Campania, Italy
Proposal photography in Amalfi Coast
Terraces cut into a cliff face, a thousand feet above the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The coast offers a proposal one thing that nowhere else on this list does: height. A terrace in Ravello sits a thousand feet directly above open sea, so the frame behind you contains water, air and nothing at all — no buildings, no road, no other people. It is the cleanest background available anywhere in Europe and it requires no seclusion to achieve, because the drop does the work that distance usually has to.
What it costs is the journey. Everything here is stairs and hairpins, and a plan that has you arriving somewhere at a particular minute needs to account for a road that moves at the speed of the bus in front of it. We build in the margin, we choose a position with a second one nearby, and we agree what happens if you are twenty minutes late — because on this coast you may well be, and it should not be the thing you are thinking about.
The light
Choosing a month in Amalfi Coast.
May to June
Lemon blossom, green hillsides and the clearest air of the year. Warm rather than hot, and less crowded than what follows.
July to August
Peak. Hot, very busy, hazy over the water, and a coast road that is genuinely difficult at the wrong hour.
September to early October
The best combination on the coast: warm sea, softening light, thinning crowds, and long amber evenings against the cliffs.
What has to be planned for
- The SS163 coast road is single-lane, slow and busy in season. Every transfer takes longer than it looks, and a schedule built on map distances will fail.
- Boat transfers between Positano, Amalfi and the villas are frequently faster than driving, and are sea-state dependent.
- Stairs are unavoidable. Many venues involve a hundred or more between the arrival point and the terrace.
- The cathedral steps in Amalfi are public and busy. The photographs there are wonderful and they are made among strangers.
The commission
- Coverage
- One photographer, ninety minutes, from a distance and then not.
- From
- $1,800
Frames
From Amalfi Coast.
Questions
How much is a wedding photographer on the Amalfi Coast?
From $22,000 for a destination wedding commission: two photographers, two days on site beforehand and full coverage of the day. Travel is quoted at cost on top and itemised before anything is booked.
Ravello or Positano?
Ravello for the ceremony and the terraces — it is high, the views are enormous and the venues have room. Positano for the colour and the water, and for a guest list that can manage the stairs. Couples who want both should accept that one transfer between them will eat an hour of the day.
Can the whole day happen in one place?
It can, and on this coast we would usually advise it. Every move costs more time than anywhere else we work, and an hour in a minibus on the SS163 is an hour not spent photographing you.
How bad are the stairs, really?
At several venues, a hundred or more between the arrival point and the terrace. It is manageable and it is worth knowing in advance — both for the shoes and for the order we plan the portrait route in, which is downhill wherever the site allows.
When is the best month?
The second half of September. Warm sea, thinning crowds, long amber evenings against the cliffs and a coast road you can actually move on. May and early June are the other answer, greener and with the clearest air of the year.
Do you photograph from a boat?
Where the day already involves one, yes, and the coast from the water is a view your guests will not have. It is booked and timed in advance; a boat decided on at six in the evening is a boat that arrives after the light has gone.
Proposal in Amalfi Coast?
Tell us the date and what you are planning. We reply personally, usually within two business days.