Little Venice

Little Venice is a line of 18th-century captains' houses built flush against the water, their painted wooden balconies overhanging the waves. From the shoreline by the Paraportiani side, the whole row stacks up in reds and blues with the sea breaking underneath — the one Mykonos frame everyone recognises.

The hour before sunset is the point: the houses face west, the low sun saturates the painted wood, and the waves catch the light. It is also when every visitor on the island converges here for cocktails, so the working method is to shoot the row from the water's edge and the rocks slightly before the bars fill, then turn around — the crowd stays out of frame when the sea is the background.

Spray is real: south wind sends waves over the shoreline path, which is either a problem or the best picture of the day. Pair it with the windmills five minutes away and the town's lanes for a full session.