The Best Time of Year for Photos on Madeira

People ask me this before they book their flights. The answer most travel sites give is July and August, because that is when the weather table looks best. For photographs it is close to the worst advice on the list.

I have shot here in every month of the year.

The short answer

March and April.

The island is green from the winter rain, the waterfalls are running, the air is clear, and the crowds have not arrived. Daytime sits around 20 degrees. Sunset is around seven in March, and between 20:25 and 20:50 in April, after the clocks go forward.

If you are choosing your dates around photographs, choose these two months.

What the summer actually looks like

July and August have the numbers everyone quotes. Barely any rain, around 26 degrees, sun every day.

They also have haze. The sky goes white rather than blue, the light at midday is straight overhead, and the contrast between a lit face and its own shadow becomes hard to work with. Every location is at its busiest, and sunset does not arrive until past nine, which is late if children are involved.

Summer sessions work. The soft light is early in the morning and in the last hour before sunset.

September to February

In September the air is clear again and there are fewer people. The sea is at its warmest, around 24 degrees, so this is the best month of the year for anything involving water. I photographed Emilia at Seixal in September and she went into the surf in a dress.

October is my own favourite. Green returning, air clean. I shot Manuela’s family at Fanal in October: the sky was blue, the fog stayed on the far ridge, and by the end it had moved in behind the trees.

November through February is the low season and the most underrated for photographs. Big Atlantic swell, heavy cloud, fewer people at the locations, and the lowest prices on flights and hotels. December is wet and July is nearly dry. Rain comes through in fronts and rarely lasts all day. Saket and Sneha had gold across the water by five in the afternoon in December. A family from Israel got soft orange light in February at Santa Catarina Park.

If the weather isn’t right, we’ll move the session to another day, free of charge.

Sunset times by month

• December: sunset around 18:05. The shortest day is 10 hours of light.
• March: between 19:05 and 19:25, then about 20:25 once the clocks go forward on the last Sunday of the month.
• April: between 20:25 and 20:50.
• June: sunset as late as 21:20. The longest day runs 14 hours 20 minutes.
• September: about 20:35 at the start of the month, 19:55 at the end.

In winter you can shoot golden hour and be at dinner by seven. In midsummer the best light finishes when a restaurant kitchen is closing.

Sunrise moves the same way, from about 07:00 in June to around 08:00 in December. For a sunrise session at Pico do Arieiro, that is when you need to be at the top. The drive from Funchal takes about 40 minutes.

Water temperature, if the sea is part of it

The Atlantic here runs cold by Mediterranean standards. Around 18 degrees from February to April, climbing to 23 or 24 by September.

If you want anyone standing in the surf, or a dress in the water, aim for August to October. Outside that it is possible and people do it, but it is a short part of the session.

The month I would actually avoid

None of them. But if you forced me to name the hardest, it is late July into August: haziest sky, hardest light, most people in every frame, and the latest possible finish time.

Even then, an early morning at Seixal or the last hour at Praia Formosa still works. It only means the schedule is fixed rather than flexible.

Planning around your dates

Almost nobody plans a trip around a photo session.

Tell me when you are here and I will work backwards: which locations suit that month and which hour.

In winter the warm light is short, and a one hour couples session fits into it. Family sessions with children usually land between June and September. On a wedding day the ceremony sets the schedule, and how much evening light is left afterwards depends on the month.

Sessions across the year

September at Seixal · October at Fanal · December at Praia Formosa · February at Santa Catarina · April at Guindaste · May at Praia Formosa · June at Câmara de Lobos

Know your dates? Send them over on WhatsApp and I will tell you what I can shoot that month. More on photo spots across the island and on how a session works: couples and proposals, family, individual projects or a wedding day.