December 2, 2025

as always, the full gallery is at the bottom, so skip there if you don’t care about the words

Day three of my personal challenge to create a photo essay everyday I’m not on production came and went. Turns out, to create a photo essay in a single day, plus write a story about it takes about 2 to 3 hours and somedays I just don’t have that much time. A prime example, today.

While my excuse for not getting out is “valid” it doesn’t really matter why. However, my ego wants me to defend myself, so here it is: I was getting a new sliding glass door installed and the contractor needed my help, so, I was lending a hand until 6pm. Sunset is roughly 4:38 pm these days. Aka not a chance of a sunset photoshoot.

Zipping up a large puffy jacket, I headed into the dark with a headlamp to walk the dog. Under the night sky, I considered taking astro photography, but the clouds were thick overhead and the moon, when I could see it, was bright. So, my final option for a photo essay didn’t work.

Walking in the dark, I thought about what I could do and the answer was obvious, but I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. So, Chestnut ran around me in the dark, lit up by the headlamp around his neck, for about an hour. Then, I accepted the obvious: I have thousands of unedited images, why not look through those and write somthing?

With that said, let’s blow this popsicle stand and head to the Greek Island of Mykonos.

Kristin looking like an actress waiting for her long lost lover to return and sweep her off her feet (hopefully that is me 😉😅). Follow Dalton on your favorite platform: @storiesbydalton

As if out of a movie, Kristin and I landed a dream job, the summer of 2024, aboard Clipper Cruises Greek Island hopping voyage. Kristin would be working on some social media marketing projects and I would be creating images and videos about the trip from Athens to Istanbul, with several stops along the way. While I have delivered the project, there are still a little more than 1,000 selects sitting in my archive unedited from this trip.

In many ways the unedited images drive me bonkers because they are good enough for the world to see, maybe even for somebody to license or add to my portfolio, but there is no obvious incentive to edit them. So, they sit on a hard drive and collect dust like a distant memory.

Thankfully, today I was given the reason to off load some of these images. So, thank you to everyone who looks at these images and reads this.

After leaving Athens, Greece, the ship headed for Mykonos’s. A party island, is what I was told. For the most part I knew very little about the Greek islands other than historical accounts and word of mouth. So, I was excited to see what the white building, blue roofed island was actually like. Spoiler, we didn’t find any parties.

For the most part, the island was filled with tourist, but still gave off a slow vibe.

Yes, there was a strip for shopping, but once you left the main corridor that had fantastic gyros and greek salads, the neighborhoods were quiet, navigated by cats, and friendly locals.

What I Brought On Today’s Photo Walk:

Sony a7r4 (the updated “b” version if you are a gear nerd)
Tamron 28-200mm all-in-one zoom (they have launched a newer model of this, but haven’t tried it yet)
Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 zoom (they now have an updated version of this lens that I like more)
Peak Design Lite strap (I was lucky enough to get the camo version from the Sitka collab that sold out in less than 24 hours and feel cool about that)
Peak Design Backpack Everyday Bag

Like most tourist, Kristin and I started our Mykonos wanderings at the Venetian Windmills not far from the port. This spot overlooks the ocean and invokes that sense of wonder I assume most would have felt who grew up on this island; What else is out there? I’m not sure why, but there is something inside of me burning with that question. That desire to see what else is there. Satisfied, that for the most part, over that hill is just another hill, then another. Yet, each time I get to explore, the elation of joy bubbles up.

Looking for a little something more, we walked into the center of town, hoping to get lost enough to find some of the heart of Mykonos.

Windmills, wine, lemons, and food. We hopped for some iced coffee, but if anyone has been to Europe, they know from experience that doesn’t exist.

Along the walk, I surprisingly started to fall in love with the island. I say, “surprisingly” because there is no nature to be found where we walked. Everything is manicured. Everything is a dusty white. Everything has a place.

Surely, we were out of place, but isn’t that the roll of tourists?

Like all good tourists, we posed for photos in front of blue doors. Follow Dalton on your favorite platform: @storiesbydalton

Camera in hand, we looked for places to snap images like:

doors
staircases
overlooks

And, I’ll admit, Mykonos has a surplus of all the above. The challenge became finding the “right door”, the “right staircase”, or the “right overlook”. In the end, it didn’t matter. What mattered was spending this time together, wandering the streets of Mykonos in a bit of disbelief that we were both here for work. Traveling together and seeing a place like this.

The only thing that could have made it better would have been some iced coffee while we played a game of chess in some random amphitheater.

Again, thank you to anyone and everyone reading this. If you have enjoyed this journal entry, shoot me an email to say hey: dalton@dalton-johnson.com

✌️