SANTORINI: The Day to Dusk Photo Shoot
Greece has been on my travel wish list for a while so I finally took the necessary travel booking steps and visited Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens. While in Santorini, my friend and I decided we wanted to have a professional photographer capture our moments in the picturesque place with the famous blue tops, charming homes, and beautiful sunsets. Read on to see how the photos turned out and to get my 10 tips for photo shoot success!
*Disclosure: Please note that the links below denoted by an asterisk are affiliate links so at no additional cost to you I will make a commission if you make a purchase. If you have found this information helpful and are ready to plan or book your next adventure, please use these links to create a win-win situation for each of us. If you have any questions about any of these resources, please let me know. I would be happy to help!
Our photo tour started with our photographer picking us up in Kamari. The pictures above are near the Anastasis Church in Oía (pronounced “EE-aa” audio link).
Tip #1: It’s all about location, location, location!
That’s right. The popular real estate motto holds true when you decide to get your pictures taken in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Make sure to let your photographer know if there are specific locations where you want to have your pictures taken. If you would like to visit some of the places shown in my pictures, continue reading and I’ll share the locations with you.
Tip #2: Get inspiration from travel sites and bloggers prior to booking your shoot.
Trust me. I wish I could tell you that the pictures in this post were all my idea, but the truth is I searched for and reviewed other people’s Santorini photos to get inspiration for my shoot. After we booked the trip to Greece, my friend and I shared links to other people’s pictures to decide the style of pictures we wanted, the clothes, and even the time of day for the pictures.
Tip #3: Select a photographer who understands your vision
Most photography sites that we saw when Googling photographers in Santorini focused on wedding/engagement pictures. Since my friend and I were not looking for romantic photos, we sifted through photography websites quite a bit to find a photographer who we thought would get our vision for the shoot. We emailed the shortlisted photographers to see if they were available and to get more information about their pricing structures and what to expect. Through our research we found out that photographers get booked far in advance so if you wait until you arrive to select a photographer, you may have fewer options.
On a positive note, our photographer was great! Not only did he capture some beautiful moments for us, he took us on a fantastic tour of the area making stops along the way to tell us about the tomatoes, capers, and other items locally grown on the island. Another thing we loved about the photographer we selected is he allowed us to keep digital copies of ALL the pictures we took while on the shoot. He even edited a few of them before sending us the digital copies. For the price we paid, it almost seemed too good to be true, but luckily for us, everything turned out as advertised!
Photographer:
Serafim via SerafimPhotography.com
We found Serafim via Nikos who is another great resource. You can contact Nikos via PhotographerSantorini.com
Tip #4: Make sure your make-up can last the entire shoot
Ever go on a photo shoot only to be disappointed by the pictures taken in the later half of the shoot because your make-up decided to go on break and never return. Do not let that happen to you in Santorini or any other photo shoot! In order to make my make-up last for the shoot, I keep things as simple as possible. First after washing my face, I start with my go-to daily moisturizer. Next I add a primer so my make-up goes on smoothly and lasts longer. Another thing that I do to make sure my make-up lasts is I take a few key items with me to the shoot like my lip color and eye shadows for touch-up purposes and finishing powder to fight unwanted face shine.
I’m a big MAC fan so I have included the products I used to create my look for the shoot.
Eye Brows: MAC Eye Brows Mechanical-Style, Self-Sharpening, Defining Pencil In Spiked, MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Set in Bold Brunette
Eye Shadows, Cheeks, and Lips: MAC Power Hungry Palette, MAC Lipstick / Viva Glam Taraji P. Henson, MAC Retro Matte Lipstick In Ruby Woo
Eyes: MAC Pro Longwear Fluidline in Blacktrack, MAC 210 Precise Eye Liner Brush
Tip #4: Pick a hair style that is wind resistant and will hold
As you can tell from lots of the pictures, it was very windy in some locations, but my curls lasted the entire shoot. To achieve long lasting curls, I curled my hair with a wand then set the curls with rollers. I kept the rollers in my hair until I was finished with my makeup. Once my make-up was done, I took the rollers out and combed my hair with a wide tooth comb. I made sure not to manipulate my hair too much because I knew the wind, gravity, and poses where I touched my hair would loosen my curls. When the wind was particularly uncooperative, I used a couple bobbie pins to hold my hair in place.
You could also opt for a style like my friend’s gorgeous locs which stayed perfect the entire shoot no problem!
Again, I strongly suggest you to do your research and review other people’s pictures to see which styles will work best for your hair type and length. A little time on the front end can be the difference between photos with beautiful wind swept hair and photos with hair that looks like it’s attacking your face.
Tip #6: Don’t forget to pack the perfect outfit
When taking professional photos, planning what you are going to wear beforehand can eliminate unnecessary stress the day of the shoot. This is especially true when you are doing a photo shoot abroad. To be on the safe side, I actually had 2 photo shoot day outfits packed and ready to go.
