When early-born rosy-fingered Eos appeared

“When early-born rosy-fingered Eos appeared” or, depending on the translation, “When then the rosy-fingered Eos, the morning, appeared” – the verse comes from Homer’s Odyssey and refers to the goddess of the dawn in Greek mythology, Eos. The verse is used several times as a formulaic expression to describe the sunrise. “Rosy-fingered” refers to the coloured rays that paint the morning sky. Eos is the sister of the sun god Helios and the moon goddess Selene.

I had managed to get up in time that morning and head out with my tripod, graduated neutral density filters and wide-angle lens. The thorny bushes above the settlement of Krotiri were supposed to provide a good foreground. They also caused a few painful stings; incidentally, I only removed the last thorns from my skin two weeks after the trip.

Today I also got lucky with the towering cloud formations which, moving eastwards in the south, were lit from the side – enhancing the three-dimensional effect – and only later obscured the sun.

I had been looking for interesting compositions and found them here, with the gnarled branches and sharp thorns in autumnal colours in the foreground, the white cubic buildings in the middle ground and the shimmering colours of the morning sky in the background – from violet to red. Eureka!

Overall, I was lucky to experience such varied weather during my week on Paros – everything from rain and wind to autumnal warmth under cloudless blue skies. This variety allowed for unexpected as well as unusual motifs and moods. That’s part of the appeal of travel and landscape photography, if you don’t necessarily belong to the picture planners who meticulously plan location and time, weather and visibility, motif and perspective in advance, e.g. via an app. I could do that, but it’s not really my style.

The rainbow that followed the passing shower was like a sign, a glowing farewell greeting. Unfortunately, we left Paros the following day. However, we hope to see Greece again soon.