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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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unseen

Time for another addition the foundation series! Yay!

This is the 7th picture in the series. I shot it in August while my boyfriend and I stayed at his aunt’s house for a couple of days. I spotted this piece of furniture in the bedroom and I immediately decided to shoot something with it, so I came up with this idea. After all a mirror is the go to prop when the theme is the relationship with yourself, right? I happened to also have the mask with me, so I climbed on and this is the result.

unseen

unseen

I didn’t have to do much compositing this time, only the reflection of my face with the mask on. That is actually why I decided to work on this picture, because I knew I wouldn’t have the time to work on anything more demanding right now. I am in the middle of moving to our new home, so I ‘ve been very busy packing and making all kinds of arrangements. I have been dealing with this move for a couple of months now and if you’ve ever had to move, you surely know how exhausting this process is. Hopefully it will all be over by next week and we can get on with business as usual. Right now the house is of full of boxes and it doesn’t feel like a home anymore, which is rather sad, but who knows? Maybe I can make a couple of pictures out of this situation! Let’s see what happens…

Be sure to follow me on facebook for links to my photography articles on Artcore Magazine, news and before/after photos of my pictures!

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the shipwreck

Time for another picture from Kythera. This one was taken on my last day there. I was driving around exploring parts of the island where I hadn’t been yet, when I arrived at the island’s port, Diakofti. As I was driving down towards the village, I spotted this shipwreck. I remembered reading somewhere about it, but I had completely forgotten about it. The moment I saw it from above, I was more than excited! The sky was full with beautiful clouds, it was windy and the light was perfect. I drove as close to the shipwreck as I could, and got out of my car.

The area was completely empty, there wasn’t a single soul to be seen. This can be a little frightening, but at the same time so liberating! I set my tripod and camera and then I realized I had left my remote in the car. I decided to just use the 10 second timer, which proved to be more difficult than I imagined. You see, I was standing on what appears to be some kind of salt formation. There were even some signs that informed people not to damage the salt. Setting the tripod was a challenge on its own, but running back and forth on that kind of terrain was completely ridiculus! Well in the end I managed to focus correctly and I got a couple of shots that I really liked. Of course, by the end I really regretted not going back to the car to get the remote! Lesson learned.

the shipwreck

the shipwreck

At first I couldn’t choose between the two poses. I liked both of them for different reasons. When I asked my boyfriend for his advice, he proposed I combine them and so I did. I think having them both in the picture adds to the mystery. And these clouds… I can’t get over how beautiful they were that day!

I still have sooo many pictures to edit. I am going to take it slowly, while my calendar gets filled with all sorts of obligations. Oh well, if only there were more hours in a day, right?

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the door

I’m back from Kythera, where I participated in the Young Photograhers Exhibition, a part of the Kythera Photographic Encounters. The event lasted three days and it included a number of exhibitions and also a photography convention. I have to admit my visit there did not live up to my expectations for a number of reasons, but it was a valueable experience nonetheless and I got to explore the island and make a few new pictures.

The following picture was taken near a waterfall that is called “Neraida”, which actually means fairy, or “Fonissa”, which means murderess. I am not quite sure about the origin of those names, but the place was really beautiful and immersed in nature. When I got there, there was no one else around except one guy sitting in a bench and drinking a beer by the waterfall. I snapped a couple of pictures there and then I decided to further explore the area. I walked around and I discovered some stairs leading up to the road. There were a few abandoded buildings there and as I was wandering on my own, it felt as is the place was haunted. I stopped and set up my tripod and then I started my usual weirdness. I believe this image fully demonstrates the feeling I got while I was there.

the door

the door

I have many pictures that await editing and I’ll do my best to edit them as soon as I can, although I am currently searching for a new home to move into, which is proving to be challenging. Don’t forget to like my facebook page, to receive all my updates!

