Santorini - Red Beach Akrotiri 30 th june 2016

This morning we are going to take the bus to Akrotiri , First to Red beach and then to have a look around the Prehistoric City.
                                                            A  Balcony view first :)

                      Arriving at Akrotiri we make our way along the road towards Red Beach.

                                         Stunning coastline with amazing water clarity.

 Red beach ahead of us,  there has been a huge landslide cutting off access to the beach, sometime last year i think , it still looks like it was recent but a narrow path has been dug out to gain entry to the small beach.

                                                                         Its a beautiful bay

                                      No one takes any notice of signs on this island   lol

                                                       Jan has gone swimming , way out !

There are doors in the cliff ,  must have been small shops/cafes i presume as i can see kitchen equipment inside one that is open.

                                       On our way back now, a last couple of images

We are now at the Prehistoric city ,  the remains of a city that was covered in ash after a volcanic eruption.   a building has been constructed Over the entire site to protect the remains.

                                                                            Its huge in side!

                                            At the bus stop now having an ice lolly :)

Now back to the hotel for a couple of hours then back to Oia for the evening sunset, hopefully better than tuesdays

Santorini Honeymoon Sunset shoot. 29th june 2016

After a day on the beach we are going to have a wedding photo shoot at sunset on our balcony , Jan has brought her wedding dress for this occasion .

Sunset is directly in front of our private balcony with the "Caldera" volcano over to the left with Fira town on our right .  Sunset is about 8.30 ish , but the low setting sun illuminates the white buildings for about 10 minutes or so starting about 8.10 - 8.15 . So i have only a short time to get the photos i want with the lovely warm light.

I have set the 5dsr with a 17-40 wide angle on a tripod, shooting at f10 , and varying iso between 200 and 400 , with flashgun and large diffuser . I have also set the external flash synq speed  to 1/200 - 1/60 th so the camera  exposes for the background and the flash freezes any movement.    in theory anyhow :)

                                                                 1/125 th  iso 200  f10

                                                              1/100 th  iso 200  f10

                                                                       1/60 th  f10  iso 200

 Now we have lost the warm light,  i am using a slower flash synq to give longer exposure for the darkening conditions , and allow more of the natural light in combination with slightly higher iso .

                                                                    1/60 th  f8  iso 400

                                                                     1/15 th  f10  iso 400

                                                                   1/10 th  f10  iso400

                                                              10 seconds , f14  iso 100

                                                                  15 seconds , f14 iso100

                      After a successful shoot we are now going out for a walk and a snack :)

              Love the statue sitting on the building with No feet!     thought it was a person initially :)

                                                       A Last phone shot by our pool

                                                         Another great day in Paradise :D

Santorini Honeymoon , 29th june Kamari beach day

Today we are taking the bus to Kamari for a day on the beach and in the sea .   So no camera just a few phone pics.

                                                       First a balcony shot or two :)

                                Waking up to this view for breakfast everymorning is unreal!

                                                              Phone pano   full size HERE

                    After a half hour journey on the airconditioned coach we arrive at Kamari .

                                                                         Its quiet here.

                      Black sand  Beach ,  its so hot need to walk on the wooden staging!

               Some wonderful hotel appartments along the waterfront with well planted gardens .

                             On the beach now , waiter service for food and drinks all day.

                    It will soon be very busy here in a few weeks time , but fairly quiet here today.

                                                   Pools , Palms and Bougainvillia :)

                                                              Sounds good to me :)
   

 Back to the hotel now for a few hours then i am going to do a photo shoot on the balcony at sunset with Jan in her wedding dress .

Oia Sunset , Santorini june 28th pt 2 2016

Time to go to Oia this evening , i have heard it gets extremely busy and need to bag a good spot early to see the sunset from the ruins of the Byzantine castle.  its about 20 minutes on the coach from Fira bus station which is only 5 minutes walk from our hotel.     the bus runs frequently and is only 1.80 euros.

Arriving in Oia after a great sightseeing journey along a mountain road with big drops and old landslide damage. Our first view of the famous blue domed buildings.

                                               

          The castle ruins are just over to the left , but this stunning Bourgainvillea caught my eye.

 Amazing how they built just along the cliff top , in the distance is Imerovigli which is the next town to Fira and Firostefani

I have got the position i wanted with a good view of the Windmills , now just need to hope there is a good sunset , which is still over 2 hours away!!!!!!

                          Packed already , still hour and half before sundown at just after 8.20
the best colour for lighting up the buildings will be around 8.10 and then after 8.30 before best sky colour .

                  Arghhhhhhhhhhh    Thick cloud has built up on the horizon and ruined it!!!!!! 

                                 the sun is setting, as the huge cruise liners depart.

Using 400mm lens this is about as much colour that has developed tonight , thick cloud on the horizon prevented anything else.   Anyhow , we have the rest of the week so will come back another evening , or two :)

               Evening lights come on now as we make our way back to get the bus back to Fira.

                                        Time to head back now , and dinner in Fira.