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2013-01-03 19:10:28 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 31 +1s)

http://500px.com/photo/22206093

2012-12-12 19:08:24 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 17 +1s)

2012-04-03 17:34:07 (33 comments, 11 reshares, 133 +1s)

Farewell to winter, greetings to everyone, it's been a while... :)

2011-12-20 14:48:30 (47 comments, 5 reshares, 82 +1s)

Just thought I should share the good news with you too!
And yes, Maria Kaimaki is my real name! :)

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2011/12/13/gardens-and-plants-category-winners-photographer-of-the-year-2011/

2011-12-08 16:11:43 (23 comments, 3 reshares, 23 +1s)

http://www.lightpulse.gr/blog/2011/12/8/guest-takeover-1-an-interview-with-landscape-photographer-an.html

2011-12-05 14:10:08 (6 comments, 4 reshares, 52 +1s)

http://www.photoextract.com/plus-extract/2011/12/1

2011-12-01 14:19:13 (122 comments, 124 reshares, 454 +1s)

The Dark Traveler II

Left alone to disintegrate on a windblown, misty beach in Peloponnesus, haunting and haunted, broken but not yet dead, the shipwreck of Dimitrios still stands upright, a ghostly mirage condemned to travel forever through misty mornings, fiery sunsets and sunrises, through rain and thunderstorms, gloomy skies and starry nights, through time but never through space, never leaving the place that’s been eating it away for almost 30 years now.

2011-11-29 16:43:50 (38 comments, 16 reshares, 135 +1s)

The Light Within

Near Livaditis Fall, Drama, Greece

October 2011

2011-11-29 08:48:56 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

http://www.lightpulse.gr/blog/2011/11/25/guest-takeover-01-interview-with-landscape-photographer-mary.html

2011-11-15 19:16:17 (6 comments, 5 reshares, 23 +1s)

GreekScapes Calendar 2012

A collaboration with +Konstantinos Vasilakis
Click on each month link to view the image :)

http://www.deviantart.com/print/23285936/?

2011-11-11 16:24:28 (28 comments, 8 reshares, 141 +1s)

House of Sand and Fog

Actually this is the train station in Paranesti, Drama, in Greece on a misty autumn morning.

2011-10-26 17:35:21 (5 comments, 5 reshares, 17 +1s)

http://www.photoextract.com/plus-extract/2011/10/24

2011-10-24 17:16:29 (28 comments, 11 reshares, 49 +1s)

If (and only if) you like this photo and you believe it deserves your vote click on it and on "vote for this photo". This is NOT for any of the big prizes, those will be decided upon by a judge. It's for the public voting honorable mention award :)

PS Sorry to those who already voted, this is the second and last call for help, I promise!
http://1x.com/photoawards/vote/e3a0143d45ff87a9401310ae2cacabc3

2011-10-19 14:13:38 (32 comments, 6 reshares, 148 +1s)

Salt, Soil and Sunrise

The Aliki Lake on Lemnos Island is a coastal salt marsh, located in the eastern part of the island of Lemnos. The lake covers an area of about 1600 acres and has retained its near-pristine condition. The abundance of water in winter lends Aliki the appearance of a lake, while in summer the water evaporates, leaving the area full of salt and making it a salt marsh.

We spent an entire summer evening there star-trailing. It was a particularly windy evening and the area was vast (for Greek standards), offering no protection whatsoever. We were rewarded with a colorful sunrise, and anyone who has an idea of what summers are like here knows how rare it is to see even a few clouds in the sky during that season!

2011-10-13 19:11:05 (55 comments, 35 reshares, 174 +1s)

Suspended in Light

The Metéora (Greek: Μετέωρα, "suspended rocks", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above") is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece."

… a low mist was the kind of weather I had hoped for even before we set off for that surreal place. But after having spent 4 afternoons and 4 mornings at the same chosen spot, having to deal with light but annoying showers for the most part, after witnessing rainbows materialize in all the wrong spots (over my companion's head), after watching a wonderful cloud formation changing colors over the wrong spot (theroad), I ... more »

2011-10-12 15:26:36 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

http://www.photoextract.com/plus-extract/2011/10/3

2011-10-05 15:37:06 (18 comments, 1 reshares, 55 +1s)

http://500px.com/photo/2308673

2011-10-03 12:05:34 (74 comments, 43 reshares, 264 +1s)

Under the Red

I had noticed this spot a while ago and thought it had potentials if only the pond in front of the rock formation was adequately filled with water. Unfortunately during my next 2 or 3 visits it remained stubbornly empty. On the day this shot was taken however the water level was just about right, not too deep to cover the rocks and shallow enough to show detail in its bottom. Problem was that the sky over the rocks was bare and the only activity in the sky was these two cloud formations that were way out of frame but at least moving towards the right direction. I thought that it was a far chance that they’d be in place by the time the setting sun had given them any color but I sat there waiting nevertheless and at the right moment they were cooperative enough not only to be in the right place but also to shape themselves up symmetrically to the rock formation below them!more »

2011-09-26 13:05:04 (68 comments, 4 reshares, 71 +1s)

If (and only if) you like this photo and you believe it deserves your vote click on it and on "vote for this photo". This is NOT for any of the big prizes, those will be decided upon by a judge. It's for the public voting honorable mention award :)

http://1x.com/photoawards/vote/e3a0143d45ff87a9401310ae2cacabc3

2011-09-22 16:21:04 (113 comments, 77 reshares, 196 +1s)

Star Wars

A different kind of star trails made with the gradual defocusing technique which allows the differences in the colors (and thus the temperature) of the stars to be appreciated in a visual way. Cameras normally can't record the true color of the stars because the range of brightness of the stars in the sky exceeds the dynamic range of any photographic film, or camera sensor. By gradually stepping more and more out of focus during the star trail shot, there comes a time when the intensity is spread out enough so that the true color of the star can be recorded.

For this image 25 two minute shots (f/4, ISO 400, 1sec interval) were taken while the lens was slightly defocused in every shot. Later they were all stacked together in "lighten" blending mode over a base shot taken earlier, during twilight.

For those of you wanting to decode the stars by... more »

2011-09-16 12:22:39 (7 comments, 3 reshares, 12 +1s)

In our travels with +Mary Kay when time allows it we try to do some time lapse sequences as well. The following is just a work in progress. Consider it a sneak preview, there are some new sequences to be added and a lot more places to visit :D

2011-09-13 14:03:07 (113 comments, 39 reshares, 255 +1s)

Underneath the Veil

This is the only image in my portfolio that was a kind of gift to me. It was the only time that we were at the right place at the right time by pure luck. On all other occasions we had carefully chosen our spots beforehand after much location scouting and most of the times it took more than a visit and many hours of waiting for the right light.

In that occasion though, we were heading for another location when we happened upon this scene. We shot out of the car and barely had the time for a couple of exposures before the mist evaporated, revealing a landscape that looked pretty much plain and uninteresting without it. That was the first time I fully realized why they say “it’s all about the light!”

2011-09-08 09:34:23 (2 comments, 8 reshares, 22 +1s)

If you need inspiration, I'm creating on my new website a list of great landscape photographers I found here on G+, but also on flickr and 500px.com...

I'll add more photographers in the coming days :)

http://www.dherreman.com/great-landscape-photographers

2011-09-07 15:44:36 (131 comments, 98 reshares, 260 +1s)

The Dark Traveler

Left alone to disintegrate on a windblown, misty beach in Peloponnese, the shipwreck of Dimitrios proved to be every bit as enchanting as in my dreams. Haunting and haunted, broken but not yet dead, it still stands upright, a ghostly mirage condemned to travel forever through misty mornings, fiery sunsets and sunrises, through rain and thunderstorms, gloomy skies and starry nights, through time but never through space, never leaving the place that's been eating it away for almost 30 years now.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikkor VR 18-200mm @55mm
Aperture: f/11
Shutter Speed: 10s
ISO: 200

filters
Hoya ND8 (3 stop ND)
Lee 3 stop ND soft graduated filter (0.9)

2011-09-03 10:04:56 (62 comments, 12 reshares, 183 +1s)

Prisoners of the Dusk

Actually there is a story behind this shot which explains its title. It’s a long one, proceed at your own risk!

The dawn of 28th December 2009 found us outside the castle of Methoni, shooting at this same fortress from a different angle. Not totally satisfied with what we got we decided to enter the castle seeking for alternative angles. The castle was clearly under maintenance work, scaffolding and chains forbidding access to the most crucial points all around but no construction worker anywhere to be seen, so +Konstantinos Vasilakis playing Indiana Jones stepped over some chains and climbed with remarkable agility to the top of the castle to see if the view from the loopholes offered any interest. Playing my part as Lara Croft I followed and agreed that the view from the top was promising indeed so that same afternoon found us following the samef... more »

2011-08-31 12:04:11 (39 comments, 15 reshares, 144 +1s)

Beneath a Still Sky

Beneath that still sky lies The Rock of Monemvasia, and its medieval fortress. Some refer to it as "the Gibraltar of the East" or "The Rock".

I’ve always thought of the place as enchanting and mythical, especially when I first visited it as a kid. It looked to me as the medieval counterpart of Atlantis for some reason and its name sounded even more enchanting, like some sort of a magical incantation.

Odd as it may seem, when I look at this photo I realize that the best part of that morning in December 2009 was not the sunrise itself. And it was a lovely sunrise spent perched precariously on the rocks, watching that huge cloud that stood over The Rock for a long time, changing its shape from a caterpillar, to a snail, to a sea turtle (yes, the sky wasn’t so still after all, and that cloud was a big show off!). Still thebes... more »

2011-08-19 11:42:37 (68 comments, 27 reshares, 140 +1s)

In the Land of the Dragons

Drakolimni (= Dragon lake) is the name of several alpine or sub-alpine lakes in northwestern Greece Epirus periphery. According to local folktales the lakes used to be inhabited by dragons that fought each other by throwing pines and rocks and thus created the peculiar landscape and gave their names to the lakes. Drakolimni of Tymfi resides at an altitude of 2100m above sea level, on the mountain range of Tymfi and is inhabited by a species of alpine newt, called drakakia by the locals. According to local sources, the newts' resemblance to small dragons gives the lake its distinctive name.

2011-08-16 14:04:47 (53 comments, 28 reshares, 143 +1s)

Winter Waltz

A surprisingly beautiful morning in Kastoria. “Surprisingly” because there were no “fireworks” and amazing color display in the sky as we hoped for (huh, don’t we always hope for that) but it really was beautiful in every sense of the word and on all of my senses. Everything was so calm and still and the water of the lake (only one day previously frozen) a perfect mirror. Pleasantly chilly, crisp and fresh and with that indescribable and only perceived on a subconscious level smell of snow recently melt. The ice crunched under our feet and the only sound that penetrated the silence was the cries of the seagulls. Hell, I could even swear that morning had a sweet taste but that must have been the aftertaste of the chocolate I was nibbling at in the car before we reached the place!

Being denied a spectacular sunrise meant a relaxed stroll on the lakesideroad, sho... more »

2011-08-12 14:31:34 (55 comments, 11 reshares, 127 +1s)

Karpathos Island, Greece