SUNRISE TO THE LIGHTHOUSESilvia & Florin
Silvia and Florin asked for one long day on Madeira, start to finish, and they were happy to be up in the dark to get it. So it ran the way the best days here tend to: a clifftop at first light, then west across the island through laurel forest and down a cliff face in a cable car, and out to the lighthouse at the far tip for the last of the sun.
I photograph on Madeira as often as the island will have me, and a day built like this one is my favourite kind. If you are reading this while you plan your own engagement session, or an elopement here, send me a note. I am always glad to map out a route like this.
It is a route I have run before and will run again: sunrise at the Miradouro do Guindaste, the ruins at Sao Jorge, the sea stacks of Ribeira da Janela, a midday pass through Fanal, the cable car at Achadas da Cruz, the high pastures at Boa Morte, and the Farol da Ponta do Pargo for sunset. It is a lot of island for one day, and Silvia and Florin never once asked to slow down.
Sunrise at the Miradouro do Guindaste
The Guindaste viewpoint sits at the end of a walking path that runs out along the cliff, high above the water and facing east into the sunrise. Silvia and Florin had it almost to themselves at that hour. As the sun came up, a group of birds lifted off the cliff below, and the frame happened to be ready for it. You take those when they come.
The ruins at Sao Jorge and the sea stacks of Ribeira da Janela
A short drive on, the old ruins at Sao Jorge give you stone arches that open straight onto the sea. From there it was north to Ribeira da Janela, where the sea stacks sit out in the water off a dark shore. Silvia and Florin were happy to keep moving and let me work the compositions, which is what a coast like this one asks for.
Fanal, the cable car, and the cows at Boa Morte
Fanal in the middle of the day belongs to the tour buses, so I kept it brief, long enough for the laurel trees and no longer. The cable car at Achadas da Cruz is the part of the day I tell everyone about. It drops down a near-vertical cliff to a farming terrace at the water, and at the bottom there was no one else around. If you are not afraid of heights, do it. Up at Boa Morte the pastures run to the cliff edge, and there are cows, which Silvia and Florin were glad to meet.
Sunset at the Farol da Ponta do Pargo
The Farol da Ponta do Pargo is one of the busiest sunset spots on Madeira, and yet this evening Silvia and Florin had the cliffs to themselves. The light ran long and gold over the lighthouse, then went soft pink once the sun was down. It was the right way to close a day that had covered most of the island. If this is the day you want for your own engagement or wedding on Madeira, I would be glad to hear from you.
