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escapology

Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. I chose this as the title for my most recent addition to the “foundation” series. It’s been too long since I made a picture for this series! I have decided that I want to complete it soon and it is going to be my priority from now on. There are two more pictures I want to shoot and then the series will be complete.

escapology

escapology

This also happens to be the first self portrait I shot during my pregnancy. I am five months now and soon I will be getting too big, so I want to try and shoot the rest of the pictures really soon. Let’s hope I can manage that!

If you want to see all of the “founation” images in one place you can visit my facebook page either my flickr profile. And you can also hit like or follow while you’re there! 😉

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windsong

This image is the last one from the “Voyage to Kythera” series. It was taken in one of the island’s most famous beaches, Kaladi beach. It is a rather secluded beach, so I had to drive on dirtroads and climb down several stone steps to reach it, but its beauty is well worth it! Unfortunately, on the day I went there it was really windy and the sea was not so inviting, so I prefered not to take a swim. This beach actually consists of three smaller beaches, which are linked. There is even a cave that leads from the second to the third beach and that was the main reason I absolutely wanted to go. But I could only see the cave from the first beach, since the waves made it impossible for me to go there, even without my camera. This is how the cave looks. Inviting, isn’t it?

kaladi

There was such wild beauty in this place, I loved it instantly! I would have loved to stay there and just stare at the sea, but as I said it was a secluded area and, except for a couple that defied the waves and was enjoying their swin, I was alone there so I got sppoked. I took some pictures and then I left, hoping I can someday return and pay a visit to that cave!

When I started editing my picture I realized I had made some mistakes while shooting, which could not easily be fixed and I got very disappointed. I thought about burying the pictures, but then I remembered how wonderful it felt to stand on that magnificent beach and I decided I wanted to share that. It might not be a masterpiece, but it brings back a nice memory for me and that is enough. Also, you might have noticed that the frame is not square this time! That’s a first for me, maybe it will happen again in the future, who knows?

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the mill

The Kythera series is slowly (and painfully) coming to an end. The same day I was exploring the bridge of Katouni, I set to discover a way to reach an old english school I had read about, the school of Milapidea. After locating it from the road, I attempted to approach it through some very narrow streets where I could hardly drive my rental car. Until luckily I met an old man, who told me there was no road leading there (even though the school is mentioned as a very important monument of the island!) And that I would have to continue on foot. However, the road to the school was guarded by some not so friendly doggies who started to bark at me from a distance, so I decided to turn back feeling very disappointed.

το σχολείο της Μηλαπιδέας

το σχολείο της Μηλαπιδέας | the school of Milapidea

ο ανεμόμυλος

ο ανεμόμυλος | the windmill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wrong turn led me in front of an abandoned windmill. It was at the end of a row of houses and it was standing there all alone and empty, so I stepped out of the car to take a look. Without much thought I decided to take some pictures. Where would I ever find a windmill all to myself?

I confess it was not easy, seeing as I had to set the camera at the mill’s entrance and then go up and down many, many times on the almost collapsed stairs, so I could get a nice frame. All this while I was barefoot and hoping no scorpions or snakes were around! However, it is a unique experience to be able to sit on top of a windmill and to feel absolute calmness and the cooling breeze. After I managed to get some good shots, I took some additional ones of the mill’s sides so I could fill my square frame and I left having completely forgotten the school I didn’t get to photograph.

 

the mill

the mill

 

 

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the bridge

I finally decided to complete my series from Kythera, where I traveled last September!

The bridge in Katouni, Kythera, was built during the island’s British domination and it’s the largest stone bridge ever built in Greece, with a length of 110m, height 15m and width 6m. It’s the biggest structure built by the Brits on the island and the construction was supervised by the island’s commander himself. Legend has it, that the commander had fallen in love with a local girl, so he decided to build the bridge under his own supervision so that he could see her more.

Let me clarify that the bridge is still being used to this day. That means that while I was running back and forth to get my shot, people were crossing above. And since it’s a monument some stopped for pictures too. Luckily there was not much traffic though!

the bridge

the bridge

one hundred years

It has been a while! Well, over a month actually! I’ve been focusing on my master’s thesis a lot, and I am trying to force myself not to think about photography, because I don’t have the time for it, but it is hard not to! I still haven’t had the chance to go out and shoot, but that has given me the opportunity to think of new concepts that I am excited about! Hopefully spring will finally arrive and I will get the chance to shoot.

Last month, my grandfather passed away. He was a little over 100 years old. He has been very weak these last years, but he is now resting in peace. He had a difficult but very full life. He fought wars, he endured hardship and poverty, he supported my grandmother who got sick at a very young age, but he also was blessed with three children, eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He was the person everyone would go to when they wanted to learn stories from the past. He told stories about the war and life in his village, with every detail. And he made the best bread ever!

I felt sad because I couldn’t go to the funeral and I needed to do something. This image immediately came to mind. I shot it last summer, while visiting my grandfathers village. I was wandering in the forest right above our house and decided to take a picture there. I don’t know why I placed the scarf over my head like this, or why I decided to hold these branches. Until now, this picture made no sense to me. I suppose everything makes sense, in time. I started editing it the day he passed away and I wasn’t satisfied until I added the “floating” scarf in post, which I think really emphasizes the feeling of this image.

