Made with Heirloom Folio
Blush tulle, a lot of wind and the last light
One Evening on the Coast of Malta: A Bridal Editorial
Bridal Editorial·Malta
Bridal Editorial
A styled bridal shoot on the coast of Malta: backlight in the shade, a hilltop above the sea, a gray ridge over a bay of orange sand and the waves at sunset.
Malta·Bridal Editorial
That evening on the coast of Malta there was no wedding and no couple. It was a bridal editorial: our bride for the evening in a gown of blush tulle, the sea, the wind, and the light, which we followed until it was gone.
I was blown away by Malta. What makes the island special is how varied the land is: dry hills, gray ridges and beaches, all close enough to reach on foot, and each with its own light.
When we arrived on the Maltese coast, the sun was still high, so we didn't start straight away. We walked along the beach and climbed a little hill, looking for the first place where the light would work, and found it under the trees, where the sun came through from behind her.
Then the light turned soft and golden, and we could finally work in the open. At the top of the hill a stony path ran through dry grass and scrub, with the Mediterranean behind her and a long, flat headland across the water. The wind took her hair and her skirt in almost every frame.
Above the sea, lit from behind
Her gown had flowers embroidered on a sheer bodice and a slit to the thigh, and the wind kept all of it moving. On a gray ridge above a bay of orange sand, with the Mediterranean beyond, the low sun came in from the side and laid the ridge's own shadow across the bare slope.
The gray ridge above the bay, in side light
Up close, the wind off the Mediterranean did the styling: hair across her face, tulle lifting off her shoulders.
Wind in her hair, and tulle against the sea
The last spot was the beach itself, with the Mediterranean breaking on the stones behind her. By then the sun sat low at her back, warm on her hair and on the tulle.
The stony beach, with the waves behind her
The evening ended the way it had been heading all along, with the sun going down into the Mediterranean beside the headland and the surf running up the sand.
Sunset beside the headland
I hope these photographs make you want to see that coast for yourselves, in that last soft hour of a Maltese evening.
If you picture your own vows on this coast, plan for the last hour or two before sunset, when the light turns soft and golden, as it did for us, and for the wind, which stayed with us all evening. The wild bays are for portraits or a symbolic ceremony; a legal wedding in Malta takes place at the registry or an approved venue. May, June and September are warm and almost dry.
The legal steps, the registrar's hours and the weather by month are in a separate guide to getting married in Malta.
If you want to say your vows in Malta, write to me; I would love to hear what you have in mind.
Behind the lens
Yana Yart
Yana Yart is a wedding and elopement photographer based in Cascais, Portugal, since 2020, who photographs across Europe. She has over 15 years behind the camera and has lived and worked in 55 countries; she studied architecture for five years and plans every wedding day around the light.
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