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summer and seashells

It feels like ages since I last uploaded a new picture, so this week I was determined to make time and edit as many as I could. It was not an easy task, since the last couple of weeks I have been swamped at work, I had to prepare prints for two exhibitions and also I had to start looking for a new home to move into. It’s been a really busy month for me so far and it has also been a bizzare combination of positive and negative situations. All in all, I feel that I’m in good place with my photography right now, I am really anxious to edit all the pictures I took during the summer and I can’t wait to shoot even more.

I started editing my seashell related concepts first, since they are closely related to summer, which is now leaving us. I thought it was best to publish these before the weather got colder, because I thought it would seem irrelevant to release them later.

While I was on vacation I wanted to make the best out of all my free time so I shot like crazy. During my stay at my hometown, I decided to use my big sister as a model, in a photoshoot including two beautiful big seashells from the Carribean. My sister spent some time working in Guadeloupe as a doctor, and we bought the seashells when we were visiting her. I liked that she somehow had a connection with them. We did the photoshoot in a nice beach that is close to my hometown. After we enjoyed a nice swim, we moved towards a more secluded part of the beach, together with all the necessary equipment, clothes and of course the seashells. Unfortunately my remote was broken at the time, so there was a lot of running back and forth for me. My sis accepted all my strange requests, she changed into two different dresses, wore a long wig and stood in the water with a blindfold on. I managed to shoot both the pictures I had planned and they turned out like I had imagined them, so I am quite pleased.

The last picture was taken during my holiday in Chalkidiki. We stayed there with my boyfriend for five days and had the chance to really empty our minds and get some rest. The beaches were lovely and I just had to take advantage of that. My remote was still broken so my boyfriend was responsible of pressing the button at my request, while I was posing. We stayed at the beach until the sun went down so I could get the kind of light I wanted. I lied on a part of the beach which was right next to the stairs that people used to come and go, so I received a lot of strange looks. I had brought the seashells with me, because I really wanted to do something with them. I usually keep them in two little frames in my home. I also used them for one more shoot, but it is more complicated so it won’t be ready for upload for quite some time.

This week I am off to Kythera to attend my exhibition, so when I get back I suppose that I will have stories to tell and pictures to show! You can keep an eye for updates on my facebook page and instagram!

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the sweet tooth – exhibition in Thessaloniki’s Chocolate Factory and Museum

Happy autumn everyone! I’m back from my summer holidays and athough most people feel depressed this time of year – you know rainy days, going back to work/school – I find myself feeling full of excitement and positivity. It helps that I had some amazing news regarding my photography during the past few weeks.

I created this to enter a competition held by the Photography Center of Thessaloniki in collaboration with the Chocolate Factory and Museum that is opening its gates shortly in Thessaloniki. The theme was of course chocolate, which proved to be very difficult for me. I wanted to create an image that would fit my style and at the same time include chocolate somehow. I only had about five days for planning, shooting and editing, so I also had to keep it simple. I have to admit my head almost exploded from trying to come up with something suitable for me. If you look at my portfolio, you will probably understand why.

After rejecting a lot of ideas due to lack of time or suitable props, I finally decided to do my take on one of Magritte’s paintings, “the magician”. I tried to recreate the painting replacing the foods with chocolate and cookies and of course milk instead of wine! Magritte is probably my favorite artist of all times, I absolutely adore his works and I was fortunate enough to admire some of them when I visited Brussels a couple of years ago. He is a constant inspiration, so I thought why not pay my tribute to him in this way?

the magician, by Rene Magritte

the magician, by Rene Magritte

Last night I found out that the picture made it and will be displayed inside Thessaloniki’s chocolate factory from September 6th until March! This is the first time one of my images is part of an exhibition so I am enormously excited and proud! Also I feel very strange that so many people will be looking at my work, not to mention that I am clearly very recognizable in this picture!
Please follow my facebook page to stay up to date with all my news, because I have even more exciting things to share with you really soon!

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tug of war

Tug of war is an ancient game, once included even in the Olympics. For me it’s a memory from childhood, when we used to gather and play. I was looking for a way to symbolize the fights we give with our own self as an opponent, so I thought this game would suit my purpose. My goal was to show that these fights can have no winners, after all how can you be the winner if you are also the loser? This image is another addition to my “foundation” series, which so far consists of six images, including this one. I have more concepts based on the relationship with oursleves and I will keep on creating images for this series, because I find it very challenging and inspiring.

