Meteora Photoshoot Diary, May 2019

For the Meteora Photo Tour , click here.

The journey to Meteora is long and winding, much like the clouds that linger over the ancient rocks.

Our day began early—6 AM sharp—with all gear prepped and loaded the night before.

By 8:30, we picked up George, our talented cinematographer and steady-cam handler, who took over driving for the next stretch to Meteora.

As we neared the rocks, the clouds thickened, and soon, we were driving through heavy rain and storms.

My excitement for the Meteora photoshoot shifted between anticipation and concern.

Fog and mist? Great for capturing a mystical atmosphere. But rain? That’s a photographer’s nightmare.

When we reached the final stretch, Meteora was shrouded in a dense fog.

Heavy rain poured down, and visibility was no more than 10 meters.

To make things worse, the site was packed with buses and tourists. If it was like this in such weather, I could only imagine how busy it would be under clear skies.

Nothing was visible. Nothing.

We decided to check into our hotel and regroup. After hours on the road, we were all exhausted, and Nina, battling a cold and on antibiotics, was feeling particularly unwell.

Meanwhile, the florist kept calling, asking if we were still picking up the flowers. Could the Meteora photoshoot even happen under these conditions?

That was a good question.

I reached out to the couple and urged them to arrive as soon as possible, warning that the light was fading and the clouds were growing heavier.

Unfortunately, they were also facing a long, winding drive to Meteora, and there was no way to speed things up.

It felt like a recipe for disaster.

In moments of such uncertainty, we turn to belief—belief that things will work out.

And they did.

Despite the storm, the cold wind, and even hail, we managed to complete the Meteora photoshoot.

Huge respect to the couple, who braved the weather with us, moving from rock to rock, determined to capture their love against the stunning yet unforgiving backdrop of Meteora.

You can’t stop the rain; but you can learn to dance in it.

Though our original plans were thrown off, we still captured everything we needed, even finishing part of the shoot on an additional day—without extra charge, because what matters most to us is completing the vision we set out for the couple.

You can view the complete Meteora photoshoot here. The film is coming soon.

Aesthetics of the Meteora Photo Shoot

I wanted to encapsulate a sense of infinity, timelessness, and what better way than with black and white photography?

Color represents life, but black and white embodies eternity.

Think of “Wings of Desire,” one of my all-time favorite films. Before love and passion, the world is in black and white, the domain of the angels. Once the angel falls in love, life becomes full of color.

The human dimension, the one of desire, is one of color. The world of the angels is black and white.

I imagined the monks of Meteora deep in prayer, blinding their eyes to the world with the power of the mind, perceiving in black and white—focusing only on what truly matters.

As I framed each shot, I envisioned the couple as actors in their own movie, wandering the “Suspending Rocks” (which is what Meteora means), perhaps lost, perhaps searching for one another.

Through the lens of Meteora photography, I aimed to capture not just their presence, but the healing power of love.

The moment they found each other, their world turned into color.

The photographs I composed often follow a cinematic 16×9 format—the same ratio we are accustomed to seeing actors perform within on screen.

I utilized this format for shots that captured movement or action, bringing a cinematic element into the Meteora photography experience.

The colors were muted almost naturally.

In the same way that Berlin in “Wings of Desire” feels timeless and eternal under its rainy skies, so too does Meteora, a place that carries the weight of millennia of historical importance.

In these moments, Kamen and Karna became actors in their own story, two lost souls—or perhaps angels—searching for love, searching for one another.

Standing on the ancient rocks of Meteora, it’s easy to imagine them with wings—just like in “Wings of Desire.”

The world of the angels is black and white, but love brings color into life.

Storytelling by Alex Katsamakis

Edited by Stavroula Laskaroudia