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Author Topic: Greek Islands  (Read 9281 times)

DaveCurtis

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Greek Islands
« on: January 04, 2012, 06:25:25 pm »

Has anyone had any experience travelling to the Greek Islands.

From a photographic point of view which islands would you choose. My interest include, landscape and street/doco style. I enjoy shooting the locals going about the daily business in the older rustic areas.

I was thinking - Santorini, Rhodes, Crete and perhaps Mykonos.


Thanks
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langier

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2012, 09:04:59 pm »

I was there for the first time in late Sept. and early Oct. Went to the Cyclades, starting at Santorini and then to Anafi, Paros, Folegandros, and Syros. Great trip with a good photographer and expert on the Greek Islands, Glenn Steiner (www.greekislandworkshops.com).

He's been to about 60 of the islands over the past couple of decades and also writes for Lonely Planet about the isles.

For street shooting with my limited experience both Santorini and Syros, landscapes (cultural landscapes) were best in Santorini, Anafi and Folegandros.

In Folegandros, we were there off-season (limited but cheaper rooms, fewer open restaurants, fewer people). I rented a quad and drove around the island and had a blast! Everywhere, the people were nice and friendly.

Lots of good shooting, I can tell you. I was averaging 1000 frames/day.

To go between the islands, best bet are the ferries, but can be hit-and-miss during the off-season and can be cancelled due to the winds, especially the high-speed ferries. If you are flexible, show up and you'll find transportation and lodging with little problem.

I hope to go back sometime and Crete seems to be a good place to try next.

When Glenn and I departed after island hopping, I headed back to Athens and my flight home and he continued to Mykonos and got some nice pix!

IMO, I'd say if you spent a few days on any of your islands, you'll get some great stuff, meet friendly people, eat great food, enjoy nice wine and find a good place to stay!

Check out Glenn's stuff, read the Lonely Planet guide to the islands, plan on lots of time and don't set a hard schedule.

Have a great trip!
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DaveCurtis

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2012, 11:11:12 pm »

Thanks for the tips Larry.

Plenty for me to research there!

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budjames

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2012, 06:39:40 am »

The Greek Islands and the people are great! My wife and I spent our honeymoon 23 years ago visiting the Greek islands on a cruise. We also spend 4 days on a land tour visiting the various antiquities. It was awesome and the dollar went far back then against the Greek Drachma.

Fast forward to this summer, we revisited a few Greek islands as part of a 2 week Mediterranean family vacation cruise that started in Venice, and stopped in Croatia, Greece, Italy again and then ended in Barcelona, Spain. It was awesome!  I shot over 5,000 images mostly with my Canon 5D MkII with a Canon 24-105 f4 L, Zeiss 21mm f2.8 and Zeiss 50mm f1.4 lenses. I also shot images from the ship with my Canon 70-300 f4/5.6 L.

The summer cruise was also the "maiden voyage" for my brand new 13" MacBook Air i7 4GB with 256 GB SSD. I used Lightroom to organize and backup images during the cruise. Although the MBAir did an admirable job with LR, what I quickly realized is how slooooowwww external drives via a USB connection can be. My previous Macbook Pro had Firewire 800, so I missed the speed. I cannot wait until OtherWorldComputing starts offering their excellent Mercury to Go drives with a Thunderbolt connection. Then, my SSD external drives will really shine.

You can see some of my portfolio created during my last visit on my web site: http://www.budjamesphotography.com

Make sure that you bring sun screen and drink lots of water. And, enjoy the Santorini wines if you get to that island. Otherwise, have a great trip!!!.

Cheers.
Bud
« Last Edit: January 05, 2012, 06:44:19 am by budjames »
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JohnBrew

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2012, 07:15:57 am »

I've been to all four islands you mention. Personally I recommend Santorini and Mykonos as providing the most variety and opportunity. I was excited by Rhodes but disappointed by the street shooting. Don't miss chances to go exploring on your own and you'll come back with something other than the standard tourist stuff.