 

tug of war

tug of war

The was shot in a field somewhere near my boyfriend’s village. I had a specific image in my head about what it should look like, so we drove around a little and spotted this field which was perfect. This was right next to the sunflower field where I shot “sleeping suns“, so as soon as I had the shots I needed for this one, we ran across to the other field so I could shoot the second picture before it became dark. I’m happy with how they both turned out and mostly I am happy that I have been able to shoot frequently in the past few weeks.

Last week I spent some days in my father’s village, which is in the mountains, and I spent every day wandering in the forest on my own and shooting. I shot many new pictures and it was a struggle to organize them, so I can begin processing them. Here’s a sneak peak for you!

importing new pictures in lightroom

importing new pictures in lightroom

These new pictures were all shot with my new 50mm lens! I decided to buy one, because I really feel it’s time for me to upgrade my equipment. And since I can’t afford a new camera right now, I thought I’d invest on a new lens. I am really liking it so far, although it took some getting used to, because so far I only had zoom lenses, so using a prime one was new for me.

I have more photoshoots planned for the next weeks and I will also be taking some time off from work in late August, so I can have plenty of material to work on! Be sure to follow my facebook page, so you can stay updated on everything!

nocturnal

Tonight there is a full moon up in the sky, so I thought it’s perfect time for me to share an image I have been working on lately!

I had this idea about making an image of someone being up on a ladder that reached to the moon. I didn’t put any more thought to it, until back in April when I visited my family for Easter and I saw this wooden ladder my dad uses mostly for painting. I thought it would fit perfectly for what I had in mind, so I decided to go for it. The only problem was, that there was no one available to go out shooting with me and I could not carry the ladder around on my own. So, I decided to shoot a picture of myself climbing the ladder and later composite it in another picture. The only place with enough light where I could do this was the front balcony. I placed the ladder, put on an old robe that my mother has, and started climbing and shooting. I have to tell you that my house is on a very busy road, overlooking a park, so once again, it must have been a delight for the neighbours and all the innocent bystanders to watch me act like a crazy person. Luckily it didn’t take that much time.

I already had a picture of the moon from last year, which I thought was quite ok, so all I needed was the right landscape shot. While going through my archives, I discovered this landscape that I had shot while going for a late evening ride with my boyfriend on New Year’s day. I thought it was perfect for what I had in time, so then it was Photoshop time. This is the first time I was doing something like this and I wanted to make it look as good as possible, so I took it rather slow. All in all, it was quite challenging, but I am quite pleased with the result. Although I must admit, I would choose shooting on location anytime!

Special thanks goes to my boyfriend for helping me improve the ladder position. I actually duplicated the ladder layer to make it look as if I were on a double ladder, so it wasn’t very easy creating the right angle and such.

I’d love your feedback on this and if you have any tips on this kind of compositing, feel free to share!

I wish you a lovely evening under the moonlight!

sleeping suns

Last week I dragged my boyfriend to some fields to do a photoshoot for the “foundation” series, that I had in mind for some time now. Since we had the time, I wanted to do a second shoot in a sunflower field. This time of year you can see sunflower fields everywhere, so I thought it would be a shame if I didn’t shoot in one. They are just so beautiful and so…yellow! They say that sunflowers always turn towards the sun, so when the sun goes down, they look down too, like they are going to sleep. So, the idea was that I would stand among them, as if I were sleeping too.

A rather simple concept, but I really really adore those sunflowers and it felt really good to just stand inside a field and take pictures of myself like a crazy person. Having my boyfriend around made things much easier in terms of safety, although there was not a soul around. Still, I feel better when he is with me! I enjoyed this experience so much that I would love to do this every single day if I could!

While trying to think of a title, I did some research on sunflowers and found out that they don’t actually turn towards the sun, rather they are always pointed to the east, which makes them very useful for navigation purposes. Who knew?