My friend and I communicated about what we were going to wear prior to leaving for the trip. Not that our intent was to be matchy-matchy, but we didn’t want our outfits to clash either.
On the day of the shoot, I opted for a white dress and comfortable flat shoes. Don’t laugh, but reason I didn’t wear my other dress was it was too wrinkly. My only option to in-wrinkle my dresses was to hang the dresses up in the bathroom and let them get steamed from the steam my hot shower produced. Needless to say the white dress won the steam contest! If you like my dress, I have noted where you can get it below.
I was very happy with my selection as the dress had lots of movement, and my flat sandals were perfect for walking on the sometimes uneven slick, stone walkways. If you must wear heels, I strongly suggest you pack a pair of flats to wear between location changes.
Buy the dress: Lulus: BARIANO OCEAN OF ELEGANCE IVORY MAXI DRESS
Note: If you wear a white dress, expect people to tell you congratulations because they think you are a bride. I think the white turned out nicely against the scenery and was a great complement to my friend’s patterned dress, but people definitely thought I was a bride and she was my maid of honor.
Tip #7: Give yourself ample time to get ready
There is absolutely nothing worse than feeling like you have to rush to get ready. This is especially true when you are in another country and paying at least a couple hundred dollars for a professional photo shoot. Make sure to keep this in mind when you are getting ready in a place that may not have the amenities that you are used to or when there are several people getting ready. Some things to consider when there are 2 or more people getting ready include:
How many bathrooms are there? If there is only one, you likely need to factor more time to get ready. After someone showers the mirrors will be fogged and if there is no other well-lit vanity in the room, everyone that needs to get ready will have to take turns.
How many mirrors are there?
How many electrical outlets are there? When traveling internationally, you also need to research if the electrical outlets require voltage converters, outlet adapters or both.
Think about how long it usually takes you to get ready and factor in more time if needed. You (and your friend(s)) will be happy you did.
Take a drive to Profitis Ilias ( Prophet Elias) (above) to get a breathtaking view and fabulous picture ops. The pictures below were taken from the great vantage point at Prophet Elias as well.
Tip #8: Be Patient
My friend and I visited Santorini in September. Though the end of August marks the end of the high season, Santorini was still crowded during our stay. With tons of people all swarming to capture the picturesque views and gorgeous sunsets, we had to be patient to get the best pictures in our desired locations. Our photographer also helped with stopping foot traffic and would be photo bombers.
Most people were very considerate and more than willing to wait their turn to take pictures in a popular location. Having a professional photographer also helped as people assumed that our photo shoot was for a special event (i.e. Bride and maid of honor of a wedding).
Tip #9: Take chances on poses that seem unnatural
It might be hard to believe, but I usually smile hard like a kid on Christmas morning in all photos. While smiling comes naturally to me and makes me feel very confident, I decided not to smile in every picture. I also tried some body poses that did not always feel like they would look good. Some foreign poses were at the direction of the photographer. In the end I was very pleased with the results that came from taking some chances.
With that said if you do decide to step outside of your comfort zone and go for poses that challenge you, my advice would be to practice those poses before working with your professional photographer. Practicing will give you an opportunity to see which poses you like and don’t like before the paid photography session. Your practice shoot can be as simple as you using your camera’s timer to take pictures. If you want to do a little extra work you can practice doing your make-up and/or hair and put on your outfit to see how well you can transition in and out of poses in your intended outfit. Ask your friends and family to give you pose suggestions so you can get used to taking direction from others.
Tip #10: Go with the flow
Looking at our pictures you wouldn’t believe that we hit a snag in the plan. But guess what? Life happens, and we did. The original plan was to take photos as the sun was setting. However if you look through the photos again, you’ll notice that I didn’t post any pictures with the sun setting. That’s because I do not have any to post.
On our way to the final location which was located on a high point of the island, we got stuck in traffic. Our photographer did everything he could to get us to the location before the sun set, but we missed it. What did my friend and I do? Whine and complain because we missed sunset? Absolutely not! We took spectacular pictures at dusk instead!
What happened next was something we didn’t anticipate. Our photographer treated us to dinner and showed us around out of the kindness of his heart. He took us to an awesome little restaurant where we tried Souvlaki and Alpha beer. As a gift to us, the restaurant owner provided dinner on the house. My friend and I asked questions about how to pronounce words written using the Greek alphabet, and we all laughed when the photographer corrected my friend and I’s pronunciation of certain Greek letters. Why didn’t someone tell me I have been mispronouncing pi since I first learned about it in mathematics? (Pi is pronounced “pea” not “pie” like the dessert.) We said yamas as we toasted with glasses of Ouzo, and our photographer even introduced us to Rakomelo; Rakomelo ended up being one of our favorite drinks along with Mastika.
We would have missed the wonderful cultural experience that happened after our shoot if we hadn’t been flexible. Remember detours sometimes pan out better than your original plan.
