Madeira photo spots
Crowds and privacy at Madeira photo spots
After the price, this is the question I get most often. Will there be other people there?
On Madeira it can get busy in the most unexpected places, so I never promise an empty spot. Nobody can, the same way nobody can promise fog. What I can give you is the shape of each place, the hours when it is quieter, and how I work when people turn up.
What I control and what I do not
I do not control who parks next to us. I do control where we stand.
The size of a place decides how much room I have for that. A wide place gives me a corner away from the main viewpoint. A small platform gives me almost nothing to change when people come close. That is the first thing I look at when privacy matters to you.
Place by place
The locations I shoot, starting with the ones that give the most room.
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Ponta de São Lourenço
Wide. Even on a busy day there is always a corner away from the main viewpoint. About forty minutes east of Funchal, then a short walk from the Baía d'Abra car park. If privacy is what worries you most, this is where I would start.
The place in detail → -
Miradouro do Guindaste
Small. The platform is narrow, and when people are close there is little room to change the angle. It still works for a surprise proposal: I am there before anyone arrives, looking like a tourist photographing the view. As insurance against a crowd, the peninsula is the better choice. About forty minutes from Funchal, on the north coast near Faial, three minutes on foot from the road.
The place in detail → -
Fanal Forest
The guided groups come in the morning. Spending an evening this far from Funchal does not suit their working day, so I shoot here late in the day, when there are fewer people. An hour from Funchal on a paved road. The plateau is flat and open.
The place in detail → -
Funchal Old Town
Early morning before the cruise passengers arrive, or early evening once the tour groups have gone. In between, the same streets are full of people and the light is straight overhead.
The place in detail → -
Funchal Lighthouse (Pontinha)
Quiet on weekday mornings, busier when a ship is docked. About halfway along the pier there is nothing on either side but water.
The place in detail → -
Seixal Beach
The beach fills up by mid-morning. Before about nine it is at its quietest, and the light is flat and even because the sun has not cleared the ridge yet. About fifty minutes from Funchal.
The place in detail → -
Câmara de Lobos
A working harbour, busy by nature. The steps above the village lead to corners most visitors never reach, with the whole village below you. Ten minutes west of Funchal.
The place in detail → -
Miradouro da Quinta do Lorde
When I scouted it in May, there were far fewer people than in Funchal. A short walk from the road, thirty-five minutes east of the city.
The place in detail → -
Praia Formosa
Funchal's own beach, with a promenade behind it, so there will be people. For a proposal booked as a normal couples session that helps: a photographer on a city beach raises no suspicion.
The place in detail →
Crowds and proposals
It depends on the session. A couples session, or a proposal booked as one, works anywhere, including small places and busy ones. I work in the open, close to you, the same as any other session.
One version of a proposal needs people around: I walk up as a local photographer and offer to take a few frames. In the old town that is an ordinary thing. On an empty clifftop it is not.
The version where I look like a tourist photographing the view is the opposite. It needs a place with distance and no crowd, so the list of locations gets short.
Famous places I do not use, and why
Cabo Girão has a glass skywalk 580 metres above the sea and a permanent queue of visitors on it. The view is real, the privacy is zero.
Scouting a place I have not worked in
I shoot at proven locations, the ones I recommend. For a place where I have not worked, I offer a scouting visit, so that you and I can make sure the place suits you. I go at about the same time of day, about a week before the shoot, and send you a video from the spot with a pin on the map. €60 in Funchal, €100 outside the city.
Short answers
- Will there be other people at the location?
- Possibly. On Madeira it can get busy in the most unexpected places, so I never promise an empty spot.
- When is Fanal Forest less busy?
- Later in the day. The guided groups come in the morning, and spending an evening that far from Funchal does not suit their working day.
- Which photo spot on Madeira gives the most room away from other people?
- Ponta de São Lourenço. It is wide, and even on a busy day there is always a corner away from the main viewpoint.
- Can I see how busy the spot is before the session?
- For a place where I have not worked, yes: about a week before the shoot I go there at about the same time of day and send you a video from the spot with a pin on the map, so that you and I can make sure the place suits you. €60 in Funchal, €100 outside the city.
- Why do you not shoot at Cabo Girão?
- It has a glass skywalk with a permanent queue of visitors on it. The view is real, the privacy is zero.
Tell me the place and the date
Sessions start at €250. Send me where you are thinking of shooting and when, and I will tell you what that place is like at that hour.
Ask me about your spot