Tag: Greek Islands

Imerovigli or Oia sunset – get the best of both my way
A stunning sunset photo from Santorini taken from the cliffs of Imerovigli looking towards the town of Oia. A gorgeous glowing sunset and the lights of the town all add to this stunning scene.

This is the last image that I will talk about on my new website Photos of Santorini. I hope you have enjoyed seeing and reading about my photos.

Which is the best – Oia or Imerovigli sunset? I say the sunset view of Oia from Imerovigli – its a great view which is one of my favourite sunset views of Santorini. Why choose when you look at one from the other?

On this particular evening just look what was in front of me – just stunning.

And this is why I love Santorini so much – quite simply a stunning Greek Island with stunnig views.

One of the things that I have noticed is that in 5 days I got a great number of images that I could use commercially – well over a hundred. On a travel photogrpahy shoot I am normally happy to get one image that I will use per shoot, so to get so many in 5 days is just fantastic for me.

And all this makes me want to do is go back to Santorini and photograph the rest of this wonderful Greek Island.

Why do I like this photo so much?

Santorini is renowned for its views, and for it’s sunsets. And sunset colours don’t get much better than this.

In this photo we are looking at the small town of Oia, which is perched on the end of the caldera just before it drops into the Southern Agean Sea.

In the background you can see Sikinos and Ios, two small Greek Islands that I would love to visit, as well as some even smaller islands which don’t even have names (as far as I can tell).

I love the sunset colours in this image, with a range from magenta to light orange with lots of different shades in the middle.

You can see the lights of the buildings on the town of Oia, as well as Oia Port down to the right.

There is a solitary boat going round the headland – is that a sunset crouse or a fishing boat? Well will never know.

And in the background amongst all those lovely colours other islands dotted around the Southern Agean Sea.

Such a lovely scene which I was very fortunate to witness and photograph.

How did I decide on this composition?

Well that was easy enough – it was sat there in front of me. The caldera entering the photo bottom right and the islands above.

I have put the horizon pretty much in the middle of the image. This was a conscious thing, and is a big no no in photogrpahy – never put the horizon in the middle as it cuts an image in two.

This is one of the basic rules of photography.

Which it is good to break once in a while.

Why did I do this?

Simple – I wanted as much of the gradation of the orange in the sky as possible – that is one of the primary elements of this image.

And does anyone care about the rules of photography other than other photographers?

Of course not. No one cares. And I am not taking photos for other photogrpahers. And when I take photos I am thinking about the composition and not the rules of photography.

So there – thats the photography world told!

Where was the photo taken?

Where the number 7 is on the yellow tab.

Basically this yellow tab is the location of the lovely Kasimatis Suites, the hotel we were staying in.

What time of day was the photo taken?

18:23. Yep an actual sunset. And this image was part of a sequence of images capturing the entire sunset for at least an hour.

What photography gear did I use to get the shot
- Beer. I was at the hotel so had a beer on the go – most excellent.
- Canon 6D
- Canon 70 – 200mm F4 L Lens (focal length used 70mm)
- Manfrotto 190 Go tripod with geared head
- Peak Design Everyday Backpack
- Loupe Viewer
- No hat required (I need a cap)
- Oakley sunglasses
- Flip flops
What camera settings did I use?
- Aperture F8
- Shutter speeds 1 second, 1/4 second and 4 seconds.
- ISO 400
- Back-button focus
- Focal length 70mm
- AV Mode
- 10 second self-timer
- RAW format
I will say this again. F8 is my go to aperture. F8 is the sweet spot on my Canon 70-200mm lens, and gives me the sharpest images. And also for a shot like this depth of field is less of a worry so this was just fine.

And look at the exposure times. 1 second, 1/4 second, 4 seconds. I stuck with an ISO of 400 to keep the noise in the image down, giving me longer shutter speeds. But as I was taking photos on a study tripod on solid ground not a problem. No blur in the image (apart from the boat coming round the headland that is).

One interesting fact about the image.

I took 80 photos in total during this sunset, starting at 4:54pm and working through to 6:29pm. This was how long the sunset lasted, and also how long I had with that great light looking out from the hotel and surrounding locations in Imerovigli to the west and into the lovely lovely setting sun.

And, obviously, this was my favourite photo from that sequence.

Is there a behind the scenes video of this shoot?

No.

How did I process the image?

This is the RAW image – check out that sensor spot to the right – that has to go (which of course it did). And look how dull flat and lifelss the RAW image is. But all the base data is there that I need to create the photo at the top of this post.

And this is the image having been processed in Lightroom (I know the dust sensor spot is still there).

You can see most of the processing that I carried out to this image in the screenshot.And you can also see that the reproduction of the colours is realistic – I have just emphasised what was there, rather than doing any funky Photoshop trickery. That is not what I am about.

Talking of Photoshop this image was finished off in Photoshop removing that hideous sensor spot and any other distractions and errors.

What could I have done to improve the image?

I didn’t like the wider composition. Could I have done a tighter crop? Well lets see.

Not sure if that is better or not. Actually it is fine either way – sometimes a change in composition can make a difference, sometimes not so much.

And what are my thoughts on this image?

Well doing that tighter crop got me thinking, which is never a good thing.

Either way I love the sunset colours and the depth the other islands give this image.

A great way for me to finish my sequence of photos of Santorini.

Enough of me – what do you think of this image?

One last time (for now) – what do you think of this sunset view of Oia from Imerovigli?

And do you prefer the cropped imaged?

