Photographing Mountains: Experts Share their Top Tips for Beginners
and their Must-Have Victorinox Products

Brought together by a shared love of two things – photography and the beautiful Swiss Alps – a group of twelve young creatives formed The Helvetic Collective in 2015. Although they are based all over Switzerland, the look and feel of their photography is surprisingly uniform. “We formed the Collective because of the strong synergies between our photography styles, although we each have our unique signature” says Tobias Meyer, one of the original members.

Young, social media-savvy and urban, the members of the Collective generate a strong creative energy. It’s no wonder then that between them, they have managed to rack up more than half a million followers on Instagram and that they are consistently listed as being amongst Switzerland’s most influential Instagrammers.

Their photography is truly inspirational, managing to show the stunning landscape of Switzerland but in a fresh, contemporary way. “Every photo is carefully edited and crafted” says Tobias. “We can typically spend several hours on each image, using specific editing techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop to ensure that the look and feel of the Helvetic Collective is upheld”.

In this way, we share much in common with this talented group of photographers – the pride that we have in our Swiss heritage and the commitment to delivering high quality results. So for us it made sense to collaborate with them last summer on a unique project with MySwitzerland, which showcased Victorinox knives against a backdrop of breathtaking Swiss scenery in the epic style of the Collective. Check out some of the images from this partnership below:

David Hubacher

Luan Baruti

Dominik Sartorius

Federico Sette

Josh Kempinaire

Seya Eggler

Patrick Güller

It was during the course of this partnership that the photographers discovered just how useful Victorinox gear can be. “Although not all of us live in the big cities of Switzerland like Zürich, Basel or Bern, we are often there for business meetings or just for creative meet-ups in a coffee shop or bar” says Tobias. “For us it is important to have gear that is sturdy and practical not only when we are shooting outdoors, but that won’t look out of place if we have a partnership meeting with a large brand. Some of the group are still students, so we cannot always afford to buy two bags or two different watches for example”.

The Helvetic Collective’s Top Three Tips for Photographing Mountains

Planning
Planning is key when shooting mountain scenery: you should know the weather forecast, plus the times of sunrise, blue hour and sunset before you even leave your house. Working with maps can help you visualize the pictures you want to shoot. For example, if you want to shoot a sunrise, make sure that no mountains will hide the sun.

Shooting
When on location and waiting for the perfect moment, make sure you take plenty of test shots to make sure that the composition and the settings are correct. In terms of composition, try to be creative – you don’t always have to put the subject in the center of the frame. Make sure you know how aperture, shutter speed and ISO are correlated. Depending on the effect you want to achieve, you’ll have to balance between those three. To begin with, you don’t need the best and most expensive equipment, just a camera that allows you to set everything manually.

Post-production
After shooting it is now time to sort and edit the pictures you have shot. Before editing, sort your pictures so that you have a small and more manageable amount to edit. When editing, try to remember how you actually saw the scenery that you have shot, and how you felt when shooting it. The goal of editing is to recreate this feeling.

Das Kit des Helvetic Collective

Alliance Sport Chronograph – Bei vielen unserer täglichen Herausforderungen kommt es auf das richtige Timing an, ob in der freien Natur oder beim Business-Meeting. Deshalb ist der Alliance Sport Chronograph nicht nur ein attraktives Accessoire, sondern ein wichtiges funktionales Werkzeug. Damit sind wir immer zur richtigen Zeit am richtigen Ort.
Hunter Pro Wood – ein wahrer Lebensretter in der freien Natur! Aber auch ein praktischer Begleiter für die Mittagspause im Büro oder Brotzeiten am Wochenende.
Vx Touring Expandable 2-in-1 Carry-On Duffle – Genügend Raum zu haben für alles, was man auf einer Reise braucht, hat auf unseren kreativen Workflow eine positive Wirkung. In den Bergen ist eine Reisetasche, die ein Rucksack sein kann, total praktisch. Aber in der Ebene können wir mit der Trolley-Funktion unsere schwere Ausrüstung einfach ziehen.
Swiss Army Steel Eau de Toilette – