Dark Gray and White Cat on Mykonos

 

This is a straightforward shot taken just a few minutes before I photographed the 'Black Cat Waiting for the Painter' during a morning photo walk. I decided to post this image since it includes the characteristic whitewashed building, with a faded 'Greek blue' shutter behind the cat. A typical setting on Mykonos, and the Greek Cyclades islands in general.

Notice the clump of wet fur sticking up from the middle of his tail. I'm pretty sure I interrupted a grooming session as I approached to photograph him. Greek cats, like cats everywhere, like to keep their tails looking just right, so he probably went back to work on it once I walked away.

Garden Cat Peering Around a Corner

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you will probably recognize this cat. I featured her 'In the Garden' in a February post, and then again as the partially-hidden star of 'Cat Tail and Water Pail'. Here she is peering around a large white vase/planter in that same hotel garden on the island of Mykonos.

On a technical photo composition note, I'm not thrilled with having that planter in the background, directly behind the cat. I shot this photo at an aperture of f/8, which didn't help fade the background much at all. I was using a great Pentax 35mm prime lens that would have been fine at f/2, f/2.8, or f/4, so I would shoot at one or more of those apertures (to defocus the background more and therefore isolate the cat better) if I could do this one over again. Or I would shift my position a bit to the right or left, but then I might miss the classic blue shutters in the background. I'm guessing that 90% of shutters in the Greek Cyclades islands are painted this color blue, or something pretty close to this color.

Anyway, you don't always have much time to work the subject and backgrounds during these unplanned photo shoots, so sometimes you just take what you can get.

Black Cat Waiting for the Painter

I came across this cat during an early morning photo trek on Mykonos. It was a little bit after sunrise, and I wasn't having much luck finding 'good' cats to photograph until I saw this one relaxing on a white ledge in front of a painter's art studio.

As you can see near the upper right of the photo, the green door to the studio was locked. My thought was that maybe this cat was waiting for the studio to open, in hopes that the owner/operator might set out some food and water for him (this would not be at all surprising). Or maybe this guy was just resting for a while, plotting his strategy for the rest of the morning, or daydreaming about the mouse that got away, etc. Who knows?

Also, I was tempted to clean this guy up a bit in Photoshop, but then decided against it. The cat has bits of white/gray hairs mixed in with his black coat, dirt and sand on his face, and other 'beauty' issues that are so typical of the stray cats of Greece. Some are in really great shape, and others look pretty rough around the edges. This guy was in between, but still photogenic enough for me.

Cat Prowling in a Field on Naxos

I came across this cat early one morning on the Greek island of Naxos, close to our hotel. I had gotten up early to see what kind of photo opportunities might present themselves, and discovered this fellow in the field adjacent to the hotel. Judging by his low crouch position and slow forward movement, I believe he was in hunting mode, trying to secure a nice breakfast for himself.

He turned to look at me as I tried to sneak close enough for a decent shot. I was able to capture a few good images thanks to the zoom lens I had attached to my camera at the time. I took this photo at maximum telephoto zoom, 200mm, for a 35mm equivalent focal length of 300mm.

Anyway, I hope he was able to find a good bite to eat that morning. I know I did - the breakfasts at the Hotel Grotta were excellent!

The Santorini Coastline

Before I get back to the business of posting more cat-centric images in this blog, I thought you might like to see a litttle bit more of the western coastline of the Greek island of Santorini.

Here's a view looking to the northwest, taken from our hotel room balcony. This image shows the central portion of Santorini's main town of Fira. The diagonal 'switchback' path in the lower center is used by hard-working donkeys (and people on foot) to reach the small lower port area (out of view to bottom left). There's a short cable-car ride that accomplishes the same thing a lot faster, and without all the donkey-infused ambience and sweaty exertion.

This second shot is from the north side of town, looking south. Visible in the background just to the right of the church is the southernmost part of Fira, home to our hotel - the Hotel Keti.

I have several more good landscape images from Santorini, but will save those for a little later. Back to the cats soon.

On Santorini - One Room, Great View, Free Greek Cat Included

Question: What's better than a nice room with a great view on the Greek island of Santorini?

Answer: A nice room with a great view, and a free (hotel) cat for a few days.

Here's a shot that shows a little more of the Santorini town of Fira in the background, as seen from the balcony of our room (looking approximately northward). Our favorite 'hotel cat' has stopped by for a proper dose of head-scratching attention. Naturally, my wife was more than happy to oblige. No language barriers here!

On Santorini - A Room with a Great View

This image illustrates a bit of the scale associated with the Greek island of Santorini. My wife is looking over the edge of our hotel balcony at the Hotel Keti, with the main port village of Fira built into the rocky hillside in the backdrop. The water and the volcanic caldera are outside the frame of this shot, far below and to the left.

Much, much further to the northwest (well beyond the background of this image) lies the village of Oia, which is where people go to see the most spectacular views of the Santorini sunsets over the caldera.

But as I'll show in future posts - and as you can start to see here - the view from this vantage point is pretty spectacular already!

(And yes, the cat from my previous 'Hotel Keti' posts liked to hang out with us on this balcony. Who wouldn't? More on that later.)