Before I left for Greece, I mentioned that I wanted to photograph white, white buildings with blue, blue sea. I think maybe I was wrong, I wanted to photograph white, white buildings with blue, blue windows and doors and domes. These colors are everywhere in on Santorini and I loved them! The residents must spend a lot of time painting, judging from the perfect conditions of many buildings as well as the number of paint stores along the road.  In the mile (1.6km) between where we stayed in Finikia and the small community of Ia (also spelled Oia) on the tip of the island, there were at least three paint stores alone.

As always, I love to wander the back streets (back stairways in the case of Ia) and make a place my own through my photographs. A photograph is a of a place, but it has me in it too. How I saw it and chose to capture it, my mood on that day, the light I found – all play in to the final image I end up sharing with you here.

While navigating the maze-like stairways to get out to a certain point I saw in the distance, I came around a corner and saw this scene below:

This is the scene found in quite a few postcards. Just imagine it with a slightly wider angle to get in more sea on the left and some beautiful sunset light. I obviously didn’t have those same conditions for my image, but it’s always fun to recognize these “postcard shots” as I wander around. I like to figure out where and how the photographers captured them when I can, it’s a fun way to learn more about creating beautiful images.

I waited for the sun to come out for a while, it was coming and going all day. I sat on the steps gazing on this scene and listened to the sounds of people talking and clinking dishes in the distant restaurants. The sun never peeked out this time. Instead I continued on down the steps and kept studying the church with my camera as I approached. Trying angles and compositions, deciding what it was I really wanted to show. Finally, changing it from the generic postcard shot and making it my own.

My little piece of Ia, shared with you today.