Zermatt-Swiss Alpine Landscape Photo Tour 2024

Mai/June | 2024 (4-Day) Zermatt Photo Tour

Aug/Sept | 2024 (4-Day) Zermatt Photo Tour

August 28 to 31 | 2024 (4-Day) Zermatt Photo Tour

Cost: AU$ 2,984* | single supplement AU$ 625.00*

SFR 1890.00  |  Euro € 1920.00*  |   US$ 1992.00*

All prices have been calculated in Swiss franc, exchange rates between currency may vary from day to day.

Take 5% off of the total costs of any tours when you sign up for 2 or more tours* (*conditions apply, not valid with any other offers, applicable only for direct online bookings). SwissPass discount applicable on demand.

This Zermatt photo tour is offered as a stand-alone or post – Venice & Tuscany tour extension May/June & Oct. 2024 or Paris May/June & Aug/Sept 2024.  Spouse, companion & non-photographer welcome.

The only extra cost for non-photographers is $1380.00 plus meals and transportation cost during the tour. (The single supplement fee also applies to the participant). Observers/ non-photographers companions can either tag along while you are out taking photographs, or do their own exploring of Zermatt’s surroundings and we’ll all meet up in the evenings to share a few stories of the day’s events.

A $1500 non-refundable deposit will secure your spot. Click here to make your deposit »

• 3 nights accommodations
• Breakfast (3x) and welcome dinner (1x) during the duration of the Tour
• Cable Car & train pass in Zermatt required for the workshops for all 4 day
• All entrance fees to exhibits & locations that we visit for photography
• Martial’s expertise in guiding and photographic instruction

Cost:  SFR 980.00  |  Euro € 896.00*  |  AU$ 1468.00*

Inclusions: Two night of Astrophotography / Night Photography, Alpine landscape & Nature Photography Guidance, Professional Landscape Photographer – guide, Light Refreshment, Small group size. Exclusions: Meals and alcoholic beverages, travel transportation (cable cars & trains), hotel pick up & drop-off, travel insurance, personal expenses and overnight accommodation in Zermatt.

Cost:  SFR 650.00  |   Euro € 658.00*  |   AU$ 1020.00*

Inclusions: Afternoon/ Morning tea, Dinner, Breakfast and none alcoholic beverage, Train/ Cable Car to Sunnegga Paradise, Landscape, Nightscape & Nature Photography Guidance, Professional Landscape Photographer – Guide, light refreshment, small group size. Exclusions: Travel Insurance, personal expenses and alcoholic drinks.

This overnight workshop is suitable for beginners and experienced photographers of all ages. A moderate level of fitness is required (some walking). SwissPass discount applicable on demand.

Photo Components Only:  SFR 450.00  |  Euro € 455.00*  |   AU$ 740.00*

Inclusions: Afternoon tea, picnic dinner and none alcoholic beverage, train to the Gornergart 360, Landscape, Nightscape & Nature Photography Guidance, Professional Landscape Photographer – guide. Light refreshment, small group size. Exclusions: Travel Insurance, overnight accommodation in Zermatt, personal expenses and alcoholic drinks. SwissPass discount applicable on demand.

This 6-7 hour session is suitable for beginners and experienced photographers of all ages. A moderate level of fitness is required (some walking).

Photo Components Only: SFR 375.00  | Euro € 380.00*   |  AU$ 447.00*

All prices have been calculated in Swiss francs and may vary with the daily international exchange rates.

This 3-4Day Tour / Workshop starts in Zermatt and is suitable for beginners and experienced photographers of all ages. A moderate level of fitness is required (some walking).

Ever dreamed to spend 4 days shooting Alpine Landscapes alongside an award winning professional landscape photographer? There really is no place on earth like the Alpine town of Zermatt in Switzerland; it is truly one of the most exciting locations in the world to explore and photograph.

This Workshop gives you the opportunities to learn all the inside tips and tricks you need to know on how to capture amazing landscapes and nightscape images. Hidden high up in the middle of the Swiss Alps away from all the city light pollution, Zermatt is also the perfect place to have a go at shooting the Milky Way!

The Tour start at 1:00 pm sharp at the Zermatt Train Station where will get a group transfer to our hotel to drop off the excess luggage we wont need for our first day/ night workshop at Lake Stellisee. If you arrived earlier in Zermatt, we will meet in the Dufour Hotel lobby to have a short orientation and get to know each other, what to pack for the first night and go over some important details about the next four days. Martial will give a short tutorial on camera settings, exposure and the use of your camera’s histogram.

Shortly after, we’ll make our way by foot to Zermatt’s Talstation Sunnegga; you don’t want to miss the last cable car, as it will add an extra 1.5 hours steep walk to the upper station!  At Sunnagga, we will be have our first induction to Alpine Photography Landscape, an short easy 30 – 40 minutes walk will take us to Fluhalp, our ‘base camp’ for the night. (It usually takes us a bit longer with all the photo stops and adapting to the altitude!)

With a bit of luck we will spot a few Edelweiss and hopefully get to meet some of the locals along the way; Marmots, Chamois, Alpine Ibex, Chocard and Eagles

We’ll check-in our accommodation late afternoon, and before dinner go through a few basic camera settings and ‘must do check list’ to be ready for our night photo shoot. We will have an early dinner at 7:00 pm so that we can catch on a bit of sleep, and weather permitting wake up half way through the night to capture the Milky Way shining over the mighty Matterhorn!

For those game, who wish to experience the early light, Martial will offer a pre-breakfast session and make his way down with the group (head torch on) to Stellisee in time to claim a spot to capture the blue hour and immortalise the breathtaking reflections of the Alps in the iconic mountain lake at Sunrise.

