Hello! My name is Miguel Ponte and I’m a destination wedding photographer based in Madeira Island. A portuguese island that will dazzle you with its warm climate, turquoise ocean, countless cliffs, magical forests and steep mountains.

Being born on an island, with such an intricate landscape and vivid colors, definitely shaped how I look at things. Since I can remember, I was always trying to find patterns and lines to follow in those amazing sceneries. 

Besides the great outdoors, astronomy, playing chess and coffee, my passions are psychology and photography. Actually, these two facets of my life complement each other – to photograph people you need to understand them and create a meaningful connection with them.

In fact, few things make me as happy as traveling to record moments of connection between people in love, capturing all sorts of blissful moments, that few can see or remember, but that will last forever.

How I work
My main objective at a wedding is to capture as many happy moments as I can, freezing them for the ages. I will do this in the least intrusive way, taking mostly candid photos, without forgetting the more formal portraits whenever requested or photos with epic settings to show the place you chose to get married.
Despite being based in Madeira Island, Portugal, I am roughly 1h30 from mainland Portugal and 3h away from any major European airport. Did I mention I love travelling for weddings?

Lectures & Workshops
Over the past few years I have been invited to lecture at major events related to photography and also started promoting my own workshops, which is something that has given an extra meaning to my life as a wedding photographer.
Don’t get me started on the relation between psychology and photography or about destination weddings!

Awards
After a few years into weddings I felt the need to know were I stood in terms of overall skills and that is why I started entering photography competitions. Amongst other acooladdes, I would say that winning the Wedding Golden Camera for European Wedding Photographer of the Year in 2021 and 2023, was the epitome, specially when I heard my 4 year old shouting “daddy” from the stands, in Prague.

Ambassador role

Nothing beats having the possibility to endorse brands in which you believe and use daily. That’s why I am proud to be one of the ambassadors of KoyLab, a Portuguese company specializing in custom-made albums that will make your photos come a live, and the widely known Imagen-Ai, a life-saving software for the busiest photographers, that will help me speed up my editing process to get your photos faster without sacrificing quality. 

Lectures & Workshops
Koy Konnecting 2022 BRAGA – Psychology allied to photography: What is the secret ingredient of photography?

Koy Konnecting 2022 MADEIRA – Psychology allied to photography: PART I (Empathy, Rapport and NLP) & Part II (Gestalt & Image Cognition)
Koy Konnecting 2022 AÇORES – Psychology allied to photography: PART I (Empathy, Rapport and NLP) & Part II (Gestalt & Image Cognition)
APPimagem Way 2022, VILA DO CONDE – Empathy, Rapport and NLP, Gestalt and Image Cognition

Koy Konnecting 2023, BRAGA – Destination Weddings: How to enter enter that market
Koy Konnecting 2023, MADEIRA – Destination Weddings: How to enter enter that market

Fuji Imag[in] 2023, MADEIRA – Picturing your dreams: Workshop “Psychology and Photography: From theory to practice”
Photo Forum Fest 2024, BARCELONA – Aplicaciones de Psicologia en Fotografia Social: Empatia y Programacion Neurolinguistica
Fuji Imag[in] 2023, PORTO – Picturing your dreams: Palestra “Psychology and Photography