A Graceful Entry at Kardamena

It was another early start on Kos.

Unusually for me, I didn’t have a clear plan for what I wanted to shoot despite my usual research efforts. I did know that the dawn was going to be clear, with some great light on the horizon, so I decided to head to the local town of Kardamena with my eldest daughter Gracie and see where the morning would take us.

After a short walk towards a small beach next to the town’s harbour, I came across these part-submerged steps gracefully resting on the shore. It’s not something everyone would stop to photograph, but the increasing beauty of the dawn light made the whole scene glow, as great light often does.

As I set up my camera, Gracie noticed we weren’t alone!

Back in August while shooting a village in Rhodes, I’d attracted a bit of attention from the local cats. One even followed me throughout my entire visit. It seemed this wasn’t a one-off, as a ginger cat had now appeared to see what we were up to.

After nosing around my camera bag for a bit, she made herself comfortable on a nearby sun lounger and watched the dawn transition into sunrise alongside us.

As I anticipated, the light put on a fabulous display of colours and textures as it rose gracefully over the Turkish mountains, enjoyed by all three of us.

Once I’d captured the shots I wanted, we packed up the tripod and wandered around the harbour, still followed by our fluffy tour guide—until she decided to ditch us for a group of cats that seemed far more interesting.

After snapping a few more photos, another memorable dawn in Greece was complete, and we headed back for a well-deserved cup of tea and breakfast