Tourist Photography in Madeira

 

Madeira is a dream come true for any photographer. Clearly, it works best if you have the time to go out and take photos by yourself. If you are like me, you are in a companion of some loved ones. Still, the island has so much to offer even if you just explore it by car or hiking. I have been there twice now for about a week each time, driving around with a rental car and enjoying the scenery, and hiking as much as my knees allow. 

This time, I went with my Z5 and two zoom lenses, the 24-70 f/4 and the 70-180 f/2.8. In fact, the 24-70 would have done the job. It is a fine lens, compact and offering great image quality. The telephoto zoom was nice to have at some spots. But the main bunch of images did not require it. Below is a nice detail of the scene above, taken at 180mm.

It was absolutely essential to edit the pictures. The light can be very harsh. If you just take the pictures out of camera, you will have problems with the contrast and the colors.

We were at the famous fairy tail forest in the Fanal. But the light was still harsh at the later afternoon. It is not easy to get satisfying results at that time. The trees look best in fog, but we did not have it. Moreover, the place is crowded with tourists. In the picture below, I had to remove a person. The new AI base tool of Lightroom does a wonderful job.

Of course, the scenery works better with some clouds and a bit of fog. But you cannot always have that.

Do not forget to explore downtown Funchal. There is the famous market with the fish sale. The most iconic fish is called scabbardfish. It is more tasty than it looks.

There are also two botanical gardens, the cable car, the cathedral, and the old downtown area with the doors painted by artists.

The weather is always fine, and you might be able to sit outside in November. The place below is called CR7 and features a museum of Cristiano Ronaldo.

In any case, I have a warm recommendation for visiting Madeira. Don't go there by cruise ship. You will not be able to see more than a few places in Funchal. The treasures of this island are outside the main capital.