It's been years since I last time visited Crete, the largest island in Greece. I have always tried to visit as often as possible since I have family who lives in its second largest town Chania. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to do it the last years but now it was finally time to get back to this warm and beautiful island.
Rooftop sunset from Chania
Since I haven't visited Crete with the intent to take pictures before, I spent a while researching and looking for possibilities near the harbour of Chania. Since this trip would be a combined work & leisure trip (I had the pleasure of spending the week with Mila and some of my family) I decided to plan most of my photography locations within half an hour driving from our place. However, we still went on some great adventures and got to visit some small and beautiful villages.
A boat beneath the sunset in Chania
If there's one thing I learned after this visit to Crete, that I never really thought about before I became a photographer, it's that during summer each sunrise or sunset is more or less the same: cloudless.
Non-photographers never understand when I complain about the lack of clouds but the truth is that photographing a sunset or sunrise, or in general, without clouds is boring most of the time. Clouds add extra depth to the image and is in my opinion often crucial. That being said, I found it to be a great creative challenge for myself to photograph in these conditions, as it's completely different then what I'm used to.
The main objective photography-wise for this trip was to capture a series of stock images that will be used in magazines, websites, posters etc. Since most stock images will be used with text on them I aimed to keep the images minimalistic and with good space to insert text but still including enough to convey a story.
Sunrise and silhouettes of cliffs located outside of Iraklio
Crete is a fun island to photograph and the local people are extremely kind. I can't wait to get back again (this time during spring or fall) and capture more of this beautiful place with my camera.
Sunrise above Cretan villages
Sunset from downtown Chania
Contrasts by the harbour in Chania
