicular to this axis, allowing to shoot in the direction of north-west without having to manage too high lights, typical of a sunset.

We thought that the mountains that surround the lake could give it a good perspective that, combined with a light from the side, it could make a good difference. We arrived at the location and we notice that the wind was so strong, that not only had frozen the surface so that it was possible to walk on safely, but had frozen the blades of grass from its edges, creating a unique effect, never seen before. After an exploration of its borders we decided the exact point for our shoots, and in a few time the sun and the clouds were gaving us a unique situation: incredible colors, an increasingly strong wind lifted the snow that covered the tops more high creating similar streaks in the clouds.

The colors were saturating the whole surreal scene and when we took the last picture we stopped taking pictures to enjoy the moment, accompanying the sun that was fading its rays. Reviewing these shots now we can say: "we spend a lot of time tring to predict the results of a photo session, we would never have thought to realize photos so extreme than just a mirrored sunset. Never, ever would have imagined to find conditions at the same time, so extreme and favorable to permit us to shot a sunset that we still consider the most beautiful of our lives ".

Some photos realized in that session.