Every guest leaves Mykonos with a phone full of photographs; the trick is leaving with a few you will actually frame. The difference is almost never the camera — it is the hour. Here is where the light goes, and when to follow it.

Morning

Before eight, Chora belongs to photographers and bakers. The lanes around Paraportiani are empty, the whitewash is soft rather than blinding, and the famous pelican tends to make his rounds by the old harbour. This is also the only civilised hour for a clean shot of Matoyianni.

Golden hour and after

An hour before sunset, climb to the windmills of Kato Mili and shoot back across Little Venice as the facades catch fire. For the sunset itself, Agios Ioannis beach frames Delos in the foreground; for the blue hour, stay in Little Venice and let the bar lights come on over the water.

And the fifth spot is the hotel terrace: sunrise over the peninsula, with Psarou on one side and Platis Gialos on the other, no walking required. Ask the desk for tomorrow’s sunrise time with your turndown.