Came for a Wedding, Fell for Madeira

I flew out to Madeira on the 11th of September for what was meant to be a work trip. The plan was simple: photograph a wedding on the 13th, fly back on the 14th. Easy. But I had a full day before the wedding, and honestly, that one day completely changed how I saw the place.

The adventure started the moment I landed. Madeira’s airport is wild – cliffs on one side, ocean on the other, and a runway that looks about three metres long when you’re coming in to land. Once I picked up my rental car (which sounded like a hairdryer on wheels), I drove east to Miradouro da Ponta do Rosto. The views there don’t even look real. Cliffs, clouds, ocean – just endless layers of blue and green.

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed before sunrise and drove up to Pico do Arieiro. Best decision ever. The sun came up through a blanket of clouds that sat below the peaks, and for a few minutes everything turned gold. I stood there, freezing and half-awake, thinking “yep, this is why I love photography.”

After that, I headed back to Funchal, where I was staying, and spent the rest of the day wandering through the streets with my camera. The market was full of life – fruit stalls, people chatting, the smell of fresh fish in the air. I snapped away quietly, just soaking it all in. Later that afternoon I joined the wedding party for a dolphin-watching trip, which was the perfect way to end the day.

Somewhere between the cliffs, the people, and that sunrise, I completely fell for Madeira. The island’s wild and colourful and full of surprises. I even caught myself wishing I’d packed my wildlife lens because there were kestrels everywhere, just hovering over the coastline like they owned it.

It’s funny – I went there for work, but it ended up being so much more than that. It reminded me why I love what I do – the travel, the people, the moments that sneak up on you when you’re not looking. Madeira wasn’t just a backdrop for a wedding, it became part of the story.