Photography Blog: Madeira

A couple of years ago Madeira took my attention and I decided that at some point in my life I would like to visit the island. Fortunately, at the end of 2019, I had the opportunity to travel there and stay for 10 days.

I went alone on this occasion and took advantage of every moment to take the photographs I had planned. I got up every day between 4 AM and 5 AM to photograph every single sunrise and sunset. I swam with wild dolphins and left with a great feeling.

On this trip, my main mission was to take pictures of the mountains covered with clouds when the sun rises. It's such a nice feeling to get up at night, take pictures, finish your work and then breathe that cold breeze that comes with the first sun rays.

The first thing I did when I arrived was rent a car at the airport and I decided to stay in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, for the 10 days of my stay. The island is not very big, almost nowhere was further than an hour and a half by car from where I was staying.

One of my first mandatory stops was Pico do Arieiro; my main mission on the island. There I wanted to capture epic sunsets with a very soft light to achieve a dreamy and warm look.

The photos were taken with large apertures due to the lack of light, this is the same reason why in most of my photos I point the camera towards the light source. I also have to say that for this trip I used my drone a lot, it was really useful to photograph rock formations.

The landscape didn't disappoint me, it was the same or even better than I expected. Giant mountains by the coast on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. No wonder Madeira has become known in recent times.

After achieving my main goal, I had several days to discover another places in the island. My next stops were Ribiera do Janela, Seixal and Fanal.

In Ribiera da Janela you can find a giant rock, which is the subject of many photographers who visit the island. Although it was very cloudy the light was soft and very pleasant for photography. I used both my camera and my drone to take these pictures, but with the drone, I couldn't fly much due to the strong wind, so I decided to climb the hill a little and take the pictures directly with my camera.

After taking the pictures I drove directly to the mountains that were covered with clouds to see the mystical Fanal forest. It was extremely humid and the fog did not let me see much further. But I kept walking until I found my favorite trees to take the pictures I had in mind.

My next stop was Seixal. Unlike Porto Moniz, Seixal's natural pools are not extremely well known to tourists. So I decided to go there to check if they were as spectacular as the pictures show. And guess what, they are.

I finally explored Ponta de São Lourenço on three different days, I was very unlucky with the weather, so I had to come back constantly to get the photo I had planned. Finally, everything went well and I left Madeira happy and satisfied.

P.S. In another blog I will publish my experience of swimming with dolphins and how I take pictures underwater.