Sun setting behind Volissos, a photo from Hios, North Aegean

Photographer's Note

Volissos is the largest and most important village of the northern (less travelled and discovered) part of the island of Hios. There you can find some fine examples of traditional architecture, a castle above the village and one of the best guest houses in Greece. You also have at your disposal more than 10 km of beautiful beaches with crystal clear waters only 2 km far from the village. You can use Volissos as a base to explore the almost isolated villages of Northern Hios where every day life seems to have stuck in the 50's. At Kourounia, a village about 15 km from Volissos you can taste the famous from the ancient years, Ariousios Oinos, the local wine, that's been produced, almost in the same way it did from the time of Homer.

*POST PROCESS: I converted the RAW file that I had two times. One very bright to have the details of the village. At that version the sky was "burnt". The second time I converted to a darker version, where the sky was like you see it in the picture, but the village was very dark. Then I used layers in Photoshop and I took the sky from the darker version and the village from the brighter one. So here you have the result. I hope you like it.

evanrizo, syd1946, a_i_ren, pady, josepmarin, Angelillo, fou, vincz, Dragonheart, cunejo200, teutza, Emile, Xalkida, siolaw, pasternak, cengiz, axiotea, sabyasachi1212, Henryk_Bilor, oochappan, yogi32, lilimih33, cfreire heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

fou (320) 2006-09-17 9:34

Hello Hercules,

That's a great picture.
I really like the way you catured the sun behind the city.
I would like to know a little bit more about the post-processing that you applied on the picture.

Thanks,

François

AthaPan (0) 2006-09-17 9:46

Otan xtypaei, xtypaei dynata o Hraklis o Kritikos :-)

Thaumasia stijmi, poly kalo simio lipsis kai i oksitita aristi.

Irakli, alli mia superb foto!

Se xaireto
sakis

delkoo (68) 2006-09-17 9:54

hi hercules
it looks like volcano eruption, you managed the light perfectly, the village should be in the shade .

nice job again

didier

farshid (365) 2006-09-17 9:59

amazing shot

and thanks for the info.
i like the composition

great shot Hercules
Regards
FAFA

missninja (497) 2006-09-17 10:11

Wow, what a great picture. To me it looks a bit surreal with the sun behind the hill and the little houses.

amstel (2388) 2006-09-17 10:21

Hi Hercules,

The shot indeed is magnificent, but it's rather strikling that the real sky was replaced afterwards. Especially on the left of the picture.

cheers

evanrizo (462) 2006-09-17 10:26

Όχι μόνο με αρέσει, με πολύαρέσει, ω πολυταξιδεμένε Hercules. -:)

syd1946 (1167) 2006-09-17 10:41

Γεια χαρα Ηρακλή,
Πολυ πετυχημενο το effect με τον ηλιο.Κανει πολυ δυνατη και μοναδικη τη συνθεση σου.Εντυπωσιακα χρωματα και φωτισμος!
Θωμάς

a_i_ren (1315) 2006-09-17 12:10

Hi, Hercules,
Definitely love this shot! Beautifuly composed and very successfully transformed!
Regards.
Inna

pady (4800) 2006-09-17 12:32

It's a very good work of post-preocessing. The village is full of details.
Very good composition.
Greetings from Pierre-André

gigicacco (645) 2006-09-17 12:54

Complimenti straordinaria foto. Ciao gigicacco

josepmarin (59385) 2006-09-17 12:57

Hola Hercules,
una composición bonita y original, con estos tonos que has dado en el PP, creando una imagen un poco onírica.
Me gusta cómo la carretera parece querer separar el bello pueblo de la parte baja de la imagen, como una línea divisoria. Este pueblo que va subiendo por la colina a encontrarse con el castillo es muy agradable, con las casas blancas y los tejados rojos, y el cielo tiene un aspecto extraño, pero hermoso, muy cálido.
Es un buen trabajo, y con mucha calidad de imagen.
Saludos,
Josep

gigi (2668) 2006-09-17 13:12

bonjour Hercules
cette photo est superbe
et le traitement lui donne un aspet
surrealiste
du bon travail
jean louis

scalerman (26900) 2006-09-17 13:47

Of course, you did wonderswith the PP and the light to begin with. It's a great shot. No improvements required. regards, c

Angelillo (9374) 2006-09-17 14:06

Hola Hercules,

hoy hemos coincidido poniendo fotos de ciudades vistas desde lejos. Me gusta mucho esta toma, las casas agarradas al monte y trepando hasta su altura, coronada por las murallas del castillo. Me gusta cómo la carretera parece poner el límite inferior, creando como tres ambientes, el puramente natural, el urbano y el astronómico. Por cierto, un cielo con unos tonos y colores espectaculares. Parece fuego que se aproxima a la ciudad, es muy impactante. Gracias por la foto y también por tu nota, muy interesante e instructiva. Un abrazo, y hasta pronto.

Angel.

