Director of Photography
Cinematographer
based in Lisbon, working across Portugal
Cinematography Services & Day Rates
I offer competitive and fair day rates aligned with industry standards in Portugal, with flexible options for full days, half days and multi-day shoots. Depending on the scope, I can work as a Director of Photography (DoP/DP) / Cinematographer or operate as a high-end one-man crew. Each shoot is scoped transparently based on creative needs, crew size and the required camera and lighting package, with clear project prices tailored to each production. To request day rates or a tailored quote in € or $, please use the contact form.
RAMMA — O Inferno Arde em Mim was photographed entirely at night, using darkness as a creative choice and the palace as a living character. The visual approach balances practical flame with controlled, sculpted light — keeping the atmosphere intimate while still holding detail in deep shadows and textured architecture.
To shape large, dark spaces like the wine cellar and chapel — and exterior garden sequences at night — I built a flexible lighting approach around RGBWW sources and modifiers: a strong key that could be softened through diffusion and softboxes, or focused through a fresnel when the scene needed reach and contrast. For precision, narrow beams and cut light were created with a spotlight/snoot, allowing tight control of direction and radius, plus texture through gobos and subtle color shifts with gels. Small portable LED units were essential for hidden placements in tight areas (including between wine barrels), and haze helped the light breathe, soften edges, and give depth to the frame. On camera, diffusion (mist) filters were used to gently lift highlights, bloom practicals, and keep the image organic. Real candles and battery-powered practicals were used as motivated sources, with some scenes captured handheld for immediacy and others on a gimbal for a controlled, drifting movement. Shot in log at night, the priority was always natural balance — keeping the performer readable while preserving the mystery of the darkest spaces.
FILM FRAMES
Why you should consider cinematography services
As a Filmmaker, Director and Director of Photography (DoP), I see cinematography as the craft of shaping light and movement to tell stories with a distinct look, emotion and visual intent.
Cinematography blends technique and art — composition, texture, color and rhythm — to define a film’s visual language and amplify its narrative impact.
My work starts with well-planned lighting design and the right camera approach for the story, from lenses and filtration to on-set execution. When needed, I also supervise or handle post workflows such as color correction, look development and finishing to ensure the final image stays cohesive.
As a member of the AIP (Associação de Imagem Portuguesa), I follow industry standards — whether for documentary, fiction, music videos, or high-end commercial work. In corporate and branded films, this approach elevates credibility, reinforces brand values, and turns information into a story people actually engage with.
Color Workflow & Look Development
I shoot with the grade in mind — shaping light, contrast and color on set so the final image holds up in post. When needed, I handle color correction and look development (or supervise grading with a dedicated colorist) to ensure natural skin tones, clean highlights, and a cohesive visual language across the film.
This can include camera tests, LUT strategy, and consistent matching across scenes and setups — always aligned with the cinematography intent.
The true measure of a DoP/Cinematographer is execution—sculpting light, shaping rhythm, and delivering a coherent visual language that serves the story. The selection below from my DoP reel showcases how light, movement, and color were meticulously crafted to amplify the narrative in high-end film and video production. This is my commitment to cinematic quality.
Watch some examples:
SIKAT SUBAR · FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Sikat Subar is an observational documentary with cinematic ambition — real light, real emotion, and the camera as a quiet presence. Shot in a hot, humid tropical climate under constantly shifting conditions (hard sun, heavy cloud cover, lush open landscapes and shaded interiors), the image keeps searching for texture: skin, dust, smoke, shimmer and contrast as a visual language. In towns, the air often came pre-graded — burn smoke, motorbike exhaust and unpaved-road dust — set against saturated nature, rich color and constant movement, and the stark contrast of polluted, degraded spaces.
The film was recorded externally via SDI on an Atomos Shogun Inferno in ProRes 422 — a strategic choice for a documentary workflow that ultimately generated over 100 hours of footage. In Timor-Leste, where storage logistics and drive costs can quickly become a real constraint, ProRes 422 was the most balanced option: robust image quality and grading flexibility, without the heavy data footprint of higher-bitrate formats. The footage was acquired in 4K DCI and 2K DCI, keeping a true cinema frame while staying agile in the field.
Vintage manual primes and zooms were chosen for character — gentle falloff, softness and occasional flares that let highlights bloom and the world feel organic and lived-in. Shot on APS-C with a focal reducer, the lenses opened up both visually and practically: a wider, more immersive frame and a small but meaningful exposure advantage in difficult light.
In the cockfighting sequences, the challenge was photographing fast action at 120–240fps in extremely limited light — deep shade, bodies packed tight, trees overhead and corrugated tin roofs cutting most of the sun. That constraint became the look: side light slipping through narrow gaps turned dust into dramatic “god rays,” transforming chaos into choreography. In darker locations — including caves with no natural light — small portable LED units shaped the scene while keeping the film grounded and documentary-true.