DaveCurtis

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2012, 02:12:20 pm »

Regarding Rhodes - thanks John. That's interesting. If you haven't been to these places before it is a little hit and miss with so many islands.

I will be taking my 1DS3 and 3 or 4 zeiss primes (21/2.8, 35/2, 50MP and perhaps 100MP) and my trusty 24-105mm. Not sure whether I will take the 70-200mm f2.8. May try to keep the weight down a little and I dont want to scare the locals.

Yes, Lightroom on the go is the ticket. 

Looking forward to the Greek wine. I'll see how it compares to the NZ wine  :)

The Nex-7 and the new Conurus Canon EF adapter might be an option too.




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JohnBrew

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2012, 02:56:36 pm »

Dave, perhaps I should clarify why I was disappointed in Rhodes. When I was there (Sept. ten years ago) I didn't see the street vendor activity or colorful displays and interaction with the locals and tourists which can produce interesting shots, as a matter of fact what I recall most about Rhodes was simply the lack of color anywhere so I shot mostly bw film there. I got some great shots in Mykonos when I went inside one of the famous windmills and shot the landscape. I spent a week on Santorini and covered the entire island in a pos rent car. Akrotiri (sp?) and its beach cafes offer some great shots especially at sundown. And if you have time don't ignore the beach resorts on the north side, too many people focus on the caldera. Oia is terrific for the blue-domed churches and white-washed houses, but I thought the famed sunset there was a bit over-hyped by the tourist bureau and got better shots near the lighthouse on the southeastern end (and nobody else around, either!).
Have fun!

Oh, I'd leave the 70-200 home. Just too much weight to lug around, IMO.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2012, 02:59:17 pm by JohnBrew »
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DaveCurtis

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2012, 04:33:05 pm »

Thanks John, that's great. I think sunsets tend to be over-hyped in many places by the tourist bureaus

Did you get some good BW shots in Rhodes ?

When I went to Europe last which was to Venice, Cinque Terra and Provence, my 70-200mm f2.8 was the least used.

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geotzo

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2012, 05:25:45 pm »

Hi there,
may I ask when do you plan your trip, so I could give you some "insider's info". I live in Athens six months a year (I am Greek), and I have been traveling for photographic projects
around famous and less known islands for some years. Do you have a specific plan or are you free to go anywhere you like? Give me some more info and I ll get back to you.
Kind regards,
George
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DaveCurtis

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2012, 09:59:04 pm »

George, We will probably go in the northern hemisphere spring to see the spring flowers but flexible here.  We have no plan as yet. Pretty much free to go anywhere. I would probably want to avoid mid summer.

thanks
Dave
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stever

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2012, 11:44:42 pm »

spring is good (and fall probably) -- mid summer is too crazy unless that's what you want

Santorini is fantastic because it has so many landscape aspects as well streets - and the wines are great

Rhodes was also not my favorite with more development and more tourists, but there were plenty of opportunities on all the islands i visited - Mykonos, Delos (ruins), Syros, Naxos

i found long lens opportunities as well, but i like the size and weight of the 70-200 f4 and 1.4xiii for travel
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DaveCurtis

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2012, 01:39:25 pm »

Thanks Stever, Yes I'm sure there would be longer lens oppurtunities as well.

Naxos looks interesting.
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geotzo

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2012, 05:42:30 am »

Sorry for the delay but it's been crazy,
time wise I would prefer late spring, say May. You don't want to get there earlier,
as there will be less local transportation and ferries from island to island. Colors have their best palettes then as spring kicks in a bit later than usual.
Should you want to get some real life moments in your lens, you have to avoid big and famous
islands like Rhodes. To me even Santorine is spoiled, but then again I have been visited the island since the 80's
where there where no swimming pools and bars around every alley. On the other hand, if you have never been there the view is very nice and the volcanic colors are great.
Places I would visit would be Amorgos, Anafi, Astipalea, Folegandros, Mylos and Kalimnos. Most of them are often connected by the same ferry routes and are kinda close to each other (though it can take a few hours to get from one island to another, depending on the ferry).
If you do get to Rhodes you can try Symi, a close little island with beautiful architecture. Amorgos, Anafi, Astipalea and Folegandros, combine typical white-painted Cycladian minimal architecture, combined with some of the most spectacular view of the Mediterranean sea.
You can discover more original scenery of every day life in their main villages (like "chora" of Amorgos). Kalimnos, the island of sponge-divers, is a great destination too. In Mylos, you can find some alien-like landscape scenery, because of its volcanic origins and natural resources, a truly unique place for landscapes (not so for tradition).
The small islands of Anafi, Astipalea and Folagandros are less known and offer good reportage and landscape opportunities.
Plan well, as transportation can be problematic and let me know which places you will be visiting, so I can tell you more specific spots.
Kind regards,
George

