Milky Way Photography Workshop in Switzerland

Milky-way season starts in spring, with more and more less-light-polluted terrain becoming available for hiking and camping starting from mid June. Before July it is a good opportunity to shoot milky-way full arc, as it hovers not too high over the horizon, while highlight of the astrophotography summer, the Perseid meteor shower, is in August, and September with October offer nice buffer season, with shorter milky-way visibility, but with a bonus of colourful autumn mountain colours. Don’t miss any opportunity to see and photograph visible part of our magnificent galaxy! If you want to learn how to take stunning starry night photos in the mountain environment, you should join one of my night photography workshops. The workshops are scheduled around new moon phases, so that we have darker sky to see the stars better. Apart from the milky-way, we will also enjoy snowy mountain tops, glaciers, or lakes.

Seeing milky-way with your eyes away from city lights brings so much feelings of excitement, beauty, infinite time flow, feeling small in front of universe, and is unforgettable experience by itself. Seeing milky-way through your camera lens, with all the details human eye can not catch, and taking beautifully composed photos is so much better. I can teach you how to plan, shoot, and process night sky photos, be that a milky-way, moon-lit landscape or hours long exposure for star trails. Knowing the right setting for your camera is just a tiny part of night photography art. Planning and post-processing techniques is what makes up for outstanding night photos. You can join for the star-gazing part, or with a cell phone as a camera, but you will enjoy this workshop much more with a proper camera equipment (tripod, camera with sensor capable of capturing high dynamic range, wide fast lens). The exact location of the activity will be decided few days before departure, and depending on the weather forecast, but it will take place in the mountains, spending the night in the camping tents surrounded by breath-taking landscapes. The walking approach might be adjusted to participant preferences, but you should except at least 1-2h of walking, and all participants should be in good health and have proper equipment (proper multi-layer cloths, hiking shoes, camping equipment etc). If you don’t have camping equipment, but still want to participant, please, let me know, and we could find a solution.

About me: I am passionate landscape and starry night photographer, I have spend many cold nights alone in the mountains capturing the beauty of our universe, and now I would like to share my skills and excitement of starry night with others. My education is in physics/computation photography, thus I know technical part of photography very well, and I also hope to teach you some artistic parts of it. Originally I am from Georgia, but I have been living and hiking in Switzerland for 13 years, and I know more or less every dark corner of it. You can view some of example starry night photos at https://www.lianamanukyan.com/gallery/under-the-starry-night//

What will we do:

LEARN (theoretical session, done online before the workshop date)

1. How to plan Milky-way/starry-night shot
   • • which time/date is best to take photos of milky-way
     • how to choose best place for the shoot
2. How to photograph milky-way
   • • which camera equipment to use
     • which camera settings to use
3. How to photograph star trails
   • • exposure time & camera settings
     • time-lapse vs. single exposure
     • best orientation for star trails
4. How to photograph moon
5. How to photograph meteor showers
6. How to incorporate people in starry-night landscapes
7. Noise reduction for astro photos and other trips & tips
8. Social behaviour and safety during night photoshoot

PRACTICE (or freeze out during the cold night outside)

We start taking photos 1 hour before sunset and continue until we no longer can take any photos (and if weather permits), with me checking the quality of your photos and giving suggestions to improvements.

We will have:

• Sunset photo session
• Blue hour photo session
• People in starry night landscapes session
• Rest of the night photo-taking session (time-lapse or several hours star trail exposure)
• Sunrise photo sessions (for the strongest who will survive the night)

REVIEW (done online after the workshop date)

1. Post-processing of milky-way/starry night photos in Lightroom
2. Review & feedback to participant’s selected photos

HAVE FUN

I hope regardless of circumvents and weather condition, we will have lots of fun and interesting conversations. Night is not as cold and dark when spend together.

DIFFICULTY

• Physical activity: There will be some hiking involved. Plus, you will be carrying all your photo and camping equipment with you.
• Photographic skills: You should know how to change setting in your camera, e.g. set it in Manual mode, and change the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. If you are not very comfortable with your camera settings, send me the camera model in advance, so that I can read the manual. Every camera can be different, and we probably won’t have time to read the manual on the place. If you also want to take time-lapse/multi-hour exposure shots, you should know how (and have all the equipment you need) to take time lapse/multi-hour exposure photos with your camera (sometimes additional remote control equipment is required, and it is not always straightforward how to use it – please, practice before).

WHY TO JOIN

1. Best, not very well known locations in very beautiful places
2. Theoretical and practical training
3. Lowest prices in Switzerland

WHAT’S INCLUDED

1. Personal advice for camera, hiking, and camping gear (if needed)
2. Photographing instructions
3. Personal feedback 

WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED

1. Transportation to and from workshop location (car pooling option might be available)
2. Photographic or hiking equipment
3. Food, snacks, and water
4. Accident insurance
5. Hiking guide

PRICE

250 chf / person

200 chf / person if you bring 1 more person

PAYMENT

Cash or bank transfer

Full amount before or after the workshop

CANCELLATION

Free of charge, but please, don’t cancel without valid reason

The workshop might be cancelled by the organiser in case of bad weather conditions

SPECIAL COVID CONDITIONS

Please, participate, only if you are feeling 100% well.

NOTE

I am not a hiking or mountain guide. I will do my best to keep you happy and safe in the mountains. I know many safety measures, but you and only you are responsible for your safety (in the mountains or on the way to the mountains). Therefore, I am not responsible for any injuries or deaths occurring during the workshop. To participate in the workshop, you should be in a good health and fit.

IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER

In case of bad weather, the workshop might be cancelled or postponed to a different time. This is especially relevant for camping in the open air, when a good weather is more important than when staying in the hut

WHAT TO BRING

• Camera, preferably with good dynamic range, and wide fast lens
• Tripod and remote control (if not supported by camera)
• Warm cloths to spend the night outside (it can get cold)
• Extra t-shirt to change for the night (not to be cold)
• Hiking boots, rain protection, and multi-layer cloths
• Small backpack for scouting/hiking before sunset (opt)
• Personal hygiene and medicaments set
• Sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and tent
• Stove, thermos with warm water (opt)
• Lunch, dinner, water, snacks
• Suns cream/ sun protection
• Warm hat, warm gloves
• Smile and good mood
• Headlamp or torch
• Extra batteries
• Earplugs