FILM FRAMES
DAWID TOMASZEWSKI — FANTASTIC VOYAGE · FASHION FILM
Dawid Tomaszewski — “Fantastic Voyage” is a fashion film shot across a single day and night in Lisbon, built on a strong pre-production process. I did extensive location scouting and proposed a range of settings to Dawid so each look could be paired with the right architecture, color palette, and atmosphere — letting wardrobe and place speak the same visual language.
Day scenes leaned on natural light and clean composition, while the night work embraced existing practicals — street lamps, shopfronts, reflections and mixed urban color. Portable LED sources and diffusion were used selectively to shape faces, control contrast, and keep movement polished without losing the authenticity of the locations.
The film was captured in 4K DCI at 50fps to create elegant slow motion in a 25fps finish. That choice brought its own technical challenge at night: the city’s lighting is a patchwork of different fixture types and refresh rates, and at higher frame rates any inconsistency can reveal flicker. On set, we constantly adjusted shutter, exposure and positioning to keep the image stable while still holding the pace and fluidity that slow motion demands.
I chose a Sony camera system for its ability to hold a clean image at very high ISO, which was crucial for night exteriors. Fast primes and zooms were paired with a gimbal for fluid fashion-forward movement and a sense of momentum through the city. In several situations, ND filtration was used even at night to stay within the camera’s optimal native ISO range and maintain controlled exposure and highlight roll-off.
Color work was carefully balanced to respect the original fabric tones and keep skin natural, while navigating mixed lighting temperatures across different streets and interiors. The result is vibrant but grounded — stylized fashion imagery that still feels connected to real street light.
FILM FRAMES
KAROLINE KAMINSKI — PEOPLE · MUSIC VIDEO
Karoline Kaminski — People was shot inside a theatre with a minimalist, graphic approach — using a deep black stage as an “infinite” background where the performer is isolated through separation, rim light, and controlled haze. A tungsten projector became the main key for the singer, taking advantage of its output and warm color to keep skin tones natural and cinematic.
Opposing that warmth, daylight-balanced LED sources were placed behind the performer and deeper on stage to create a cooler, blue-leaning backlight and crisp edge definition. With the background kept intentionally dark, small LEDs on the floor and a few elevated points provided precise accents — enough to suggest depth and space while maintaining the illusion of a “bottomless” stage.
A haze machine gave density to the air so light could breathe, making beams and gradients visible and helping the image feel dimensional rather than flat. Strong diffusion and mist filters were used to let highlights bloom in a controlled way — especially on the vintage metal microphone, piano reflections, and the brightest areas of wardrobe and hair — adding softness and glow without losing shape.
Lens choices ranged from wide angles to telephoto for a mix of theatrical scale and intimate portrait framing, with fast lenses supporting the low-light environment. In this case, the camera was kept on a standard picture profile (not log) to protect the shadows from noise while maintaining clean contrast and a controlled, stage-like look.
FILM FRAMES
ALGARVE WELLNESS - HOLISTIC RETREAT · PROMOTIONAL FILM
Algarve Wellness was shot primarily in log with a natural-light approach, timing the exterior work for moments when the sun was high to keep shadows minimal and the architecture clean. The visual goal was to preserve the Algarve palette at its most vibrant — turquoise-green ocean, warm coastal rock, deep blue sky, lush gardens and the saturated blues of the pool.
A major challenge came from constantly shifting cloud cover: a morning of overcast conditions followed by fast-moving clouds that repeatedly softened and cut the direct sun. This was especially demanding for drone work, where consistency is harder to control — so the aerial sequences were largely captured in “openings” of clear sky, with the grade carefully balancing shots where clouds partially covered the sun to maintain continuity and color depth.
The interview was filmed as a two-camera setup in log (wide + telephoto), using COB lighting and LED panels through diffusion to shape a soft, flattering key while keeping enough separation and detail in the space. Exposure was managed to hold information in the bright window highlights without letting the interiors collapse — allowing a natural contrast between warm practicals inside and cooler daylight outside, so exterior blues and garden greens stayed alive while the interior remained inviting and premium.
FILM FRAMES
Explore my Cinematography Portfolio
Available for commissioned visual work spanning music videos, fashion films, branded and promotional content, corporate and institutional productions, and documentary & narrative film projects. Based in Lisbon and working across Portugal — including Porto and the Algarve — I provide high-end cinematography and film production services tailored to your creative vision, whether the project is artistic, commercial, or documentary in nature.
- Films & Documentary Cinematography
- Music Video Cinematography
- Commercial / Advertising Cinematography
- Corporate & Branded Film Cinematography
- Client Reviews
- About (Director of Photography)
Let's define the visual language of your next project?
Discuss Your VisionFilmmaker, Producer, Director & Cinematographer (DoP) / Videographer
Service Areas: Lisbon, Porto, Faro - Algarve, and across Portugal.