Switzerland is easy to photograph and hard to photograph well: contrast in the high mountains is extreme, the valleys stay in shadow in the morning while the summits already burn, and the plateau lies under fog from October to February. The difference between a good and a mediocre image here is almost always the hour.
The Matterhorn
- Riffelsee, on the walk down from the Gornergrat: with no wind the summit reflects in full. Only at dawn, before the valley breeze starts
- Gornergrat at 3089 metres at sunrise, when the east face turns red — the first train is decisive
- Zermatt's church bridge for the classic village-and-mountain shot, best at blue hour with the village lights on
Bernese Oberland
- Lauterbrunnen on the valley floor, with the Staubbach fall backlit in the morning; the walls are 300 metres high
- Schynige Platte for the view of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in late afternoon
- Mürren and the path to Gimmelwald at sunset, when the opposite face turns gold
- Oeschinensee above Kandersteg, at midday, when the light actually shows the turquoise
Grisons and Engadine
- Brusio spiral viaduct on the Bernina line: the train screws down through an open loop. The viewpoint is five minutes from the road; check the timetable
- Morteratsch and Diavolezza for glaciers in morning light
- Lakes Sils and Silvaplana in October, when the larches blaze and the Maloja wind brings the kites out
- Caumasee near Flims, in the morning, turquoise against the forest
Cities and cultural landscape
- Bern from the Rose Garden: the Aare loop with the old town, best at blue hour
- Lucerne, the Kapellbrücke at sunrise, before the groups arrive
- Lavaux above Rivaz: terraces, lake and the Savoy Alps behind, in evening light and especially at the October harvest
- Chillon from the shore in late afternoon, when the water reflects the castle
- St Gallen Abbey Library — photography without flash or tripod, and felt slippers are required
Water
- Rhine Falls in June and July, when snowmelt brings 600 cubic metres per second; from the Schaffhausen side, with the castle in frame
- Ponte dei Salti at Lavertezzo, before nine, otherwise there are people in the shot
- Staubbach and the 72 falls of Lauterbrunnen in spring at high water
- Trümmelbach gorge, inside the mountain, with a tripod and long exposure — it is dark and wet in there
Rules and technique
- Drones: permitted in principle, but not in nature reserves, not over crowds, not in the National Park and not in airport control zones. Some cantons have their own bans — check first
- Look at the summit webcams before going up. In fog you pay 240 francs for a grey wall
- The contrast between snow and rock defeats any automatic mode: expose manually, or meter on the snow and correct
- From October to February the plateau is under fog — go up then, because above about 1200 metres it is sunny and the cloud sea is itself the subject
- Do not photograph people in villages without consent; in small alpine communes it is noticed