Mara Leite Photography

01/03/2026

To my fellow Washingtonians: if you haven’t made the trek to the Winthrop Balloon Festival yet, put it on your bucket list. I visited years ago and it remains one of the most surreal sights I’ve ever captured. Seeing those massive, vibrant balloons inflate against the crisp white snow of the Methow Valley is absolute magic. The festival will take place Friday, March 6th - Sunday, March 8th. 🏔️🎈

17/02/2026

Happy Lunar New Year, Happy Carnival/Mardi Gras, Happy Solar Eclipse, and Happy Ramadan! What an incredible day of celebrations! In my culture, Carnival is at the very heart of our traditions.

Carnival has historically been the final window of "allowable excess" - a time to feast and cause chaos before the restrictive silence of Lent begins. My top pick for Carnival is definitely Podence. I traveled to Northern Portugal in 2024 to see the legendary Caretos in action, and the energy was unlike anything else I’ve ever felt. Here, the "Caretos" (young men dressed in hooded suits made of thick, colorful wool fringes) descend upon the village. They wear tin masks and leather belts lined with chocalhos (cowbells), running through the streets to "rattle" the women and playfully disrupt the peace.

This ancient rite of passage, now a UNESCO-protected tradition, reaches its climax with the Burning of the Entrudo. A giant effigy is set ablaze, symbolizing the end of winter and the purging of the community's "sins" to make way for the rebirth of spring.

08/02/2026

Sending all my love to the Seattle Seahawks for today’s Super Bowl! 💙💚 I’m missing the magic of Seattle today - wishing I was back home to capture the whole city bathed in blue and green. In the meantime, here are a few photos from past years.

12/01/2026

The past few days have transformed Europe into a winter wonderland. Seeing Paris blanketed in snow last week was an incredible experience -something I never expected to see in person!

22/03/2025

We're three days into spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and I'm already excited about the photo opportunities! What are you most excited for each spring? For me, it's the sakura, wild garlic, daffodils, bluebells, and tulips, in no particular order.

📍 1 - London, UK
2 - Dorset, UK
3 - Bergen, Netherlands
4 - Skagit Valley, USA
5 - Hertfordshire, UK

15/03/2025

A lot of us in various parts of the world had the opportunity to watch a lunar eclipse yesterday. While a total eclipse was not expected for the UK, we knew it would be exceptionally near.

I drove down to Stonehenge in the predawn hours of Thursday. Despite encountering dense fog and the biting cold, the foggy conditions cleared, revealing the celestial spectacle with the stones.

Although a horizon cloud obscuration occurred as the moon was setting, the overall experience was breathtaking, particularly the sight of a frost-covered Salisbury Plain.

03/01/2025

Kicking off the year with a celestial spectacle! Captured the Moon-Venus conjunction this evening with the Light Pyramid in Campbell Park. The clouds couldn't deter me from witnessing this incredible sight.

30/12/2024

My favorite photo of 2024 was undoubtedly of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. I absolutely love photographing comets, especially when the foreground is as awe-inspiring as Stonehenge. 2024 was the year I returned to photography with renewed vigor, following a hiatus in 2023 while I finalized my PhD thesis. I'm looking forward to much more photography in the future. Happy New Year! I wish you all an extraordinary 2025 filled with joy, success, and prosperity.

15/12/2024

Yesterday’s Cold Moon rising over Brighton. 🌙✨

As I witnessed the mesmerizing starling murmuration this weekend, I couldn’t resist turning my gaze to the moon. This lunar event is special as it marks the major lunar standstill, aslo known as lunistice, where the moon reaches its northernmost and southernmost points.

Bummer about the clouds today, but I managed to catch the moon rising behind Brighton i360 yesterday night.

12/12/2024

It's hard to believe that autumn is almost over. Here are some stunning mountain views from Snowdonia National Park, captured in early November. I'll miss the season's tranquility and the way it makes the world look even more beautiful. 🍂🍁

27/09/2024

🎊 I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined the talented team of photographers at Landscape Locations Photography Workshops & Tours as their first female photographer workshop leader.

📸 🍂 I will lead an upcoming new workshop during the second weekend (8th-10th) of November in Wales to capture the beauty of my favorite season in one of my favorite locations. Come join us and learn about autumn, forest and waterfall photography! 🙂

South Wales photography workshop in November 2024. Professional photography tuition from Mara Leite. Residential landscape photography workshops based in South Wales

18/09/2024

Don't miss the moon today! Enjoy the magic of the September Harvest Moon, amplified by its supermoon status.

A supermoon occurs when a full or new moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its orbit, making it appear larger and brighter. The Harvest Moon, named for its proximity to the autumnal equinox, was traditionally used by farmers to harvest crops by moonlight.

These photos are a blend of two exposures, one focusing on the moon and the other on the pyramid.

Although the lunar eclipse earlier today was too subtle to be worth photographing from the UK, I'm curious to see if anyone captured it from other locations.