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upwards

This is from an August afternoon, when I took my big sister and went out to shoot. I had no plan, no idea what I wanted to shoot whatsoever, all I knew was that I wanted to shoot. I had some props with me and I saw these flowers that my mother had in a vase at home. I thought they were pretty, so I took them with me. We went to the place in the lagoon where I also shot “the inner tempest“. So I took my shoes off and started juping here and there. As I said I had no plan, so I let myself be inspired by the location and the props I had available. I have to say this kind of improvisation is quite hard for me. This is one of the shots that I thought were good enough to work on.

I’ve been flirting with levitation shots for quite some time, but I never actually got around to doing one. This seemed like a fine opportunity for something like that, so I took it. It wasn’t until I started working in  photoshop, that I knew what I wanted to do with this picture. I had some shots where I was holding the umbrella down on the ground, so I decided to keep those too and use them for this picture. Had I planned this beforehand, I would have taken more shots of the umbrella on the ground. I think it would look better if there were black umbrellas lying on the ground all over the place. I could try to fake it using the shots I already had, but I didn’t like how it was looking, so I kept is as is.

I replaced the sky, as I usually do and I really think that made the picture come together nicely.

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farewell

Happy new year everyone! In my last post I made a quick resume of 2014, as a way to say goodbye to the year that passed. For the first picture of 2015, I chose one that I took during my summer holidays at the beach. It might be just slightly off season, since it is now the middle of winter, but it is also probably the most technically demanding picture that I have edited.

 

farewell

To understand how much editing went into this I should tell you that the original file I ended up with is over 11 thousand pixels and 2.5 GB big. At some point I had to save it as a psb because psd could not support the size of it. I used three different shots for the main part with the rocks which came together really nicely, but when I expanded it to get a square frame, I was left with a huge blank space where the sky should be. I knew that I had to use a different picture for the sky, but what I didn’t realize right away, was that because the image was already too big, one sky picture was not near enough to fill the space. I could take this one picture and strech it, but it would look really awful. By my calculations, I needed about six different pictures to get the sky right. All this time I would take pictures whenever there was a nice sky, but I never seemed to get it right. Luckily I can see plenty of sky from my new home, so I had the opportunity to get it right finally. It was really helpful that I also discovered how to automatically align layers in photoshop, which saved me tons of time. So finally, it is ready to be shared with the world!

For the moment it seems like I won’t have time to go out shooting anytime soon, but luckily I still have unedited shots from the summer, so I will try to find time to work on them instead.

florescence

I am so happy I spent most of my summer running around with my camera, taking pictures. This one was taken while I stayed at my father’s village, up in the mountains, one of my favorite places in this world.

One afternoon I took my equipment and went for a walk in the forest. My dad came with me so he could go around gathering herbs, like oregano. Our mountain is full of wonderful things like that. So, we came upon this field and of course I set my tripod and started running around like crazy. I tried some things including my black umbrella first, but I didn’t really like the outcome, so it was time for the red sheet to come out. I decided to wave it around so I could later make the fabric look like flower petals. I used the same techinque (and the same sheet) as in “the inner tempest“. I also added the birds later to give my composition more balance. What do you think?

Fun fact: in some of these shots you can actually see my dad entering the frame in the right bottom corner, unsuspicious, gathering herbs and then looking at me, wondering why his youngest daughter is tossing a red sheet around a field. Some cliks later he is gone again leaving me to do my thing. It was really funny to discover this when I uploaded the pictures to my pc.

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everflowing

The last few weeks have been really exhausting for me. I had to move into a new house, which means a lot of running around, packing, unpacking, carrying, cleaning, organizing and anything else that goes with settling into a new home. At last I think we have tied up our loose ends and we can finally start enjoying our new home. That includes me having some time for photography! I haven’t been out to shoot for ages and I miss it so much! Right now I am going to give priority to all my summer pictures that patiently await editing, while planning my next photoshoots. I still haven’t explored my new neighboorhood, but I am really happy that I have an endless view from my balcony which means I can shoot clouds and birds from the comfort of my own home! That’s a big deal!

This picture is another one taken in Kythera while I was there for my exhibition with the Greek Young Photographers. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I cherished my time there, because it felt as if I had the whole island to myself. This feeling was particularly strong when I visited the old watermills. It is a small canyon, submerged in beautiful nature, where dozens of watermills used to be in the old days. There is a hiking path you can follow, that takes you along this amazing scenery. Even though I wasn’t prepared for a hike (I was wearing a dress and sandals!), I started walking along the path, drawn by the beauty and calm of the surroundings. I ended up in this spot where the stream created small waterfalls that poured into calm little ponds. There was not a single sound. Only the water endlessly flowing.

everflowing

everflowing

I wanted to capture the water flow, so I had to use a long exposure time. That however meant that I had to be completely still during the exposure, which can prove to be rather hard when you are standing in ice cold water practically barefoot. After a couple of test shots and some breath holding, I managed to get the result I wanted. In post, I expanded my frame using an extra shot I had taken and I tweaked the colors so i could give the image a more nostalgic feel. What inspired me most about this place was the contrast between its very busy past, being a place full of life and activities with all those watermills that were vital to the island, and its very quiet present, that I was lucky enough to experience. A place that’s been forgotten by people, but that is still alive in its own way.

After taking the picture I decided not to go any further, because not only did I not have the proper clothes and shoes on for the hike, but I also had no cell reception, nobody knew where I was and there was not a single soul around, so I got scared that if anything were to happen to me, no one would know where to find me! That thought was really frightening, so I headed back with a heavy heart, knowing I was missing out on the great beauty that lied ahead. I think this was my favorite spot in the whole island and if  I ever manage to visit it again, the watermills are the first place I’m going back to, with proper shoes and some company however!

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