SANTORINI ADVENTUROUS ELOPEMENT VIDEO - Inspiration Elopement Visual Poetry

This is an Inspiration Adventurous Elopement video in Santorini. Embracing a quite unusual approach and featuring a different side of this popular wedding destination island. Santorini is definitely more dramatic and epic in winter. The variable weather conditions combined with the singular energy from the active volcano surrounds the place with a unique moody vibe. This is a video poetry for a beautiful couple, filmed in some of the most breathtaking spots of the island in winter time. If you want to discover a different side of the island of Santorini watch the film right above, and then continue reading to discover the whole story behind this multi-awarded film.

Santorini is a unique place to elope

No doubt Santorini is among the most sought-after wedding destinations worldwide to elope and get married, as it combines a landscape of an outstanding beauty, with infinite possibilities to relax for a few days. While gazing on the west side of the island, you can witness Santorini’s miraculous past geological phenomena that resulted to an amazing landscape of steep volcanic cliffs and a breathtaking caldera in which the volcanoes stand. This is the most characteristic side of the island, especially when the sun sets… But Santorini is not only the Caldera.

Right in the center of the iconic Caldera, a sheer precipice of more than 300 meters drop at its highest, stands the majestic volcanic Skaros Rock in Imerovigli. Its’ colors are in pure contrast with the traditional white and blue architecture and it’s almost a 45 minutes hike till the top. An absolutely breathtaking place for a destination wedding or elopement.

But Santorini is not only the Caldera. Many, less popular among tourists, sites on the east part of the island exhibit a unique wild beauty, while maintaining the mysterious energy of this land and the singular vibe of the long ancient history of the island. Eros Beach in Vlychada is a great example of such place, offering amazing spots for an adventurous elopement in a lunar landscape sculpted inside the white volcanic rocks of the coast. If it wasn’t for the venue of Theros Beach that sits on a central part of the coast, one could think of being on another planet! Especially in winter time, where everything in Santorini looks and feels abandoned and wilder.

The story

A good story is hard to find. It thrives on daring people who fall deeply in love. Who choose to be genuine and are able to take a leap of faith. Who go against all odds, no matter how hard it might seem to the rest.

So far, Santorini has always been praised about the bright and sunny weather and the picturesque white walls and blue domes that stand aligned in rows in the rim of the Caldera. We travelled to Santorini from Athens, together with the couple of Stefania and Panayiotis for this film. We all wanted to shoot a different kind of story. Something more adventurous and raw, as they are both two adventurous souls. Something more representative of the winter side of the island. Something strong yet volatile, as can be the love between two souls sometimes.

This Inspiration adventurous elopement video exhibits the beautiful wild concealed nature of Santorini in winter. When everything feels so silent, yet so strong. When nature celebrates alone on a wild landscape and goes from sun to heavy rain, and wind, back to sunny calmness, all in 20 minutes. The weather is so unpredictable and volatile in winter. Very reminiscent of the weather in Iceland, another volcanic land which, notwithstanding the obvious totally different geographical longitude, has so many things in common with Santorini.

The couple got dressed together and helped each other while dressing up. To underline the dramatic beauty of the Caldera landscape in winter, Stefania, the bride, chose to wear a heritage wedding dress crafted with organic fabrics by Atelier Zolotas. Panayiotis, the groom, went for a bohemian adventurous look by wearing more casual clothes.

Planning an adventurous Elopement in Santorini

Having previous experience as a destination wedding videographer in Santorini I was able to assist the couple in picking the ideal spots to exchange their vows, as well as the spots for the shooting. In the day of the elopement we had the opportunity to go and shoot pictures and video through different, unique, secret spots of the island.

From the Red Sand Beach to the impressive Eros Beach in the east side to Akrotiri, Imerovigli and Oia on the west Santorini coast. The couple hiked on Skaros Rock in Imerovigli under heavy rain. But then they had the chance to contemplate a magnificent sunset from the top, as the weather was set back again to a silent sunny calmness in the meantime.

Apart for the obvious and well known spots, we also visited many hidden-gem spots to shoot pictures and videos. Some needed to hike, some were closed due to winter bad weather. But the adventurous couple was all into it.

