A Photoshoot at Fanal Forest, Madeira's Laurel Wood

People book Fanal for one reason. They have seen the photographs: centuries-old laurels, moss on every branch, fog sitting between the trunks so the trees float in white.

That version is real. It is also the one thing about this place nobody can promise you, including me.

Three ways the fog goes

The fog comes off the north coast when it comes. Some days it holds for hours. Some days it lifts in twenty minutes. Some days it parks on the far ridge and never crosses the plateau at all.

There is no forecast that tells you which one you are getting. I have driven up in what looked like a clear day and found the trees swallowed, and driven up in cloud to find the plateau open and green.

The full fog version

Slava and Anastasia got it in May. Thick fog, wet hair, moss dripping, white linen against grey. In that light the background disappears three metres behind you.

Under a clear sky, canopy gaps throw hard patches of sun across faces. Fog kills every one of them and turns the whole plateau into soft even light.

If you want that version, come late in the day and give yourself flexibility on the day rather than the hour.

Fanal on a clear day

I photographed Manuela’s family here on an October morning when the sky opened blue and the fog stayed parked on the ridge. By the end of the session it had moved in behind the treeline. Two versions of the same place inside two hours.

On a clear day you get green grass, blue overhead, direct sun coming through the canopy in the middle of the day. The sun usually only opens up here around midday.

You also get the cows. They graze the plateau most days. In fog they read as shapes in the distance. On a clear day they are animals in a green field behind your portrait.

The trees do the work

Trunks with hollows big enough to stand inside. Roots that curve out of the ground and make natural frames without anyone arranging anything. Fallen trunks lying across the grass at a height to sit on.

None of it needs staging, which is why it works with children. A child finds all of it on their own, and I photograph them finding it.

Timing

Both sessions in this post happened in the morning, because that is how I used to book Fanal and it is what every guide on the island tells you. I shoot it late in the day now.

The reason is what I keep finding up there. The fog is often there in the evening as well, and there are fewer people. The guided groups come in the morning: spending an evening this far from Funchal does not suit their working day. Nobody can promise fog at any hour and I will not either.

The drive is about an hour from Funchal on the north coast road, paved the whole way. You park at the top and the plateau starts where the car stops, so there is no walk and nothing to climb.

Fanal pairs well with the north coast in one trip. Slava and Anastasia finished their day down at Seixal Beach, forty minutes away, black sand after the fog.

What to wear and bring

Bring a layer more than you think you need. Fanal sits at 1,150 metres and it is colder and wetter than whatever Funchal is doing at the same hour. People underdress for this constantly.

White, cream and pale linen read beautifully against dark moss and grey fog. Deep green and brown disappear into the background.

Shoes that survive wet grass. The plateau holds puddles for days after rain, and the best frames often happen barefoot in them anyway.

If it is foggy, expect your hair to be wet within ten minutes. Slava and Anastasia leaned into it.

One rule up there

Fanal is part of the laurisilva of Madeira, a UNESCO World Heritage forest. Some of these trees have been standing for centuries.

We do not climb them and we do not move anything for a photograph.

Booking it

A Short session covers Fanal on its own. If you want the north coast in one trip, Classic gives you Fanal in the afternoon and the coast after it.

Both galleries from here: Slava & Anastasia · Manuela’s family

More about the place on the Fanal Forest location page, and more on what weather does to a session in photo sessions when the weather looks bad. Message me on WhatsApp with your dates. Details on couples sessions and family sessions.