Melina's parents were married in Serifos, at Panagia Skopiani, the same church that held her christening. Verses by Odysseas Elytis are carved into the stone steps leading up to the church, worn from years of descending toward the same cliff-edge view of the Aegean.

The family returned to the island for their daughter's christening, having already brought their son Konstantinos to be christened at Platia Karytsi in Athens. The ceremony took place in summer, with the cliffside setting giving the day a version of the island the family already knew well from their wedding.

Family portraits followed on a terrace above the cliff, and as the light dropped toward sunset, a short session between Melina and her father produced some of the most expressive images of the day, a playful exchange caught in the spur of the moment.

Having already photographed this family's son's christening, we arrived at Melina's with a working knowledge of the island and the church, no time lost scouting, since Serifos is an island the studio visits often for weddings and events.

That familiarity left more room for the parts of the day that cannot be planned: the terrace portraits at sunset, the unscripted moment between Melina and her father, a playful exchange with her mother, and a swat at her godfather mid-ceremony. All images from the same day, staged or not, make this day memorable.