Deepforest (9260) 2006-09-17 16:18

Hi Hercules,
beautiful view of the village. Nice composition and colours.
Best regards,
Andrzej

Emiel_Skyfreak (3002) 2006-09-17 19:05

Hmm I like the result very much. Well done, very good colours, lovely sunset behind the hill. Good details, here and there a bit unsharp to my opinion, but I quite like it in this shot.
I would like to do postprocessings like this. I know of the possibilities to match two the same photo's with each other, combining a not burned sky, with nice foreground details. Unfortunatly I'm not used to working in layers, should really learn that, cause I like results like these.
Lovely colours on the foreground, nice light. Like the composition, the light coming from behind the hill/mountain and the road in the far foreground making nice curves through the image.
Seems a great village to me, would like to visit it sometime.

Maybe consider some USM here and there, although I fear for the noise, which could be added to.
Thank for sharing this shot.

Best Regards, from Holland.

barrufeto_77 (28888) 2006-09-18 1:07

Hola Hercules.

Con un poco más de definición (creo) hubiera sido la leche ya! Buenísimo el POV y los colores por detrás son brutales!

Un saludo, OScar

Graal (103040) 2006-09-18 3:00

Hi Hercules,
good idea, interesting moment with sunset behind the city on the hill, good POV and colours. Fine postprocessing. Good work.
Gr., Aleksander

vincz (19113) 2006-09-18 3:30

Certainly the most beautiful pictures I have seen during the last days. Ecellent shot and excellent post-processing. Thanks for the note as well, it is very helpful.

coco (30439) 2006-09-18 4:32

Pues la verdad es que sí me gusta.
Kalimera Hercules.
Un uso muy interesante de las técnicas de postprocesado con un resultado muy atractivo.
Con más tiempo querré también hacer cosas parecidas.

Hasta entonces, un saludo.

Dragonheart (8434) 2006-09-18 5:41

Hi Hercules,
Outstanding composition, what a beauty, the houses spread all over the mountain are beautiful, the bright colour background looks well too.
Well done
Thanks for sharing
Best wishes
Vivek

fabio_ts (13696) 2006-09-18 6:06

Kalimera Hercules, a really interesting PP work for an evocative result... well done my friend, compliments!!

have a nice week,
Fabio.

cunejo200 (7281) 2006-09-18 8:09

Hi Hercules,
This is an outstanding and a high quality image. The colors and sharpness are especially good. The town looks like it has been placed atop a pedestal for display. Best wishes. Danilo

teutza (10590) 2006-09-18 11:33

Hy Hercules,
what an amasing light!!!!!the city looks great too!!
lovely composition!!
TFS!
teo

Emile (20352) 2006-09-18 11:34

Hola Hercules.
Excellent work with the sun against your camera and the village with very good lighting and great details. You created a nice composition. Well done.

Xalkida (11744) 2006-09-18 15:53

Εξαιρετική φωτογραφία και εξαιρετική και η μετατροπή φίλε Ηρακλή. Μου αρέσει όπως σκάει ο ήλιος πίσω από το λόφο! Πολλή καλή δουλειά!

siolaw (38294) 2006-09-19 1:55

Hi Iraklis!
A great view in nice colors! A ball of fire behind the castle.. good post processing!
Ta leme
Laurent

veronika (6058) 2006-09-19 4:17

Great PP Hercles, really great idea and the result looks excllent, magic :) Seems to be a very interesting place..
Have a nice day Hercules
Vero

pasternak (15185) 2006-09-19 6:01

Your PP has really payed off, Hercules, amazing result, and the sky is not out of this world...

Cheers
Alexander

cengiz (3593) 2006-09-19 11:54

very nice colors and comp..
complimemts

axiotea (21651) 2006-09-19 13:38

Iassou Hercules,
The result is great and I like the gradual range of colors from the sun at the back of the hill. The village looks good and your note is very inviting to go and see that place from closer...
All the best,
Marilyn

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2006-09-21 14:50

Hi Hercules,
Excellent POV. Love the way you have achieved this through post processing. Fantastic effort.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

Scharan (14144) 2006-09-21 23:21

Parabéns Hercules, que belo trabalho!
Composição linda, cores, luzes,gosto de tudo.
Grande abraço,
Vera.

Henryk_Bilor (20803) 2006-09-24 3:16

Hi Hercules
Wow, excellent composition.
Lovely town on the hill and amazing sky behind it.
Regards

oochappan (4880) 2006-09-24 10:52

What a colorfull sky and warm light on this hill village, very appealing shot. Excellent PP, a bit like HDR, well done.

sothy81 (9646) 2006-10-07 2:13

Hey Hercules,

How wonderful your picture is. The location combining with the sunlight makes this photos unique and beautiful. I love it. Great job.
Sothy

lilimih33 (9918) 2006-10-31 14:01

Wow! Hello Hercules! Wonderful composition with a great colours, light, contrast, sharpness. Excelent shot! Well done! Lili

daddypapa (58) 2007-03-10 22:32

What I don't understand is why there are shadows behind some of the trees with the sun setting behind them. It just looks like you took a picture of the village and laid it over a picture of a sunset. Maybe more appropriate for TL.

cfreire (11741) 2008-10-06 12:21

Hi Hercules
Wonderful this capture with beautiful colors of sky and the red roofs are very attractive that seem a puzzle. Great work. Regards, Consuelo