Attachment: Cyclades in Spring
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jeremyrh

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2012, 09:51:43 am »

I have been to Greece more or less every year for the last 30 years. My first reaction would be Crete. It is less dependent on tourism and has retained much more of the traditional life. In addition it has more varied landscapes reachable by car.

Santorini is a lovely place, but unless your street photography focuses on streets full of cruise ship passengers you may be disappointed.

I am interested to see examples of travel shots of Greece that go beyond windmills and cats :-)
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geotzo

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2012, 10:10:03 am »

I have been to Greece more or less every year for the last 30 years. My first reaction would be Crete. It is less dependent on tourism and has retained much more of the traditional life. In addition it has more varied landscapes reachable by car.

Santorini is a lovely place, but unless your street photography focuses on streets full of cruise ship passengers you may be disappointed.

I am interested to see examples of travel shots of Greece that go beyond windmills and cats :-)
Crete is a nice place with many hidden beauties, if you want to stick in one place though, because of it's size. That's my opinion about Santorini too, but it is still nice for a short visit.
I believe I would want to try a few different destinations around Cyclades if I was to visit the place for a first time, this is why I did not mention the big targets like Crete and Rhodes.
 
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Rob C

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2012, 01:08:48 pm »

I have been to Greece more or less every year for the last 30 years. My first reaction would be Crete. It is less dependent on tourism and has retained much more of the traditional life. In addition it has more varied landscapes reachable by car.

Santorini is a lovely place, but unless your street photography focuses on streets full of cruise ship passengers you may be disappointed.

I am interested to see examples of travel shots of Greece that go beyond windmills and cats :-)




If my CanoScan was still working - or is it the computer connection that's AWOL? - I'd show you plenty of piccies other than of cats and windmills; in fact, I could show you dozens of shots of lovely little villages completely covered in a fine dust of embroidery. At least, I assume there are lovely villages beneath the cotton.

Tourism rapes everything.

Rob C

langier

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2012, 04:52:47 pm »

Here are some of the photos from my trip to Santorini and Anafi:

Santorini: http://angier-fox.photoshelter.com/gallery/Santorini-Thira-Greece/G0000VI.iRgrpmyc

Anafi: http://www.photoshelter.com/mem/gallery/gallery-show?G_ID=G0000n6JwyV5HGSY

Though for the most part, the cats were great to shoot but the windmills had no sails.

Two islands down and uploaded, three to go–Paros, Syros and Folegandros, my favorite of the trip!
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Larry Angier
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jeremyrh

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2012, 05:21:21 am »

These are some more interesting Greek photographers, taken at random from my favorites file. No cats, windmills or, indeed, whitewashed churches :-)

http://photomarenostrum.blogspot.com/search/label/Athens

http://sandrakrimba.blogspot.com/

http://pavlidispavlos.blogspot.com/

http://www.lukasvasilikos.com/

http://jfotini.blogspot.com/

http://www.photoskiasi.com/
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DaveCurtis

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2012, 08:51:47 pm »

Thanks for the update George.

Those less well known islands look like good photographic options.
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hasselbladfan

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Re: Greek Islands
« Reply #19 on: January 30, 2012, 12:26:01 pm »

I am personally a fan of Mykonos.

In case you go, I can get you in contact with a nice Greek lady, who can help you with the logistics. She specializes on photographic assignments and knows the island inside-out.
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