Although the highest of its mountain peaks reaches only 880m above sea level, no-one could describe the Faroe Islands as lacking drama. The archipelago is regularly lashed by Atlantic storms and wind speeds there have been recorded at nearly 180mph. Despite – or perhaps because of this – it’s become a favourite of adventure seeking landscape and travel photographers, including Marco Grassi.

“The first time I visited the Faroe Islands in 2016,” he remembers, “the place really excited me, and I’ve done so on many trips ever since. Where I live in northwest Italy, we have hills and mountains close to the sea, but I’d never seen anything like that. It’s a place that’s striking in its ruggedness, its drama and also its remoteness, especially back then before it became more popular with tourists.”

Now having visited the Islands over 15 times, Marco is well placed to sing its praises. “It’s very easy to move around the individual islands,” he explains, “and there’s an almost limitless supply of amazing sights there. What’s more, each of the islands seems to have its own weather, so a little bit of driving can give you a whole new set of opportunities on the same day.”

Keen to travel as light as possible, Marco likes to travel with his Sony Alpha 7CR and a streamlined, lightweight trio of lenses, which covers all possibilities. “For my trip I used the FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM, FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS and the FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS,” he reveals. “The versatility in that trio is huge, and I can go from extreme wide angle low-light shots, all the way through to wildlife and landscape details and compression.”

Marco admits that “a lot of photographers venture to the famous locations to capture imagery” but admits, “there’s always plenty you can do to put your own spin on things. That’s also what makes you grow as a creator. It takes some extra effort but is totally worth it.”

One way to do this, Marco says, is to take a well-known subject and try to frame it in a novel way. “What I try to do is hike away from that area and find a new view. You don’t always need to go far, because you might be able to frame it through some other part of the landscape. Alternatively, you can narrow down a big, well-known view to something that’s more intimate using a telephoto lens.”

Adding some more serious distance between himself and the subject often helps, so Marco will spend time before his trips researching what new angles he can hike to. “I use Google Earth a lot,” he explains, “where I can quickly see where I’ll be able to get a novel view of a subject, lining up elements like lead-in lines, and adding layers to the scene. Knowing a location and revisiting it with a new perspective really helps in that regard.”

Waiting for the light and the weather to align also play a big part in Marco’s successes, but that’s something his innate love of nature makes easy. “Even on short trips, I never feel the pressure to capture lots of photos, or even that I absolutely need to get a certain shot from a certain place,” he confesses. “What’s important to me is investing time in the field, and time in nature is never wasted. I also don’t want to end up with 100s of pictures I won’t use, so I wait, look, enjoy that atmosphere, perfect my composition and only fire the shutter when it’s right.”

The shutter Marco was firing on one of his most recent trips to the Faroes Island was that of the Sony Alpha 7CR, a camera perfectly suited to the way he likes to work. “What’s fascinating about the Alpha 7CR is that it has all the best features of the Alpha 7R V, in a lighter and more compact body. You get that same tremendous detail from the hi-res sensor, brilliant dynamic range and subject tracking autofocus. It’s great to take on hikes.”

“The similarities also mean I can use it as a second body with my Alpha 7R V, without worrying about missing out on something,” he continues. “For my landscapes, that includes the focus stacking mode, as well as the clever Bulb setting that lets me go above a 30 second exposures without using a cable release.”

However, the most vital thing in Marco’s arsenal is passion. “I love to travel, find new places, and spend time in nature,” he concludes. “That’s my real motivation and photography is the product of it. Right from my early days hiking in New Zealand, I just wanted a way to share the amazing sights I was seeing. The passion to get out into the world motivates me. Just experiencing the landscape is a success and there’s nothing about the Alpha 7CR that holds me back.”