When I first came to the Greek island of Crete, I stayed in a three-star hotel in the town of Agios Nikolaos. The first morning, at dawn, I took this picture. It's been almost eleven years since then, but I haven't forgotten the extraordinary feeling I had that morning.
Some of you may remember this photo because I already posted one of its early versions about three years ago. Today, especially for the Photography Lovers Community, I publish a new version of this photo, and I also want to tell you a little story of its creation.
The hotel where I was staying was called Coral (currently, it is temporarily closed). The hotel is actually located on the beach separated from the sea by a narrow road and a promenade. The hotel building is two-level — on the first level there are two floors with restaurants and cafes, and two floors with rooms. Pay attention to the yellow umbrellas, there is a swimming pool on the roof of the first level.
The pool is small; just behind it is the second level of the hotel building.
Simply decorated reception desk in the lobby.
The rooms at the Coral Hotel are small, without frills, and also decorated very simply. Almost always in my travels, I check into such rooms focusing mainly on the price. After all, in my travels, the hotel is not very important.
The main and undeniable advantage of the Coral Hotel rooms was the sea view.
I made a GIF for you to check out the room and the views from it.
The day after I checked in, I woke up at dawn. The curtains were ajar, the sun was shining brightly, and the waves were barely audible. That's how this photo turned out — I just grabbed the camera lying next to me on the nightstand and took a single shot. Below you will see another version of this shot, with a lower saturation.
Finally, I present you the original photo, without processing in Lightroom. As you can see, the processing of this image consisted of a little cropping and working with color. I hope you enjoyed my picture and the story behind it. Thank you for your attention and support.
Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece.
July, 2010.
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@alexanderfluke