Slava & Anastasia. Fanal Forest and Seixal Beach, May 2026

Slava and Anastasia are from Ukraine. Same country I’m from. That doesn’t usually change a session much. With them it did.

They’re the kind of pair you don’t meet often. Both at ease with each other, both at ease with whatever the day asked of them. They have what most people work decades to find. They found each other. That seems to be the foundation everything else builds on.

We started Fanal in the afternoon. The fog was heavy and the rain was steady and cold. Neither of them complained. They came ready to work, and the weather gave the forest the conditions it does best in. White linen against grey laurels, mist filling the gaps between centuries-old trunks.

The North Coast

After Fanal we drove down to the north coast. The rain stopped on the way. We picked up a pizza and a bottle of Coral beer and ate it on a stone breakwater above the Atlantic, with a waterfall coming down the cliff behind us. Then we walked the black sand beach. Then she changed into the blue dress, and we worked the volcanic rocks until the sun gave out.

Sunset

The Atlantic at sunset gave us a strange light. Overcast above, gold breaking through near the horizon. They ran into the surf. Splashed each other. She laughed back over her shoulder. None of it was directed. I just stayed close enough to keep the frame.

The Rings

The rings were already on their fingers when we started. We took a few frames of them held up to camera, sharp in the foreground, the couple soft behind. With most people that kind of detail shot reads as posed. With these two it works because they were in it.

Honest day. Long and cold at Fanal. Warm by the end. People I’ll remember.

Fanal Forest location details

Seixal Beach location details

Full gallery: Slava & Anastasia, Fanal Forest and Seixal Beach