Photos from Fira | Santorini Greece Travel Photographer

Santorini is what I’ve always envisioned seeing on a trip to Greece.  It really was what motivated me to make this adventure happen.  Whitewashed villages against a bright blue sea.  Just like the pictures I’ve seen.

Amazingly, Santorini is what was spewed up from an epic volcanic eruption many moons ago.  So epic that it might have even caused the disappearance of the legendary Atlantis.  Anyway, this beautiful place was created when all the lava finally cooled and the ash settled.  Portrait of an artist at work.

During my stay I made a visit to the Santo Winery, which consisted of a thirty second tour of the facility before we were herded off to a tasting area outside with a spectacular view of the Aegean Sea.  The grapes on Santorini are grown on the ground in a basket-like formation instead of the traditional vineyards I had imagined.  There is rarely any rain so the grapes soak up moisture from the porous ground in addition to the morning dew from the Aegean.  Fascinating and apparently delicious as well since this winery is responsible for about 1/3 of the wine that comes from Santorini.

My Santorini experience also included a visit to the village of Fira.  Two things stand out in my mind about Fira.  First, the 588 steps from the village back down to Santorini Harbor.

Second, one of my favorite meals in Greece was enjoyed on the rooftop of the Elia Taverna.

There are three ways to get down to the bottom of Santorini.  We bypassed the sky-lift and donkey ride to walk down the nearly 600 stepped zig-zag pathway…behind the donkeys and all of their “jettisoned cargo.”

Among others, we spotted a young musician on one of the narrow cobblestone streets of Santorini.  He had a curious way of furrowing his eyebrows and watching his own fingers move along the instrument keys as if to relay the seriousness of his art.  After watching and moving along, I decided to go back and shoot a series of portraits of him and finally caught a smile on the last shot.  His song was interrupted by the ring tone from his pocket which he did not hesitate to answer.  The crowd got a kick out of this.  None of the street musicians I encountered appeared to be homeless.  I imagined this to be more of a summer job in an area where tourism has become a way of life for the locals.

I took more photographs in Santorini than almost any of my other destinations in Greece.  Check out my complete travel photographer gallery here and browse through my previous travel blog posts from this summer here.

I really appreciate your comments and questions.  It has been fun reliving this summer by processing my experience through blogging my thoughts and posting my images.

I’ve enjoyed the questions from you about my summer trip and it is exciting to hear that some of you considering a similar trip soon.

Thanks also for your print orders.  I’d love to hear how you plan to display them.  I’ll be posting a few more travel locations and finishing up soon with more from another stay in Italy.

Thanks for taking the time to look…

  m