After arriving at Pindos, my heart beats strong at the rhythms of nature, months have passed since my last visit, seasons have changed and the landscape has dressed in different “clothing”, a deep breath and the tiredness of the long journey is long history! I am back at the land of my heart, the land where my soul and heart refused to come back with me back at summer.
It is morning, a cold, moisty and overcast morning, although the conditions sound harsh, the don’t feel like that, my soul can only hear the sweet calling of Nature, as if I was enhanced by a Siren call! we make a stop before we start “rolling” downhill towards Vovousa, the landscape just hypnotizes our “tired” of cityscapes eyes.
It is overcast, but thats a blessing for us at this moment, the colors just pop in front of you, making you feel as this is a dreamland, they can’t be compared to anything I have experienced up to today, and I thought I had seen autumn this years, a fool I was!
I was full of anxiety before our visit, I didn’t know for sure we would be catching autumn colors or winter scenes, I was afraid the trees might had dropped their last red and yellow leafs which would turn the place into something totally different, (not that I mind a winterscape) it was this magic scene I was long waiting for to capture, and it was in front of my eyes!
Can I thank Nature? I don’t know if she can hear my voice, after the “rappings” she has suffered in the name of humanity, but somewhere deep inside me I do wish she can hear me for the breathtaking pleasures she has offered to me, pleasures that even a God would enjoy!

Canon 5D Canon 70-200L f/4 Focal Length: 163mm Aperture: f/16 Shutter: 1sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Valia Kalda / Pindos Date / Time: 28/10/2010 14:28pm Mirror Lockup + remote control

Before my visit at Pindos, I was always trying to understand how landscape photographers bond to a specific place, either a National Park, or a specific region around the globe, it was not the idea that was making me skeptical but rather the desire to understand the feeling. After visiting Pindos, everything changed, a part of my soul now belongs to that place and whenever I am close to it I feel my heart beats rise and a euphoric state in my mind, you just need to close your eyes and visualize the “physical” presence of Nature around you.
Summer is now gone, yet the memories and the moments that pop from the brain “stack” just don’t stop, images or even better paintings of Nature just come back from my memories archives, so strong that you could swear you can smell her or feel the cool summer breeze…

Canon 5D Canon 70-200L f/4 Focal Length: 70mm Aperture: f/22 Shutter: 0.5sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Valia Kalda / Pindos Date / Time: 9/8/2010 15:01pm Mirror Lockup + remote control

A question I often receive from friends is which lens? You have just bought your first SLR camera (otherwise you wouldn’t be asking the above question) and now you are ready to spend some cash, but cash is cash and now days it is even harder to keep it in your pocket, so you have the money hardly earned and now you want the magic answer to your question.
None is the answer, quite nicely expressed, and that’s the only answer I always give when someone asks me the above question (which I am sure you have also heard many times either from friends or other enthusiast photographers). Keep the money, even better put it aside and wait for a future buy, if you don’t know which lens you should be buying then you probably don’t need it yet.

Light breaks through the clouds and the National Park of Valia Kalda transforms into a magical place which you can’t resist, everywhere you look you see a new photographic possibility, it feels like paradise…

Canon 5D Canon 70-200L f/4 Focal Length: 87mm Aperture: f/22 Shutter: 0.6sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Valia Kalda / Pindos Date / Time: 9/8/2010 15:35pm Mirror Lockup + remote control

 

To be in a magical place at the right moment can only be compared with a few things in your life. One thing I learned the last few years in my photographic adventures is to relax, let the anxiety (for making a good capture) go away and finally to embrace and “feel” the nature surrounding you, then everything can take its turn and become reality.
The distant cloud played its part in this composition, I was on Morfa peak starring and enjoying the wonderful view from one of the most beautiful spots in Greece, the sky was kind of dull but that lonely and attracting cloud standing in front of the sun was just calling out for a nice sunset capture.
I left my equipment on the ground, and relaxed enjoying the view, waiting for the sun to touch the distant mountains and waited for the time I would be able to shoot a sunstar with some summer colors in my frame.
I had already spotted a lonely rock in the peak which gave me a wonderful view without any distractions, once the sun was lower than the cloud I started preparing for the capture.
This is a double exposure manually blended with Tony Kuypers Luminosity masks.

