When you think of Santorini architecture what springs to mind. I bet it is all the famous white buildings of Santorini isn’t it? Well to be fair that’s what I thought before going to Santorini.
There is more to Santorini architecture than those lovely white buildings – how about the reception at the wonderful Kasmimatis Suites in Imerovigli sat on the edge of the Santorini caldera? And what gives the Kasimatis Suites their unusual charm is that these buildings used to be a canava – a Greek wine cellar.
It is not just about the views outside – there are great things to see inside too.
And I have learnt a new word – canava. Which the spellcheck wants to correct to canapé!
Why do I like this photo so much?
Sorry about that. Let’s get back to the photo. I am an architectural photographer. That is my speciality. I photograph buildings for a living in the UK.
Luckily I love photographing buildings. Put me in a place like Santorini though, with that famous Santorini architecture and I am doubly happy.
Great location, great architecture. And great and unusual interiors. And all that lovely sunshine, food, beer and wine!
Why do I like this photo so much? I was going to the hotel reception, and walked into this scene. How utterly fantastic. I needed a quick word before heading off out to explore more of this wonderful Greek Island (after a quick beer). Yes I had my camera with me, well I didn’t go anywhere without it when I was in Santorini to be honest.
And what makes this scene of course is the light. Lovely directional light spilling into the room.
And the fact that this vaulted room used to be a canava, which is a Greek wine cellar. The family who own Kasimatis Suites used the space where the hotel is as their wine cellars back in the day.
That is why the hotel is so different, with strange features littered around the hotel. And also why the reception is this wonderful vaulted internal space.
How did I decide on this composition?
I walked into reception, got to the reception desk, turned round and got my camera out. I took three photos of the scene which are virtually identical but this was the shot – everything is right with this particular composition.
Let’s talk about the elements in this composition. I wish I could say that I had placed them so perfectly but I hadn’t. This is literally what I saw.
Firstly through the door you can see the railing on the edge of the balcony. Just in front of that is the lovely hotel swimming pool featured in another photo.
And then there is one white chair, sat slap bang in the middle of the door!
And then the light spilling into the vaulted ceilinged reception area with that lovely directional light casting a shadow from the table.
The directional light also picks up the texture in the tiles.
And there are the wall lights offering some additional points of interest in the scene. And let’s not forget the grille above the door and the fantastic shadows on the domed roof.
See I know about this architectural stuff!
Where was the photo taken?
At the reception at the Kasimatis Suites in Imerovigli on the Greek Island of Santorini
What time of day was the photo taken?
4:40pm. I had been out and about all day and was proably going to reception to order breakfast in the room again – such a great thing that they do this. I timed my visit to reception perfectly, with that strong directional light shining straight through the doorway.
I would love to say that this was deliberate but it was purely conincidental!
It was defintely pre-drinks by the pool before sunset though.
What photography gear did I use to get the shot
- Canon 6D
- Canon 24 – 105mm F4 L Lens (focal length used 17mm)
- Hand held
- Peak Design Everyday Backpack
- No red hat – it was absolutely baking hot
- Oakley sunglasses (on my head)
- Red shoes (feet destroyed by this time). OK i might have been wearing flip flops by now!
- And my wrist strap. I forgot all about that.
What camera settings did I use?
- Aperture F9
- Shutter speeds 1/640th second, 1/2500th second and 1/160th second.
- ISO 400
- Back-button focus
- Focal length 28mm
- AV Mode
- RAW format
One interesting fact about the image.
Apart from the fact that I walked in to reception and saw this scene and took a photo of it?
OK – here we go. This is what it looks like late afternoon from the reception at the Kasimatis Suites in Imerovigli.
I alluded to this before. Kasimatis Suites used to be wine cellars, known locallly as canavas. Obviously since tourism has taken off in Santorini this valuable real estate has been converted to a stuning hotel with great views of the caldera.
So the interesting fact is that this is a picture of a former Greek wine cellar.
Is there a behind the scenes video of this shoot?
No. As I just walked up to reception, turned round and took the photo no! I would have got rather strange looks doing that. But then again I could have got one of the staff to video me – I think I missed a trick there.
How did I process the image?
Here is the unedited RAW image. I know, I am always amazed by how awful a RAW file can look. This is the base data for an image. I shoot in RAW as I get the maximum data from an image capture which I can work with in Lightroom.
The contrast from the RAW file to the finished image is quite remarkable I have to say. This is the first (correct exposure) image – look how flat, dull and uninteresting it is!
The first job in Lightroom is to merge the three images that I took using auto-bracketing on my Canon 6D. The three files are exposed as follows
- Image 1 – correct exposure
- Image 2 – 2 stops under exposed
- Image 3 – 2 stops over exposed
I merge these three images together in Lightroom. Lightroom creates a brand new file which contains the data from the three original images. This is the file that I worked on to produce the image in this post.
And here is what I did in Lightroom
I did some additional local editing, dodging and burning and the finshed off the image in Photoshop.
This was like editing an architectural image for a client, which to be fair almost never feels like work to me.
What could I have done to improve the image?
I could have moved the table to the left a little bit so the table is not ovehanging into the shadow.
Someone sat on the chair? Maybe?
I don’t really know – it was a scene I walked in and took a photo of quickly as I don’t want to over analyse it any more than I already have!
And what are my thoughts on this image?
I like it. I like architectural photography. And I especially love interior photography. I love capturing light interacting with interior spaces.
Enough of me – what do you think of this image?
Let me know what you think of this photo of a converted Greek wine cellar. I love it.
One last thing
If you want to buy this image, or want to speak to me about future collaboration email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk.
Rick McEvoy ABIPP – Photographer, writer, blogger