Please let me know – I love hearing what you all think of my photographs.

And I hope that you have enjoyed this post and my other posts all about my photos of Santorini.

Now that my work here is nearly done please check out my other travel photography website Paxos Travel Guide, which should be completed by the end of December 2018.

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
26/10/2018
Santorini picture locations – what is the best view of Oia?
A lovely view of Oia from the top of the Santorini Caldera. This photo was taken late morning and shows the lovely flat sea and the reflection of the the colours of Oia on that lovely flat sea. The small Greek Island of Sikinos can be seen in the background

Santorini has many great locations to take photos, and many great locations to take photos of. Oia is one of those locations that is a great subject to photograph.

So what is the best view of Oia? In my opinion this view from the top of the caldera is the best view of Oia, showing the small town perched on the end of the caldera. This is one of my favourite pictures of Santorini.

This is one of the reasons I love taking pictures of the Greek Islands – some of them are small enough that you can photograph a winderful scene and then walk to it!

Why do I like this photo so much?

It is the flat blue water that makes the image for me. The reflections of the white buildings of Oia shimmering off the flat blue sea. And with such a clear blue sky the sea has that lovely deep blue colour symbolic of Greece.

The different textures in the water make this image so appealing to me – I find the scene so wonderfully relaxing. I can imagine being sat on a balcony on top of the Santorini caldera with a cold beer looking out on this scene. And that for me is what travel photography is all about – creating images that make you want to be there.

How did I decide on this composition?

I was trying to get somewhere else to take a photo, but I kept looking over towards Oia, constantly watching the sea as it changed over the course of the morning. I had to stop as the sea had reached this wonderful flat state.

I knew I wanted some different photos in my set of images of Santorini. It is not just about the sunrise and sunset on Santorini – there is much more in-between.

So this was not an intentional photo, I just had to stop to take it.

It was an easy capture – pretty much what you see is what I was looking at and exactly what I wanted to capture. Sometimes I can spend a long time on a composition, and sometimes it is a pretty instant thing, like with this image.

Sometimes we all need to remember that photography is about taking photos, not a technical exercise.

Where was the photo taken?

The GPS co-ordinates were not recorded on my Canon 6D but I know where the photo was taken by back tracking the day’s activities. Here is the location cunningly marked on the screenshot from the Map Module of Lightroom.

Santorini photo location

In the background you can see the island of Sikinos. When I return to Santorini one thing I want to do is charter a boat and have a look at some of these tiny uninhabited islands from which there shold be some great views looking back to Santorini.

What time of day was the photo taken?

9:45am. About 5 ½ hours after I got up. And I was on the move up the caldera to find a location for the next morning. Before I go back for a quick breakfast that is. I was fuelled on snacks and not enough fluid – a point for another time!

What photography gear did I use to get the shot
- Canon 6D
- Canon 24 – 105mm F4 L Lens (focal length used 17mm)
- Manfrotto 190 Go tripod with geared head
- Loupe Viewer
- No hat – it was long after sunrise
- Oakley sunglasses
- Red shoes (feet dreading the day ahead)
- Not enough snacks or water
I used the Canon 24 – 105mm lens as I was walking from one location to another. This lens as such a great focal length which is great when walking about – on some trips I have just taken this lens and been absolutely fine so if I need to travel light this is my go to lens.

Im ny Peak Design Everyday Backpack I also had the Canon 17 – 40 and 70 – 200mm lenses.

What camera settings did I use?
- Aperture F16
- Shutter speeds 1/500th second, 1/2100th second and 1/125th second.
- ISO 400
- Back-button focus
- Focal length 84mm
- AV Mode
- 10 second self-timer
- RAW format
One interesting fact about the image.

I took this one photo and that was it. Just one image capture and then I kept on walking.

Is there a behind the scenes video of this shoot?

No – I stopped moving from one place to another to get this shot. And at that time the last thing on my mind would have been taking a video!

How did I process the image?

This is the main processing in Lightroom, using the Basic and HSL panels

How I processed one of my images of Santorini

What am I trying to achieve with my processing? I am trying to recreate the scene that I was looking at before I raised my camera to my eye. The scene that made me want to take a photo.

I am not doing anything fancy in Lightroom and Photoshop – I am just trying to make the content of the image look the best I can.

I am trying to enhance the features within the image.

And finally I am correcting all the errors introduced at the time of image capture, and anything that is creeping in at the edges.

And having done all this I want viewers to look at my photo and not think – that was a great job in Photoshop! My image editing should be so subtle and natural that you don’t think of it when looking at one of my photos.

What could I have done to improve the image?

To be honest this is the scene I remember looking at, so I am happy with the photo. But lets be critical here.

Well having the actual GPS co-ordinates would have made it better for me, but that is just me. No-one else cares.

Got it. Over to the right on the top of the caldera is a building which is cut off by the composition. I could have composed it better so there was land at no half building there. And of course I could just remove it in Photoshop.

Would anyone else care? Probably not. I have looked at this image numerous times and only when ansering this question did I come up with this point.

And that is why i have this question in each and every post – it forces me to look at the final image critically as part of my writing – it is important that I do this so I learn for future shoots.

And what are my thoughts on this image?

I like it. It is not one of your run of the mill photos of Santorini. I have looked at lots of pictures of the Greek Islands, and feel that this image represents this part of the island really well.

Enough of me – what do you think of this image?

Let me know your thoughts not only on this image but also my thoughts – do you agree with what I have written about this image, and do you have any questions about the image capture or image processing?

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
12/10/2018