Albania Shkodër, Albania

There is something special about seeing a city before it fully wakes up. From above, Shkodër sits between rivers, wetlands, and mountains, and the soft morning haze almost makes the city disappear into the landscape. Shkodër is surrounded by an unusually rich network of water, with the Drin, Buna and Kir rivers all shaping the landscape around the city.

In this image, the winding river in the foreground makes the composition work. Rather than flying closer to the city, I kept plenty of the surrounding landscape in the frame. The curve of the water naturally guides the eye from the dark foreground toward Shkodër and eventually the mountains in the distance.

Early morning is particularly beautiful here. Low sunlight, haze, a nd a little mist create several layers between the river, countryside, city, and mountains. Shooting slightly against the light also helped create that atmospheric, almost dreamy appearance.

When editing a scene like this, I wouldn't try to remove all of the haze with Dehaze or excessive contrast. The softness is exactly what gives the different layers their sense of depth.

This spot is located just outside Shkodër in northern Albania, along the river south of the city. I stayed at River Camping, a very convenient base for exploring Shkodër and the surrounding area by camper. The campsite sits directly next to the river, so I launched my drone from there early in the morning.

I would definitely recommend flying around sunrise or shortly afterward. On my visit, the cooler morning air created a beautiful layer of haze above Shkodër, while the first sunlight illuminated the landscape and mountains behind the city. From the air, the winding river in the foreground also creates a great natural leading line towards Shkodër.

If you're traveling through Albania by camper, this makes the location particularly easy to photograph: stay directly by the river, get up early, and you can have the drone in the air within minutes.