Photographer uses 35mm film camera to show the beauty of Madeira

Forget smartphones: Photographer goes old-school to show the beauty of Madeira and shoots the island using a 35mm film camera – and the results are mesmerising

• The images were taken by Lithuanian photographer Giedrius Lazutka during a trip to Madeira earlier this year 
• He is wedded to using a 35mm film camera on this travels, which produces photos with a ‘grainy texture’ 
• Giedrius said: ‘Madeira is a unique island with spectacular nature, mountains, clouds and rocky beaches’ 
• Madeira is famously the birthplace of former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo

Wondering which Instagram filter was used to shoot these cinematic pictures of the island of Madeira?

The answer is categorically #nofilter.

They were all captured old-school-style by amateur photographer Giedrius Lazutka from Lithuania using a 35mm film camera (remember those?) – and the effect is hypnotic.

The 34-year-old, who now lives in Singapore, took the pictures during a visit to the Portuguese Atlantic archipelago in February. He says he loves the ‘grainy texture and colours’ in the pictures his camera yields. Plus the fact that the process doesn’t involve sifting through thousands of photos on a laptop.

His retro-style images show Madeira’s lush green valleys, dramatic cliffs, eye-popping waterfalls and stunning hiking trails.

Giedrius, who works as a sommelier, told MailOnline Travel: ‘It’s a unique island with spectacular nature, mountains, clouds, rocky beaches, cliffs, waterfalls, many hiking tracks, delicious food and wine and lovely people.

‘There are very good tracks that bring you above the clouds to reach the highest peaks or green valleys that are confined by amazing 20-million-year-old laurel forests.’ Scroll down to discover the breathtaking island via the magic of classic 35mm technology… 

Giedrius snapped his stunning images of Madeira while visiting the Atlantic archipelago in February. In this shot, he captured the stunning view from Ponta do Furado on the eastern side of the island 

This image shows some of the terraced fields on the island. Giedrius said: ‘It’s a very small island. You can go around with a car in one day and see some beautiful places’ 

Giedrius said: ‘It’s a unique island with spectacular nature, mountains and clouds, rocky beaches and cliffs, waterfalls, many hiking tracks, delicious food and wine and lovely people.’ Pictured is a waterfall Giedrius came across on the PR6 Levada das 25 Fontes walk

Madeira does Middle Earth: A beautiful fantasy-movie-style lane framed by the limbs of ancient trees

Giedrius captured this serene scene on a hiking trail. He said: ‘Madeira is perfect for hiking lovers’. This image shows one of the island’s many 16th-century irrigation channels, which weave through ancient laurel forests, under waterfalls and around mountains

Regarding using 35mm film, Giedrius said: ‘Film is limited, so you think twice or more if you really need that shot, focusing more on details and object. At the end, you don’t need to sort through thousands of pictures on your laptop.’ Pictured is the town of Serra De Agua 

Giedrius currently works as a sommelier in a top Sicilian restaurant called Gattopardo in Singapore

Giedrius labelled this stunning image ‘Sunshine Around the Corner’ on Instagram

Giedrius remarked that ‘the excitement of receiving pictures from the photo lab is priceless and it brings your memories back to your childhood when you were unwrapping Christmas presents’

Giedrus says that a friend gave him his first 35mm SLR camera 10 years ago. He later bought a better model – and still only uses a film camera when travelling

Funchal – known as the Floating Garden of the Atlantic – captured as it glows at night. Madeira and the other islands in the archipelago were discovered by the Portuguese in 1418

This is one of Giedrius’s favourite images. He said: ‘We were driving on the mountain and on the edge of it there was a cow just enjoying her life. It looked like it was floating on the clouds, which created a very surreal illusion’

Madeira is famously the birthplace of former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, who now plays for Juventus

Lonely Planet says of Madeira: ‘Geologically dramatic, bursting with exotic colour and warmed year-round by the Atlantic sun, Portugal’s most enchanting island is a place that keeps all its subtropical holiday promises’

‘Black sand beaches, the frothing Atlantic, towering rock walls and gushing streams and irrigation channels make Madeira an outdoor nirvana,’ says Lonely Planet. ‘But it’s also a place of gentler pleasures such as wine tasting and visiting lush botanical gardens’

• To see more pictures by Giedrius visit his Instagram page. For more on Madeira click here and visit www.madeira-web.com/en.

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