Improve your Photography with the
Swiss School of Photography
Plus Discount Code For All NewinZurich Readers
Swiss School of Photography was founded in 2018 in Zurich and they run photography courses and photo tours in both English and German.
Top Tips To Improve Your Photography
If you’re looking to improve your photography it’s sometimes hard to know where to start. We recently attended the Swiss School of Photography’s drone photography course and learnt such a lot that we asked Nika and Raffa who run the school if we could share some of their top tips. Not only did they agree, but they have also given us some of their beautiful photos too, to demonstrate these tips in more detail.
Raffa and Nika of Swiss School Of Photography
Swiss School of Photography was founded in 2018 and they run photography courses in both English and German. They teach all aspects of photography from landscape photography to portraiture and food and everything in-between. They have also recently launched Digital Marketing and Instagram courses to help entrepreneurs and business owners successfully grow their social media presence.
Raffa from the Swiss Photography School
As Raffa told us, photography is not just about how to get the best angles and how to take the photos, but also about editing and post production too. He certainly knows his subject inside out and always has tips and ideas on how you can improve your shots. The school’s small and highly professional team of award-winning photography instructors combine theory instruction along with hands-on practical experience. After you learn something you’re very quickly putting it straight into practice. Groups are always kept small, with only up to 5 people per class, so there is plenty of individual attention.
Photography Classes Even If You Don’t Yet Own A Camera
What’s more you can join the classes even if you don’t yet own a camera. This is a really cool idea as buying a camera (and the additional lenses) is an investment and you really need to get this right. The team are happy to advise on what to buy based on your personal preferences and requirements. Since they collaborate with both Sony and Nikon Switzerland you can use their equipment free of charge during the courses.
Improve Your Photos With These Top Tips
Photography for Nika and Raffa is a way of looking at the world differently, a way of exploring it and getting the most out of it. There are so many wonderful places to photograph in Switzerland, so here are some cool tips on landscape photography to get you started. Take a look below to get some inspiration:
Tip 1 – Composition In Layers
Let’s take a look at these two photos and mentally analyze them in terms of their foreground – middle ground – and background. Let’s call them “layers”.
These multiple layers help tremendously in making the composition more interesting. When looking at these photos our eyes move between the layers, building the picture. If you think of how you looked at the Ice block picture, I’m sure your eyes were first drawn to the beautiful detailing on the ice. Next you would have followed the white foam from the waves until the point at which it reaches the colourful sunrise and then finally the mountains at the top.
In the second photo which captures the amazing Swiss Alps of Appenzell, the rocks in the foreground create a leading line that encourages the viewer to look straight up, first to the reflections in the water and then up to the beautiful Santis and Agateplatte peaks. Layers make our compositions so much better, and that’s how we want to make our photos stand out.
Tip 2 – The Best Light
What happens when you get your new camera out of the box and take it for your first photo shoot? Most often some of the results will be quite disastrous 😀 One of the reasons for this is that if we shoot at midday our photos will look quite dull. With such high contrast the colours appear “washed out” due to the strong sunlight. So when does the sky look at its best? Yes, sunset and sunrise! Around this time of day, the light becomes warm, diffused and beautiful; it is called golden hour.
Compare the first and second lavender field photos and observe the differences in the mood, and the colours. Next time you look at Instagram it will be no surprise to see that most of the spectacular landscape photos you’re looking at have been taken at golden hour.
Tip 3 – Long Exposures
This one is a great technique which makes every photo softer, more moody and definitely more interesting. It’s called the long exposure technique. You need to set the shutter to a very slow speed, often multiple seconds, in order to capture and transform the movement of clouds and water making them appear fluffy and silky like in the photo below.
You definitely need to use a tripod for this technique, but it really is a small price to pay. Look at this beautiful photo of Zurich!
Top 4 – Post-Processing
Of course, a photo is not complete without some proper post-processing work. Look at this before/after look of the same photo. Post-processing is not about Photoshop and creating “fake” effects, it is about making your picture stand out and giving it your personal style.
However, when shooting we have to make sure we shoot with the right settings to be able to get the most out of our captures, as a lot of things cannot be fixed by Photoshop afterwards.
Learning Photography From Passionate Experts
There’s definitely something that sets apart professionals from amateurs. A perfect photo combines the perfect composition, the correct settings, the best light and the right post-processing. It’s important to know how a camera works, and especially which effects we can get from a specific lens or setup. All these techniques and many more may sound complicated initially, but with Raffa and Nika’s patient and fun approach everyone can learn and achieve great results really quickly. Swiss School of Photography courses are open to all and teenagers who want to improve their photography skills during the long Summer holidays are also welcome.
Nika from Swiss School of Photography
The duo make a great team. Raffa with his 13 years of passionate in-depth study of the technical aspects of photography and Nika, a professional and very talented photographer who is also a trained marketing professional. The courses are based on a modular approach, focussing on giving the most important and effective concepts gradually and explaining through hands-on practice.
So if you’re looking to improve your photographic skills or have a new camera or drone and want to get better results, why not contact the Swiss School of Photography in Zurich? Classes take place at their spacious and bright studio in Zurich or at their offices in Geneva and Bern. The school have had many success stories with some ex-students having opened their own photography businesses, some using their photography skills to create fantastic pictures for their businesses or social media, and some even joining the Swiss School Of Photography team as teachers.
NEWINZURICH 10% Discount Code Off All Courses
Whatever course you are interested in, why not use this exclusive offer code “NEWINZURICH” to get a 10% discount code on your first course? And don’t forget a photography course makes an excellent gift!
Swiss School Of Photography
Address: Hohlstrasse 485, 8048 Zurich
Tel: 076 465 7597
Email: INFO@SWISSSCHOOLOFPHOTOGRAPHY.CH
Visit the Swiss School of Photography Website here.
