001. Dusk is always a magical time in Santorini. The temperature barely drops off at night so alfresco dining is the way to do it.

002. Greece has had a battering over the past few years and the fabric of the country is testament to that. Santorini, like most of the other islands are sheltered from the economic woes that blight the Euro zone. Tourism is the big provider here and as long as the sun shines the tourists will keep coming.

003.

004. Alongside the quaint and old is the new and fresh. This fresh, spotless landscape is the playground of rich, mainly western tourists.

005. Imerovigli is the home for the finest hotels and apartments on the island. It has the best sunsets too.

006. A small gate to a church in the beautiful town of Firostephani.

007. One of the many back streets just a block away from the immaculate resort hotels.

008. There is no shortage of properties for development on the island.

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013. The crumbling heritage of one generation becomes the restoration project of the next.

014. I love spotting faces in architecture. The castles of Tuscany each have a face too.

015.

016. The ships and boats in the harbour of Fira dart about in a seemingly chaotic fashion.

017. Great graphics mark the entrance to the museum.

018. Umm brave choice of colour.

019.

020. The crisp modern architecture somehow compliments the traditional styles.

021.

022. I came across this couple from Manchester having a post wedding video shoot. I grabbed a couple of frames on my Fuji X-Pro1. Julie and I are now available to shoot destination weddings in 2013 and 2014. Our new website goes live in October 2012.

023.

024. Every way you look at the churches of Santorini there are pictures to be taken. I find that shooting architecture on prime lenses sharpens my composition skills.

025. Then at twilight the colour goes mad.

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028. This was the pool at our apartment. I went on Trip Advisor and chose the number 1 recommended place in Santorini and we were not disappointed. Anastasis Apartments service and attention to detail was simply superb. That's why they were voted number one hotel in the whole of Europe for service. I love retail and the customer experience so I just had to give it a go. All in the name of research.

029.

030. The tip of the island in a place called Oia. Crowds flock to Oia for the sunset but end up packed together trying to get a vantage point. Oia is overrated in my opinion. If you like trinket shops and card sellers it is fine but other towns on the island are far more beautiful.

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034. I'm not sure about my fascination with dereliction. When I see a property like this I feel compelled to explore it.

035. Most of the buildings you see here were completed following the disastrous 1956 earthquake. Most of the original buildings were built into the cliff face in a cave like fashion.

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038. Around every corner is a location for a portrait or fashion shoot. When the cruise ships are in there are parties of people being marched around the small streets of the tourist towns but they never get to see the derelict stuff like this.

039.

040. The island is dotted with abandoned windmills. This one is part of a hotel complex in Oia.

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047. We went to Santorini in the busiest week in August and enjoyed a relatively calm experience. The tourists from the ships never get to Imerrovigli where we were staying and the island hotel population is very well regulated. Apart from Oia everywhere we went was wonderfully quiet.

048. I wanted to rearrange the stones but I thought better of it. A good placement of three stones would make it for me.

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051. I love the way the 18mm lens on the Fuji X-Pro1 pulls in foregrounds. I used a polariser for nearly all the shots in this set.

052. This church was on the start of my walk from Oia to Firostephani. I couldn't persuade Julie or Francesca to accompany me and I soon discovered why. It was more of a hike and took a couple of hours in the searing afternoon sun. A great experience though and one I would recommend at the end of the day.

053. A toll of pines aloft the mount.

054. This was as close to Kamari as we got and you can see why. There are literally thousands of beach parasols on the black sandy beach. This is the view from the walk up to the ruins of ancient Thira.

055. There is a lot of Annabel blue paint in Santorini.

056.

057. The 'Tunnel Of Love' Santorini is the perfect honeymoon destination.

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060. A universal language or just to warn the crazy English?

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062. It pays to climb in Santorini. Sometimes the best vantage points for pictures are on precarious ridges or walls.

063. There is something magical about the proportion and scale in the islands architecture. It's a beautiful random that just looks right. I wish new homes builders in the UK were just a bit more fluid with the design of their boxes. I feel robbed of a beautiful housing heritage that ended in the 1920s.

064. Green paint is rare on Santorini.

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066. The Caldera is the at the heart of the island. The steep escarpments plunge 350m to the sea.

067. Infinity pools are great.

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072. Oia in the morning sun before the crowds have their breakfast.

073. A cave existence is a pretty cool idea for the hot summers in Santorini.

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080. A pleasant alternative to tarmac.

081.

082. Fabulous plaster work in the atrium of the Catholic Cathedral.

083.

084. The end of another day. Taken just before we went out for dinner at Mamma Thera restaurant in Firostephani.

085.

086. The Stairway to the street above.

087. I love the little bird.

088.

089. These are the bits of real Santorini that you won't find in the tourist brochures. The grapes on this gate are little raisins now.

090. I'm not a 'street' photographer but I like having a go from time to time.

091. The Santorini landscape is arid in August. The last rain was way back in March.

092. An old café on the cliff would make a fabulous shoot venue. It's the sort of place I'd convert into a photographic studio if I were to live on Santorini. There is a big market with destination weddings on the island.

093. We hired a car for three of our days on the island to get out and about beyond the bus routes. There are plenty of caves to explore in the landscape around the villages.

094. I had a sneak around this old Lido with my camera.

095. The café/ bar at the Lido.

096. There are still unopened bottles of Mythos, the local beer left around the place.

097. The reality of the infrastructure on Santorini means you occasionally have to work harder to get clean images. None of these pictures have been near Photoshop. They have all been tweaked in Lightroom.

098.

099. Santorini favours the minimalist photographer too.

100. From the small village of Emporio I went for a walk in the countryside to see more of the rural way of life and to go picture hunting.

101.

102. The 60mm macro for the Fuji is a fabulous landscape lens.

103. The local farmer here has a collection of beach parasol hats in his field and a life ring for good measure.

104. The donkey has been the preferred island transport for thousands of years.

105. The donkey replacement is made by Honda. The island is overrun with scooters.

106. This dog hitched a ride by propping himself up on the back of his master. A grab shot taken through the side window of my hire car.

106. Wine production has always been big business on the island. This old factory is now abandoned.

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109. The cliffs on the South coast are quite dramatic.

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111. The black sand beach under the white cliffs.

112. A big thing is made of the sunset in Santorini and it is a magical experience. We had ten of them in the ten days we were there.

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