Naturcôa: two days photographing a nature event in Sabugal

Doing photographic reportage of a nature event like Naturcôa, in Sabugal, means photographing two things at once: a gathering with a programme, speakers and schedules, and the very landscape the event exists to celebrate. I've worked with the organisers — Sabugal Municipality — since the first edition, and I always shoot both days, which couldn't be more different from each other.

The first day is indoors. Conferences, talks by renowned national and international photographers, workshops and ateliers, and dinner at the end of the day. Here the reportage is corporate event work in its essence: reading the low light of the auditorium, catching the speaker on stage without interrupting, showing the audience in silhouette against the screen, and recording the details — a hand holding a workshop find, the projected programme, the energy of the breaks. It's a job of discretion and timing.

The second day changes everything. It's the photo walk along the routes that Sabugal and its neighbouring villages have to offer, and the photography moves from indoors to the field. Trails, participants on the move, outdoor nature workshops — mycology, species identification — and the landscape opening up ahead. Here it's me adapting to the group's pace, anticipating the framing and making the most of the natural light of a late autumn in the Beira region.

It's also the day the drone makes the difference. The aerial view is the only way to show the true dimension of the territory — Sabugal, the villages, the landscape where the photo walk takes place. A well-placed drone shot gives the event the scale that no ground-level photograph can, and it's almost always one of the strongest of the reportage.

There's always one moment that stands out, and in this edition it was the release of a bird, in partnership with CERVAS. With the group gathered around — some seated, some standing, cameras and phones in the air — the bird spread its wings and took off. These are photographs you prepare for but can't repeat: there's a fraction of a second when it all happens, and either you're ready or you miss it. It's the image that best sums up what Naturcôa is — people, nature and an instant that stays.

What links the two days is the same idea Naturcôa celebrates: Image, Nature and Heritage. For the organisers, the photographic reportage feeds the event's communication all year round — social media, press, applications, the next edition. Returning to the same event every year gives me a rare advantage: I know the ground, the rhythms and the people, and it shows in the images.

If you run a festival, gathering or nature event and need photographic reportage that captures both the room and the territory, get in touch. The best nature events deserve images worthy of where they happen.