The hunt for ultimate sharpness, a never-ending story...

Today as I was reading a couple of Ken Rockwell’s documents about the sharpest lens and image sharpening, an old forgotten discussion I had some years ago came to my mind.  I remember that my opinion was not accepted as plausible from my fellow photographers (I was never sure why because it seemed very reasonable) and that’s why I remembered it now.  My sentence back then sounded something like: “My camera has a 10 megapixel sensor, so my photographs should be sharp enough at 6-7 megapixels...” and before long hell unleashed :-P. 

Down Melpia of Messinia prefecture

What can one say about this place?  How cool it is at midsummer? How crystal the waters of the springs are? How good for the area it is? A visit to the place is the most important action of rejuvenation for anyone in need. Just a few kilometers from Meligala, almost lost in the upper Messinia, Melpeia village is among the few traditional places that have been left virtually untouched by the passage of time. And by that, I don't mean just technologically, but atmospherically with its picturesque and friendly occupants.

The upper monastery of Voulkanos

The upper monastery of Voulkanos is located at the top of  Mount Ithomi, built where it used to be the sanctuary of Zeus Ithomatas.  It is said that the establishment of the monastery happened by monks running away from the iconoclasts and it is currently uninhabited.  The summers it is base observatory of the area by volunteers watching out for fires.  Except that and the wake of 14th of August with the transportation of Virgin Mary icon by foot from the upper to  the lower monastery, few people visit the area throughout the year.

December 4th 2012, Snowy Parnitha

I had been planning to climb Parnitha in my car for some time then.  I had recently seen a photo of Athens in the night with all those small lights against the dark landscape and I was fascinated!  No, don't get me wrong I could say a billion other excuses why I drove up the mountain in my car, but this was what really made me wanting to drive to the spot (well not exactly to the spot).  I started Google Earth and zoomed to the location, opened some photos from around and found the one I had come across by accident.  It was a spectacular view and I knew I had to go there, so I set up my GPS on my phone and started driving, having made the time and plans from the previous day.

Architectural fever

Making a bet with myself, I set out for some architectural shots in Athens and Piraeus.  My aim was to photograph building details and convert some of them in Black and White to stress out the details and unique features of each building.  There are many impressive buildings and constructions in Athens and I had made notes of some of them when on the spot for a later photo shooting.  Well, the day when I had gathered a good number of building places had arrived and I started my walk, but using the bus when there was much distance to be covered from one place to another.

2005 Athens, Home Sunsets

You can never know when there's going to be an amazing sunset with amazing colors at an amazing place with your equipment ready for that specific 20 minutes of the day when it is neither night nor day.  Living in the capital of Greece, there are rare opportunities when you can combine all of the above while going to or returning from work.  Unless you can plan the day AND have lots of luck with the sky colors it is next to impossible (at least for Greece) to be at the perfect place the perfect time, but it can happen!

Maria, Maria...

Searching for the perfect “eye-contact” look and style in a modeling photo session can be difficult, frustruating or fun and intriguing.  We set up with Maria for what it would become a perfect photographic ending for an exciting summer.  Being overwhelmed with our previous sessions, I had a fear that I could not meet any great expectations having two previous very good sessions with Maria.  Little did I know and less had I planned ahead, since she made my creative insecurity go away and that day one of the few memorable days of that summer.