After breakfast (8 – 9 am) we’ll make our way to the edge of the Findelgletsher (glacier) via the Grimdjibach Track. It is an awesome hidden gem away from the crowds, a fairly manageable hour hike, offering spectacular viewing spots looking out over the Alps and probably as close as you will ever get to the Ice Ages without freezing your bum off!

After lunch, we’ll check-in at Hotel Dufour and all going to plan, have time to recharge and catch up on a couple of hours sleep for the previous night. Mid-afternoon we’ll catch the iconic Gornergrat mountain train and make our way up to the world most famous 360 degrees panoramic view.

Tonight we’ll enjoy a late afternoon picnic style dinner at Lake Riffelsee as we wait for the light to go down for our second twilight photography session and another great opportunity to capture some amazing images of the ‘King of the Mountain’ peaceful giant, the Matterhorn. We’ll catch the last train back down the valley to Zermatt around 10:30 pm from Riffelalp.

A well deserved sleep-in this morning and after a leisurely breakfast we’ll make our way to a traditional little old Swiss Alpine village, typically build with rocks, wood and slate roofs, away from the busy tourists routes After a well-earned rest and a taste of fresh local produce for lunch, we’ll hike down to Furi and catch a cable car to the Schwarzsee. This is a great place to spend the afternoon with a camera and make good use of those ND filters for waterfall and long exposure effects. We will get back in Zermatt late afternoon to explore the town and enjoy a typical Swiss meal all together. Optional free night to your leisure.

We saved the really best for last, this morning after breakfast we’ll make our way up to the Klein Matterhorn, a snow-covered peak of the Pennine Alps, with unobstructed breathtaking views over the Italo-Swiss Alps and Zermatt in the distance. At 3,883 metres above sea level, it is the highest place in Europe that can be reached by aerial cable cars, as well as by any other means of transport.

We will have the place nearly to ourselves at this time of day and will experience the magical early morning sun glowing on the surrounding Peaks. The perfect place to put in practice everything you’ve learned over the past 3 days and experience snow perhaps for the fist time. Time and weather permitting we’ll adventure for a short walk in the snow before heading back to the hotel to collect our suitcases and say our goodbyes. Our tour ends after lunch. Easy transfer and public transportation to Brigg, Sierre and Visp strain stations via Täsch Station is available daily.

Nature, Landscape, night and astrophotography

In addition to great daily photo opportunities and night excursions, we will also touch on the following photography topics, including:

• Understanding your camera
• Working with available light [read & understand the light]
• How to read your histogram, be in control
• Depth of Field calculation
• What lenses should you use?
• Camera settings to take the perfect shot everytime
• Image composition, the golden rules and how to break it!
• Filters, Neutral Density and Neutral Density Grads
• Photoshop/ Lightroom tips and tricks
• Night photography tutorial
• Capturing raw

Temperature range for this time of year: 4C to 20C but it can get very cold in altitude.

Average monthly snowfall for this time of year: 10%

Two pairs of shoes: One sturdy pair for in the field that you can get wet if we have a rain day. One pair for evenings or the next day in case the first pair is not dry.

Light weight rain jacket and rain pants. You don’t have to go all out here, but it will also help you to keep warm at night. * I really suggest a rain jacket if nothing else, the rain gear will keep you dry when walking in the mountain. I have a pair of Teflon rain pants & jacket, super light and perfect to keep in you camera bag in case of a sudden change in the weather.

A warm jacket, gloves, ‘woolly knickers’ and a jumper or light jacket for those early morning shoots.  It can get really cold at high altitude all year round, and specially at 4am as we wait for the sun to rise at 2’620 m over sea level.

Hat and high altitude sun screen protection.

Try to pack light on this Zermatt Photo Tour, as you will have to transport your luggage between the train station and Hotel Dufor. You will also need to pack and carry a basic change of cloth in your camera bag for the overnight workshop at Lake Stellisee (Elev. 2,537 m)… our Mountain Cabin is a short 30-40 minutes walk between Sunnegga and Fluhalp. Drop off laundry service is available at most Hotels

Equipment 

Your favourite DSLR camera, a multi focal lens (i.e 18-70mm) or fix lens, the wider the angle the better (i.e 14, 18,20mm full frame camera and 10, 12mm cropped sensor camera), and a medium to long-range lens (i.e. 80-300mm), plenty of memory cards and fully charged batteries. A small steady tripod & cable release for long exposure is essential. Don’t forget to bring your camera manual if you are not 100% sure about your camera functions. Please note that for better results a recent DSLR digital camera is preferable (0-5yrs old) as technology changes. Polarizer filter, Neutral Density and grabs filters are not a prerequisite but are great tools to have for long exposure and colour saturation.

This workshop is suitable for beginners and advanced photographers of all ages, however a good sense of humour and minimum fitness is recommended. Sturdy shoes, suitable warm cloths, drink bottle, a head torch and a good camera bag… remember, you will be the one carrying your own photography gears!

A perfect add-on before your Zermatt Photo Tour is our popular Paris in the Spring Street photo tour in France or after your Zermatt Photo Tour to join us on either Venice & Cinque Terre or Tuscany photo tour

Take 5% off of the total costs of any tours when you sign up for 2 or more tours or participants.

Paris in the spring | Paris Photo Tour

May/June & Sept/Oct. 2024  (3 nights)

Click here for more information »

Venice & Cinque Terre | Venice Photo Tour

May/June & Sept/Oct. 2024 (4 nights)

Click here for more information »

Toscana | Tuscany Photo Tour

October 2024  (6 nights)

Click here for more information »