Mountain running - Location, location, location
Sharing the detail behind my choices of location for a running photo shoot in the French Alps working with Donnie Campbell, assisted by Rachael Campbell and Alexis Basso. More images can be found on my feature page - Donnie Campbell - Mountain running.
Endurance athlete Donnie Campbell is one of Britain's top ultra trail & mountain runners. Owner of a coaching business (www.getactiverunning.com), Donnie's past achievements include GB international team membership, first place race finishes in both the UK and abroad (e.g. Highland Fling and Trail du Tour des Fiz) and, between August 2020 and July 2023, he was Scotland's 282 Munro Round Record Holder. Donnie's wife, Rachael Campbell, a nurse, is also a talented mountain runner and has placed 10th female in the Mont Blanc Marathon.
One of my first tasks was to research suitable places to take elite mountain athletes for a running photo shoot near Chamonix. Having visited the valley previously, I was fairly confident I knew of great places to go but I was keen to not just add to the large library of images from popular spots such as Lac Blanc. (Disclaimer - I did). Using tools such as Google Maps, Fatmap and the Sunseeker app enabled me to easily pinpoint a variety of potential places to visit and scope them out in great detail well in advance, investigating to see where and when the light would fall and whether the location met the needs of the brief.
Location 1 - Désert de Platé
On the day Donnie and Rachael welcomed us to Argentière and the campsite they'd been calling home for the Summer, my assistant Alexis remarked how we appeared to have brought the Scottish weather with us (a temperature of 3 degrees C was reported for the following day). Although the Chamonix valley was socked in with low cloud and drizzle, we had done our research and the weather was looking better a few days ahead so we headed north as planned to Plaine Joux and followed the route of Le Dérochoir (a fun, if initially sketchy-looking 'via ferrata' that follows a weak point up the dramatic cliffs of Rochers des Fiz and leads to Col de la Portette). Our plan was to stay overnight at Refuge de Platé and shoot sunrise shots of Donnie and Rachael playing on the amazing limestone rock landscape of Désert de Platé, with Mont Blanc in the background.
Désert de Platé was an area that had immediately sprung out when I did some location scouting online. Directly above the Chamonix valley was my first choice for trail and mountain running and when I googled possible locations, the north side of Chamonix (the Lac Blanc side) was clearly the photographer's location of choice. For good reason. The views are awesome. But I also wanted to find a location where I hadn’t seen athletes photographed so my plan for our shoot was to visit the balcony paths above in Chamonix but also to choose another location where I hadn't seen any running shots being posted. Désert de Platé, as it transpired, wasn't an entirely unique location for runners (whilst we were in Chamonix, Kilian Jornet posted a video of Seb Montaz and himself playing in the the rock crevasses) but I think we made a good choice. The cracked limestone rock offers huge potential for foreground interest in a photo shoot and the views of Mont Blanc are immense. We only had the time and the weather for a few hours shooting before heading back to Chamonix and I'd love to return and explore more.
Mountain athlete Donnie Campbell running at Desert de Platé near Chamonix in France with the glaciated Mont Blanc massif in the background.
Donnie Campbell running on the rocks of Désert de Platé in front of the Chamonix Aiguilles, France.
Donnie Campbell and Rachael Campbell running in front of Mont Blanc near Chamonix, France.
Donnie Campbell running at Désert de Platé with Mont Blanc as a backdrop.
Location 2 - Lac Blanc
When the sun became too bright for photographs at Désert de Platé, we descended via Le Dérochoir and returned to Chamonix for lunch. Two hours later, Alex and I were on our way to 2,352m high Lac Blanc, taking advantage of the chairlifts from Les Praz to Flégère to L'Index to help alleviate some of the weight of our camera and lighting gear. Donnie and Rachael chose to run up from Argentière. The location of Lac Blanc (the 'White Lake’) is, arguably, home to the most famous views in the Alps, with thousands of photos on the internet of the scenic lake and its mountain refuge, nestled beneath the Aiguilles Rouge, with its expansive views over the Chamonix valley to famous peaks such as Aiguille du Tour, Aiguille du Chardonnet, Aiguille Verte, Aiguille du Dru, Grandes Jorasses, the Chamonix Aiguilles and Mont Blanc.
Donnie and Rachael met us at Refuge Lac Blanc. By the time they'd arrived, I’d already decided that early Saturday evening in August wasn’t the best time for a photo shoot at this busy location. There was an awful lot of people around the lake and the light was poor. It was too crowded for the shots I had in mind so we descended to lower Lac Blanc and prepared to shoot there. There were already photographers set up (it's a popular lake for reflections) so I took the time to check they didn’t mind if we took some running shots and received a positive response (though, regrettably, I later learnt there was a photographer I had missed and we had spoiled their time lapse). As we wrapped up our shoot with an environmental portrait, I chatted with Salomon's social media manager about potential future collaborations. Donnie and Rachael then returned to Argentière but Alex and I bivvied out so we could shoot some mountain landscape images at dawn. We arranged to meet up with Donnie and Rachael later that day.
Donnie Campbell running at lower Lac Blanc in front of Aiguille des Grands Charmoz above Chamonix in France.
Portrait of Donnie Campbell near Lac Blanc with Mer De Glace and Mont Blanc in the background.
Location 3 - Le Brévent
Donnie and Rachael’s base in the Alps was their campervan at Camping du Glacier d’Argentière (www.campingchamonix.com). After Alex and I had descended from Lac Blanc (pleasingly, the trail popped out at a bakery in Argentière), it was nice to sit in the mid-day sun at the campsite with fresh bread and a chilled drink as we prepared for our last shoot of the trip. We had two locations in mind. A visit to Tête de Balme or Aiguillette des Posettes for a sunset view down the whole Chamonix valley or to head south-west to Brévent for a closer view of Chamonix’s aiguilles (needles) and the summit of Mont Blanc. The latter won, mainly because I love looking at Chamonix’s aiguilles (although I’ll admit not as much as nearby Aiguille du Dru which, alongside Cerro Torre and Torre Egger in Patagonia, is a mountain peak I'm confident I could happily photograph every single day).
Le Brévent is a popular destination in the Alps for Chamonix’s aerial specialists. Paragliders take off very close to the Plan Praz mid-station, taking advantage of thermals above the town, and BASE jumpers plunge from a pedestal not far from Le Brévent’s 2,525m high summit. We didn't see any BASE jumpers but we did see plenty of paragliders as we left the summit of Le Brévent and headed into a magnificent rocky playground that stretches out like one great, big, broken ridge into the distance towards Aiguilles Rouges. I was pleased with the photographs we created but also because it confirmed for me that there's huge potential for capturing adventure sports images beneath the peaks that rise above the Grand Balcon Sud, including running, hiking and scrambling photos, all with stunning views across to the big alpine peaks. I made a note to discuss the opportunities here for potential brand partnerships with other clients.
Donnie Campbell descending a rocky ridge near Le Brévent above Chamonix in France.
Donnie Campbell negotiating technical ground near Le Brévent, with the summit of Mont Blanc above the clouds in the background.
Donnie Campbell traversing a rocky ridge in front of Aiguilles Rouges above Chamonix in France.
Donnie Campbell descending technical ground on a ridge above Chamonix in France.
View more images from this photo shoot on my feature page - Donnie Campbell - Mountain running.