By that time it wasn㦙 funny anymore�, a photo from Samos, North Aegean

Photographer's Note

I rented a small motorbike to go and see small remote places. (The initial plan was to hike there, but as I wounded my foot, hiking was over.)
There are two beautiful small mountain villages on the north side of Samos, Vourliotes and Manolates, and from Vourliotes I decided to take the mountain road. Not such a good decision, as the road on the very steep parts was so bad with all kinds of loose gravel and big stones, that it gave me quite an uneasy feeling, being there alone. If I had to stop on those steep parts, I could never get back on the bike again. In the end it seemed that I had missed a turn as well, as I got deeper and deeper into the vineyards. There was nobody anymore, and the atmosphere was very, very quiet, almost too bad that I was there spoiling the quietness. So I decided to turn back, but just before I did that, I had this beautiful light on the shed.

efigesta, coco, Fixfocus, designsoul, Rockyboy, mortijo, Isabelle, pamastro, bertolucci, PJE, aralda, lara, banyanman has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

sarhanp (124) 2005-10-18 3:43

Hello Rinie, interesting story of a beautiful panaroma from Lovely Greece. Shading background mountain green is making the picture deep.

Good job,
Sarhan.

efigesta (12188) 2005-10-18 5:30

Hi Rinie, nice compostion with a good color, i like the house with the bue window, your note is very interesting, regards manuel

PixelTerror (0) 2005-10-18 7:15

Hi Rinie,
There's a good light contrast in this view that helps detaching the foreground and provides depth, this small house looks like a pleasant place to spend a while and enjoy the quietness, you placed it very well off centered in the frame and overlooking its surroundings.
Have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

coco (30439) 2005-10-18 9:25

Hi Rinnie.
Interesting story, true. Interesting, but perhaps not very nice.
About the photo, well seen and well captured. Is very nice and has great colours.
Regards.

MiguelP (14470) 2005-10-18 11:22

What a beautiful landscape. Olive tree my favourites (they give us olive oil, the real man� for me)... Epic shot here, bigger than life. I love the different light in the background and the foreground. Very nice one. Take care

Fixfocus (9385) 2005-10-18 13:25

Hi Rinie,
It愀 great how the little house in the foreground stands out against the hazy and darker background.Must be great to live there,at least for a few weeks..
Greetings,
hermann

designsoul (17843) 2005-10-18 14:13

Hi Rinie,
I am amazed how you kept going up on a motorbike with an injured leg all alone, to THIS, however beautiful, but really steep terrain! Amazing. But you got a beautiful shot (or more) out of your courage and determination. The place is spellbinding... when I was on the Greek islands for a few weeks, I could not stop longing to go back there for a long time, I was so taken by their beauty.
This image is beautiful with the tiny stone house with a typical Greek-island turqoise door dwarfed by the steep hills behind...
Take care, hope your foot is walking happily by now
Sarolta

Rockyboy (20598) 2005-10-18 15:36

What a story here, Rinie! You make me think at a belgian I met in the mountains of Sulawesi... He rented a motorbike too but didn't had the problems you had! Also you had lot of courage to go alone with an injured foot!
Anyway, you had a very good idea to take this photo before to go back. I like very much this little house with the mountain background. Bravo!

Burnham (2428) 2005-10-19 3:19

I know that finding a blue window is not luck in greece, but finding the light and the view is really lucky, especially considering you were probably more concerned with getting back, than taking pictures ;o) very well seen and captured..

jinju (14265) 2005-10-19 3:32

Hi Rnie,

what a nice view on the valley. The sweeping vista, and this lonely house. What a wonderful place to live, away from the world, in mother nature's embrace. Wonderful depth and interesting composition.

everlasting (19978) 2005-10-20 2:43

Hi Rinie, what happened to your foot?
Nice light here separatign the two parts of the picture. Nice depth too.

pamastro (7296) 2005-10-21 1:15

Getting lost is often the best way to explore a place and discover things. Perhaps it makes the discovery that much sweeter, like being the first person to find something. Like the first people to see Niagara Falls by accident. Or some similar place. Here it's this view. Beautiful and quiet as you describe your surroundings. The light is soft and adds to that quiet. And it's a nice big scene with the house against a strong backdrop behind it. The house was placed perfectly here, too, to add to the sense of scale and to explore the image. And are those a couple of people I see there? Very nicely seen and I'm sure it must have felt great to make this "discovery" and that all the work getting lost was well worth it.

bertolucci (14052) 2005-10-21 14:09

Hi Rinie! Quite a nice story and pic combination. Cruising the winding, paved and unpaved roads of the Greeks islands is one of the nicest things there are - and yes, they sometimes get a little hairy. I like the way the sunlights works on this lovely and well composed scene - effectively deviding it in two and making sure there is a nice depth.
Fine job!
Goed weekend, Bert (ik mail je vanavond terug)

PJE (20758) 2005-10-26 21:42

Rinie from looking at your photos I see you have really jumped into your culture, took a real good look and from your persepctive have given birth to some really creative photos showing how your people live. I love the light just as you described. A veryu remote photo showing what life is like in such remote areas. Cheers to you sir. Keep up the good work!

ArtLook (2348) 2005-10-27 0:23

Very good shot, I like the contrast of colors on this photo. Great view. This house looks so cute among the mountains. Well done, BRAVO!
With BEST regards,
Arthur

RGatward (20108) 2005-10-28 9:53

Lucky place to stop. So that's the motorbike story you mentioned a week or so ago. This looks like a really beautiful place, so much at odds with own Greek experience.

banyanman (7797) 2006-10-13 10:05

Your mini-adventure was worth it to capture this shot, Rinie - the depth in this is really good, enhancing the feeling of isolation of the little farmhouse. The light was just perfect for this shot. It looks like a great place to chill out for the weekend. Cheers . . . David

johnu (23) 2006-11-29 23:38

Rinie,

What makes this picture so special, I think, is the location of the house itself; overlooking a cliff or at least a sharp drop off, it seems perched on the very edge. You wonder how the heck they ever built it, or how they get to civilization. The dark mountain provides a good contrast to the bright old home. Your story makes it that much more interesting.

john