Apr 10

Apr 10 Why I started selling stock video

I recently launched a Pond5 page and started selling stock footage from various projects I worked on in the past. Haven’t always been a fan of stock photography or videography, but times changed. So did my opinion for stock footage. Here’s why.

Mar 28

Mar 28 Challenge accepted!

Nikos Drakatos

Cinematography, Broll challenge

Last year I took a 30-day photography challenge to improve my skills and find my style in photography. This year it’s all about animation and creating compelling and engaging stories with short videos. Not just any video challenge, a Broll challenge!

Mar 23

Mar 23 Next time you're on a bus, take a minute to observe

Nikos Drakatos

Cinematography

I’ll probably sound like an old romantic, but I prefer to do the old people watching on public transports than stare the glaring screen of my phone. It feeds my imagination and entertains my brain far more than reading the news or playing sudoku. Here’s why.

Mar 17

Mar 17 A perfect day

Nikos Drakatos

Photography

I spent the other day with a good friend of mine and my camera. It was a day full of learnings and catching up with great friends. I couldn't ask for more even if I wanted to.

Mar 6

Mar 6 My plans collapsed. Now what?

Nikos Drakatos

Other, Travel videos

I had this great idea for a short film I wanted to shoot during our last strip to New York. But in the world of hobbyist filmmakers, many things can go wrong. Is pushing through the right thing to do, or should I embrace the change in course and invest my time elsewhere?

Feb 19

Feb 19 Why we all need a long break

Nikos Drakatos

Other

No, I don’t mean a 4-day long weekend. I’m talking about a more than a month long break between jobs. I recently half-heartedly took one of those myself. What I discovered is that taking a long break from time to time can be rejuvenating. Not just for you, but for everyone surrounding your life. Allow me to explain…

Feb 10

Feb 10 How I managed to embrace life's changes

Nikos Drakatos

Cinematography

Change is an inevitable part of our lives. One day or another, we all go through changes that require us to change our daily routines and step into a new mindset. To progress, we need to treat those changes as new beginnings and grasp the opportunities that come along. This is the story behind my latest short-film titled “New Beginnings”, also sharing some behind the scenes content.

Jan 27

Jan 27 Our 2018 travel in review

Nikos Drakatos

Travel videos, Cinematography

Our 2018 New Year's resolutions was to travel as much as possible and broaden our horizons. I'm excited that we managed to achieve our goal even if it meant that we practically spend our weekends in busy airports. The most important thing, however, is that we created memories for life. Here's a recap of our 2018 travel adventures.

Jan 24

Jan 24 Friends are life

Nikos Drakatos

Other, Photography

Friends are for life. As the years go by, they never change, and they never should. Their job is to remind you that once, even for a brief couple of years, you used to be reckless, not worrying about life. No matter what happens, they’ll be there for you, for the good and the bad.

Jan 20

Jan 20 Do the glorious Greek islands get deserted over winter?

Nikos Drakatos

Cinematography, Travel videos

I had to take a trip to Tinos at the end of last year and got to experience how a day on a greek island during winter unfolds. Hint: It wasn't as I expected it to be.

Jan 15

Jan 15 What I learned from my 30-day photography challenge

Nikos Drakatos

Photography, 30-Day Photo Challenge

That 30-day challenge changed my life. Figuratively, and literally. My perception of how I see the world has changed as I now try to find the perfect composition within my surroundings, and I have found my style. Did I mention I also got my first commissioned photo session because of it?

Jan 8

Jan 8 We are live!

Nikos Drakatos

Other

By “we” I mean I took my new website live.

I recently went through a rebranding exercise in an effort to adjust to the new changes in my storytelling workflow through stills and animation. Check it out at www.nikosdrakatos.com.

Dec 30

Dec 30 A Florentine Dream - Travel video

Nikos Drakatos

Cinematography, Travel videos

Ever dreamt of travelling to a new destination and exploring its beauty? Well, my wife certainly has, and you get to see her living her dream in this short travel video we shot together while visiting Florence and Pisa in Italy.

Dec 21

Dec 21 Day 30: Landscape photography

Nikos Drakatos

30-Day Photo Challenge, Photography

This is it. The final challenge of my 30-day photography journey. It's been a very interesting 30 days with lots of learnings, but I'll write all about that in a different post.

Today, I want to focus on my last photo.

Dec 20

Dec 20 Day 29: The portrait redo

Nikos Drakatos

30-Day Photo Challenge

Slowly wrapping up this photo-challenge with another portrait photography challenge. I might have skipped a couple of techniques and mandatory accessories (like an external flashlight), but I’m very happy with the outcome!

Dec 19

Dec 19 Day 28: Distributing light through steam

Nikos Drakatos

30-Day Photo Challenge

What kind of photograph can I create that would be improved by the addition of steam, smoke, or fog? What if I don’t have access to natural fog, smoke bombs, a campfire, or a fog machine? This is day 28 of my 30-day photo challenge!

Dec 18

Dec 18 Day 27: False perspective

Nikos Drakatos

30-Day Photo Challenge

I feel that the closer we get to the end, the broader the challenges become. I guess the author wants to test our creativity and outside-of-the-box thinking in coming up with a composition.

Dec 17

Dec 17 Day 26: Urban photography

Nikos Drakatos

30-Day Photo Challenge

It seems a bit redundant going out shooting urban life when most of my previous challenges incorporated an urban theme. On a second thought, this was an aesthetic I subconsciously chose to convey through my pictures. Have I started picking up a certain style?

Dec 14

Dec 14 Day 25: Playing with artificial lights

Nikos Drakatos

30-Day Photo Challenge

This was another very broad concept I had to yet again crack. The only direction I had was to use any form of artificial light. It didn't matter if it was day or night, overcast or cloudy, strobe lights or coloured.

Dec 11

Dec 11 Day 24: The rule of odds

Nikos Drakatos

30-Day Photo Challenge

Some of the challenges, don't come with clear instructions. Actually, some of them, are very vague, leaving you to wonder what could this challenge possibly be, or how it will turn up to look like.