There are many great views on the walk from Imerovigli along the top of the caldera to Oia at the end of the island.
But what is the best view from Oia? This is my favourite view from Oia looking back towards Imerovigli and over to the right Fira, with a bit of Oia bathed in the early evening sunlight.
Why do I like this photo so much?
I know I have said this quite a few times but I am loving the fact that the images I am publishing on this website are not your typical photos of Santorini. Sorry – that was a completely conincidental (and indeed unnecessary) use of the keyword which is in the URL for this website.
Sorry where was I? Oh yes, why do I like this photo of the view from Oia looking towards Omervigli and Fira perched on the top of the mass of the Santorini Caldera so much?
Well it is a different viewpoint. And I find that this is quite a common thong with me – quite a lot of the photos that I have published are not images that are displayed that often.
This is not a conscious thing. Well that is not strictly true, not going to the photo locations on Santorini which are the most popoluar ones is a conscious decision.
As is the decision not to study the photos others have taken of Santorini – I like to get to a new location with a clear mind and not other peoples images cluttering my vision.
No there is no science attached to this – these are just photos that I like.
Back to this image.
I love the white buildings sat on top of the caldera – the relative scales of the two tell a story. And I also love that raking golden pre-sunset light warming the face of the caldera.
And finally getting a little bit of Oia in the foreground gives the image a sense of depth and places the three towns relative to each other.
How did I decide on this composition?
This is the panoramic view from Oia taken on my iPhone.
I wanted to get a little bit of Oia in the foreground, which would give depth and scale to the image. I wanted Oia, Imerovigli and Fira in the same shot.
And I wanted the view looking back from Oia to the main body of the caldera and the main part of the Greek Island of Santorini.
The sky was the sky on the day and time that I took that image – you can’t have perfect white fluffy clouds exactly as you want them every time you take a photo.
This was a relatively straightforward composition, I just had to get as far from the main footpath as possible to eliminate all that stuff that you can see in the panoramic image.
Where was the photo taken?
The photo was taken from Oia looking back towards Imerovigli. We had walked that afternoon all the way from Imerovigli, which was a spectacular and very enjoyable experience.
What time of day was the photo taken?
5:02pm. This photo was taken at the end of the walk from Imerovigli to Oia. This was very much pre-drinks time.
What photography gear did I use to get the shot?
- Canon 6D
- Canon 24 – 105mm F4 L Lens
- Hanheld – my Manfrotto 190 Go tripod with geared head was in my bag. Yes I carried it all the way from Imerovigli to Oia.
- Peak Design Everyday Backpack
- Loupe Viewer
- No red hat – by now I needed a cap (but did not have one)
- Oakley sunglasses (which by this time felt like they had been welded to my face)
- Red shoes (feet destroyed)
- Pre-beer photo – might have been a bit rushed!
What camera settings did I use?
- Aperture F22
- Shutter speeds 1/160th second, 1/640th second and 1/40th second.
- ISO 400
- Back-button focus
- Focal length 40mm
- AV Mode
- 10 second self-timer
- RAW format
40mm focal length! Now that is unusual for me and tells me that the composition was a very deliberate act to go with such a specific focal length.
Now I know that F22 gives the maximum depth of field but F16 should have been fine with that composition at a focal length of 40mm.
One interesting fact about the image.
It was taken at the end of a walk from Imerovigli. We were going to walk back but there is an excellent bus service that took us both back to Imerovigli for less then 10 euros. And this bus trip gave us a great view of the eastern coast of the island.
Sorry not really that interesting a fact was it?
Erm – I took this photo from near the path from Imerovigli to Oia. I had to get off the main path to get this view.
And there was a really good bar on the opposite side of the footpath.
I had a beer and some nuts.
I think I’d better stop here…
Is there a behind the scenes video of this shoot?
No. All I have is this iPhone photo of a simlar view. Not quite the same is it.
How did I process the image?
This is the processing that I did in Lightroom to the file created by merging the three bracketed images.
Most of the processing for this image was done in the basic and HSL panels in Lightroom as you can see above.
Getting the white balance correct was crucial to the success of this image. To do this I found a piece of cloud that was a neutral grey, containing similar values of red, green and blue.
I used the targtetted adjustment tool to make a custom white balance selection which gave the image the correct amount ot warmth.
All I then needed to do in Photoshop was remove dust sensor spots and an ugly building bottom left which was spoiling the corner (in the shadows I hasted to add!).
But that kind of removal is fair enough to me.
And what are my thoughts on this image?
I like this image as it shows the relative locations of Oia, Imerovigli and Santorini.
And it also gives a great view of those famous white buildings of Santorini perched on the top of the caldera of.
The late rafternoon sunlight makes this image, giving a warm glow and a lovely contrast to the lights and shadows.
Finally, what could I have done to improve the image?
Those shadows bottom right bother me. OK I meant bottom left.
I wish they weren’t there. I couldn’t crop in, but I could remove them in Photoshop.
And that is where there is a question – the shadows were there when I was pointing my camera at that particular scene – should I remove them or not?
Enough from me – what do you think of this image?
Yes you have heard enough from me – please give me your thoughts on this photo of the view from Oia looking towards Imerovigli and Fira on the Greek Island of Santorini.
And do you think it is ok to remove the shadows bottom left to make the image nicer?
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
