Our Lady of the Rocks
Our Lady of the Rocks, or Gospa od Škrpjela, is a small man-made island sitting in the Bay of Kotor just off the village of Perast, and it gives you one of those rare subjects that works from almost every angle. The island was built up over centuries by local seamen dropping rocks and sinking old ships, and the church that crowns it is the draw, with a pale blue dome, a tall stone bell tower, a red tiled roof and low stone walls that ring the whole islet. Behind it rise the steep grey-green mountains of the bay, so you get a compact white and terracotta building floating on deep blue water with a big dramatic backdrop, and that layered separation of island, water and peaks does a lot of the work for you. The strongest shots are usually from the water itself, so frame it from the taxi boat on the way over for a clean side-on profile, and use a longer lens from the Perast waterfront to compress the island against the mountains. Once you are on the island you can turn around and shoot back toward Perast and across to the neighbouring cypress-covered island of St. George, which photographers often pair with this one. The surrounding mountains are high enough that they cut off low sun early and late, so the golden window is shorter than open sky and the white stone goes harsh and flat under midday light, which makes early morning and the hour before the peaks swallow the sun your best bets for warm, soft tone and calmer water. Mornings are also far quieter, since boats run steadily through the day and the small island fills up fast in summer. Access is by short boat taxi from the Perast waterfront, there are fees to enter the church and its attached museum, and a wide to standard lens covers the island while something longer lets you isolate it from a distance. (Perast, Bay of Kotor, Montenegro)
