Madeira

This picture was inspired by the great photographer Nigel Danson who's awesome YouTube channel inspired me a lot since I discovered it. His version of this dead tree was just mind-blowing and for sure one more reason for me to travel to Madeira. Neither was I hoping to find that certain tree so easily, nor shooting it in such perfect conditions as Nigel did. After hiking the spectacular trail between Pico Ruivo and Pico do Areeiro that day, we spent the whole evening at the tree until complete darkness to get the best out of this striking motive. Doing that, we missed an extremely beautiful sunset over the clouds, wich we could have seen just a few hundred meters away on the way down to the car park. You just can't have everything on one day.

Another gnarled, mossy tree from Fanal forest.

....a little later.

There is still some material left from our Madeira trip last Oktober, wich I did not pay much attention to so far. This single shot for example, wich was also included in a panoramas that I posted earlier, came out really nice in terms of composition and light. I hope you like it too.

Golden waves rolling in at "Praia da Maiata" near Porto da Cruz. In the distance you can see the striking rocks of the "Ponta de São Lourenço". All along the rough north coast you can find awesome places to shoot waves. A long tele lens, wich I did not bring, would be helpful to stay out of the salty spray, wich is really a danger for lenses, filters and all your gear.

Probably the best viewpoint over the whole São Lourenço peninsula.

Photo Tips: There are beautiful sunrises (photographed in the direction of the rising Sun), but evening can be equally nice. To cover the whole peninsula, you'll need very wide lens, possibly even to stitch several wide angle shots, as I did in this case.

Getting there: It's close to the easternmost parking in Madeira, even though you have to negotiate a small hill in order to get this view. Some 10-20 minutes from the parking, depending on your speed.

The Fanal is part of the the "Laurisilva of Madeira" wich is a Unesco World Heritage site since the year 2000. It is an outstanding relict of a previously widespread laurel forest type.

The magic of the area only comes with the fog, which often rises the steep slopes from the northern coast and then envelopes the bizarre trees. It then seems to rain under the trees, but that's just the condensed fog dripping from the leaves. An absolutely magical experience, that can be over as quickly as it came. You just have to be lucky.

As promised, another version of my favorite dead tree in Madeira. Here the fog was rising up a little higher, wich I was waiting for to isolate the branches of the tree a little more. This was the maximum, afterwords it quickly dropped down.

The impressive stone bridge leading to the Ponta do Sol pier is a beautiful sight itself, but if you add crushing waves below and some nice light, it's an amazing sight.

Photo tips: To nicely frame the whole thing, you'll need really ultra-wide lens. I could go down to 10mm (15mm full-frame) and wished I had even wider lens with me. Sunset brings nice side-light, but I can imagine great Sunrise compositions as well.

Getting there: You can easily park nearby right next to the beach (well, it can be pretty crowded in the top season). It's just ~100 meters walk then.

One more from mysterious Fanal!

What a wonderful view to the most eastern point of Madeira. There would have been a few more islands and a lighthouse, but unfortunately they can only be reached by boat. As usual we reached this final destination of our day trip at noon. Despite the harsh light and without a reasonable composition, I shot this photo using a ND filter to create at least a little interesting effect with the softened sea and waves.

This is a stunning hiking tour to the most easterly point of the island. Fantastic views onto the sea and the colored rock formations all along the 4 km long path. A high contrast to the almost tropical vegetation of Madeira.

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This is my second photo from my vacation to Madeira in March. The great thing about Madeira is that the island is so...

Posto Florestal Fanal is an amazing place to photograph magnificent Laurel trees. You can find solitary or semi-solitary old trees of various shapes and sizes.

Photo Tips: Absolutely try to get there in a foggy weather, as it really makes the place mystical and helps you to create more interesting compositions. That said, it's definitely possible to make great photographs in a warm morning or evening sun.

You'll use either wide angle lens if you try to fill the frame with nicely twisted tree branches or normal lens to capture individual trees or small groups.

Getting there: There are several smaller parking spots next to the road around this place.

For a few weeks now I'm traveling fulltime and our first stop was Portugal, then Madeira and now we are back in Portugal.

The photo I show you here was taken on Madeira. It shows Ponta de Sao Lourenco in the evening. What a spectacular view!

If you are interested to see some behind the scenes, I've recorded a video, which you find on my Youtube Channel.

That was the last photo of a day at the Ponta de São Lourenço. Theoretically I should have had enough time to find a good spot for the evening light, but I did not and we were already on our way back to the carpark as the colors in the sky and on the rocks where suddenly exploding. So I made a quick decision about a motive without thinking much about composition. I did a panorama of the whole scene wich was not too easy with the strong wind shaking the tripod, the spray from the waves on the lens and fast moving clouds. In spite all that I was happy to catch some of the awesome atmosphere of that evening on a unique spot like this.

The bizarr mountain scapes of Madeira are famous. The popular hiking tour between the two highest peaks Pico Ruivi to Pico do Areeiro is pretty exhausting. Not because of the 6 km distance but because of the extreme difference in altitude due to the several valleys that you need to pass. Rewarded with views like this, it's worth every drop of sweat. Rising fog increases the mysterious mood, but sometimes obscures the entire view. I would love to do this hike again in spring, when all the flowers are blooming.

For me one of the absolute highlights of Madeira. I'm sure from these rockformations a geologist could read a lot about the creation of the island. A piece of art created by nature.