Canon 5D Canon 17-40L f/4 Focal Length: 17mm Aperture: f/22 Shutter: 1st Exposure: 2.5/sec, 2nd Exposure: 1,5/sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Morfa Peak / Pindos Date / Time: 13/8/2010 20:17pm Mirror Lockup + remote control

 

I am happy to announce that I have published my 2011 calendar, it contains 12 pictures captured during 2010 some have been published and some are unpublished. The calendar is 13.5″ x 19″ with coil binding with white gloss paper.
You can find the calendar and a preview on the following link:

http://www.lulu.com/product/calendar/calendar-2011/13043054

I was always inspired by silhouette photography by the masters, a “tough” subject, since all the details are getting lost and you are left to play only with light, shadows and lines. I was spending my summer time in Pindos when I reached Morfa peak, a mountain close to our basecamp, the light was lovely and felt as a true summer evening on a mountain, high altitude, great depth of field and a stunning landscape.Humidity was high so it created lots of haze that day, something I would not wish on a different shot, but once I got my eyes on the landscape from Morfa I knew i had the opportunity to shoot a silhouette shot that I so badly wanted all this years.A small cloud was just in place for the sun to be filtered, I setup my tripod and my camera and waited for the perfect moment, the moment when the sun would just barely break under the cloud and scatter its rays all over the wast landscape in front of my eyes painting the superb line peaks in front and the distant background, giving just a hint of detail and letting the rest to the viewers fantasy.

Canon 5D Canon 70-200L f/4 Focal Length: 109mm Aperture: f/22 Shutter: 1/13sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Morfa Peak / Pindos Date / Time: 13/8/2010 19:52pm Mirror Lockup + remote control

Walking towards the exit of the canyon of Portitsa, the sun light plays with the walls of it and creates its personal color palette, I didn’t have much to do, just setup the tripod and the let the camera do the rest while I was really lost in awe by the view.
It is really astonishing and majestic being able to experience the beauty of nature at a time when most people are roaming crowded islands seeking for “relaxation”, I couldn’t have asked for more at that time as a human being, just stare in awe away from everyday pressure and problems.

 

Canon 5D Canon 17-40L f/4 Focal Length: 17mm Aperture: f/16 Shutter: 3.2sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Portitsa Canyon Date / Time: 12/8/2010 18:18pm Mirror Lockup + remote control

 

Sunset over Aos river in Pindos, a magical moment at a magical place! The day ends with a magic touch! This was a double exposure, one for the sky and one for the river, blended with Tony kuyper’s luminosity masks.

Canon 5D Canon 70-200L f/4 Focal Length: 70mm Aperture: f/16 Shutter: 1st capture: 0.5sec / 2nd capture: 3.2 sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Vovousa / Pindos Date / Time: 8/8/2010 8:28pm Mirror Lockup + remote control

It was a lovely morning, got up and started trekking inside the E6 path of the National Park of Valia Kalda, I was enjoying every single moment inside that paradise, the light was harsh and my shooting possibilities even inside the dense forest limited, so I decided I would be heading my way into the path and maybe sometime later I would have my chance.

After a few minutes of trekking the weather changed, clouds covered the sun and filtered the harsh light, it was the chance I was waiting to shoot the dreamy scape of the forest, the morning moisture in combination with the filtered light gave me the best combination to capture the ethereal sense of the place.

I used a double exposure for this one, one with my lens / filter fogged from my breath to give the dreamy effect and one normal capture, I then blended the 2 captures inside the editor using a mask on the fogged exposure to keep the details on the trees.

 

Canon 5D Canon 17-40L f/4 Focal Length: 40mm Aperture: f/16 Shutter: 0.8sec Tripod: Benro C-169 / Vanguard SBH-300 Filters: B+W CPL Location: Vovousa / Pindos / North Greece Date / Time: 8/08/2010 11:45pm Mirror Lockup + remote control