Eastern tip of Madeira, Portugal

It was quite intense getting this photo.

I hiked across the island of Madeira, and this was taken at the easternmost tip of the island, Ponta de São Lourenço. It’s a rugged, desert-like peninsula with steep cliffs dropping straight into the ocean.

I hiked as far as the trail would take me and continued even farther beyond the main viewpoint onto the outer peninsulas. From there, I launched my drone and flew it several kilometers out over the cliffs and open ocean to capture the full series of peninsulas in a single photo.

As the battery slowly drained, I kept pushing the drone a little farther. Just a little more for a slightly better composition.

Eventually, I captured this shot, but I was very close to not making it back with the drone.

On the return flight, a strong headwind slowed the drone down significantly while the battery kept dropping. I quickly realized I wasn’t going to make it back at that altitude. So I lowered the drone down toward the ocean and flew it close along the southern cliffs of the peninsula, using the terrain to shield it from the wind.

Luckily, it worked.

With the drone beeping loudly from the low battery warning, I managed to slowly bring it back up toward my viewpoint and land it safely.

Definitely stressful, but absolutely worth it for this photo.