21 Photos: exploring the beauty of Portugal’s coastline

The first picture in Mathias Fernandes’s selection could be a postcard: russet cliffs dissolving into pistachio-green surf. Yet for the man behind the lens, the scene is not a souvenir but a revelation.

“The Algarve is where my love for photography truly began,” he says. “Once I picked up my camera the Algarve revealed itself to me with all its beauty, variety, and surprises.” 

Fernandes grew up minutes from these beaches, but it took a restless streak – and a full-frame Canon paired later with a drone – to appreciate the region’s cinematic contrasts. Warm sandstone arches at sunrise. Ivory sea caves exposed only at the lowest tides. Fishing boats that appear like confetti over the Atlantic.

Fernandes likes to say the Algarve is both his classroom and his canvas.

“I took these beaches for granted until the camera taught me to really look,” he admits. “That sense of exploration continues to fuel my work to this day.”

Today, he roams the coastline on dawn patrols, sometimes alone, sometimes with visiting creatives who connect with him through Instagram. The Atlantic, he believes, rewards persistence: “There’s always another angle, another colour.”

His favourite hour is the sliver just after dawn when cliffs blush pink and onshore breezes haven’t yet churned the water. From the sky he composes near-abstract studies of form and shadow; on foot he favours longer focal lengths for “cleaner shots with lots of compression”, a trick that flattens distance and makes sea stacks look monumental.

Fernandes’s workflow oscillates between meticulous planning and instinct. He spends “hundreds of hours on Google Maps” cross-referencing tide charts and sun-angle calculators, but still delights in getting drenched by a rogue wave on a supposedly calm morning.

“Preparation is what leads to good performance,” he laughs. “But you also leave space for the unexpected.”

One evening near Carrapateira, the wind cut so sharply he warmed his hands against the engine of a vintage car he had hired as a prop, clicking the shutter whenever the airborne sand caught the backlight of the setting sun. Another day he met a hero of his – a German surf photographer – purely because both had chosen the same obscure cove at low tide.

Ultimately Fernandes hopes his pictures do more than populate Instagram moodboards. “My goal is to inspire others to go out and make the most of life,” he says – a credo as sweeping as his horizons. 

Whether you’re standing on a cliff edge at Cabo de São Vicente or scrolling these 21 frames on a grey Tuesday commute, the invitation is the same: look closer, chase the light, and don’t assume you know your own backyard.

Lessons for the rest of us

For travellers hoping to replicate the magic, Fernandes offers three rules of thumb:

1. Watch the tides. Low tide reveals cathedral-like grottos otherwise underwater.

2. Shoot west at sunset, east at sunrise. The cliffs act as natural reflectors, doubling the warmth.

3. Embrace harsh noon light for documentary looks. “With the right edit you get that beautiful summer analogue vibe.”

Gear-wise he keeps it simple: a Canon R6 MK II with a 24-105 mm lens for versatility, a 100-400 mm for compression, and a DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone for birds-eye drama. Everything else fits in a single backpack, handy when a stealthy wave tries to upend both artist and equipment.