I always suggest to all the couples planning to elope or to get married in Santorini to book an experienced Santorini destination wedding Videographer and Photographer. Not only for the obvious reason of being legally allowed to shoot wedding photography and video in Santorini, but also for the reason of knowing well all the amazing hidden spots for a shooting, as well as all the potential dangers of visiting such places. Don’t forget that the Caldera is a steep precipice of 300m!

Adventurous Elopement Video in a Winter Santorini landscape

This adventurous Elopement video is structured as a visual poetry. The narrative that I have opted to use is a part of the poem “The Voice of the Rain” by Walt Whitman. It felt so natural to use the analogy between the wild beauty of the rain, giving life to the earth, and the raw nature of love between two human beings following cycles similar to the cycles of the rain.

If there were no rain, there would be no fresh water, and there would be no life as we know it. Rain gives earth life, literally. So it is indeed the poem of the earth. Similarly, love is the poem of life. It is the emotional nourishment of human nature craving for it. But it can also get wild through the ups and downs in life.

But, as the water gives life to its’ own origin, true love is what keeps two people together in the first place. Even when they go through the difficult times that life throughs back at them love gives life again to its’ own origin. As the poet says: And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own
origin, and make pure and beautify it;

If you like the visual poetry approach, you can also consider checking out my other films based on this approach: Wedding in Venice, Elopement in Morocco, Wedding Showreel.

Cinematic Wedding Films

No need for much technicalities. A powerful story is always the essence of good cinema. However the right tools used in the right place with a purpose help creating an immersive experience that goes beyond words.

In this film I have tried to achieve a more “organic” film look by using the rare anamorphic lens Iscorama for a cinemascope filming of a 1.5x ratio. These lenses compress the image horizontally when filming, creating a proper cinemascope image out of the camera. They also introduce other singular image characteristics such as an oval shaped bokeh, horizontal organic flares in backlight and alter the perception of depth of field by introducing more “blur” in out of focus areas. All these characteristics are very much sought after by many filmmakers.

The anamorphot was used on a vintage Zeiss Biotar 58mm f2.0 taking lens. One camera, one lens. Less is more.

All the video thumbnails and frames featured in this article have been shot by me. Although I am not a destination wedding photographer, I always use my video frames and pictures to help me tell the story.

Destination Wedding Video Awards

This Santorini Adventurous Elopement video has won the Best Wedding Film Award in the 17th edition of Inspiration Photographers Awards. Furthermore, the film has obtained a Silver Distinction Award in the Annual Filmmaking Competition 2018 by WPPI in Las Vegas.
It was also featured on the EllWed Magazine.

As a wedding and elopement videographer in Santorini, I feel really blessed to film in breathtaking Venues like Le Ciel, Venetsanos Winery, Dana Villas, Santorini Gem, Santo Winery, or Rocabella Hotel. I also enjoy telling the love stories of couples in love that decide to get married somewhere in the infinite beauty of the Caldera in Santorini. The place is full of hidden gems or amazing wedding venues!

Plan your adventurous elopement in Santorini

Are you planning to have an adventurous elopement? if you are undecided about the location yet, I can suggest some of the best adventure spots in Europe: The Isle of Skye in Scotland, La Cueva Grande in Gran Canaria, the wild nature of the Faroe Islands, the whimsical beauty of the Austrian Alps or the singular beauty of Iceland.

If you are planning to have an adventurous elopement in Santorini, you can also consider watching my other Santorini Wedding Videos: destination wedding from USA to Santorini, and LGBTQ wedding in Santorini. My guide of the Best Wedding Venues in Santorini might also assist you in your planning process.

And if you are looking for the best adventurous elopement videographer in Santorini, then you’ve come to the right place! I am really into adventurous and unconventional elopements, because they allow me to connect with the couple and create something authentic and representative of who you really are. Being already based in Greece, I can hop on a local flight and be in Santorini in less than 50 minutes! I cannot wait to meet you. Send me a message today to check my availability and let’s start planning your wedding or elopement together.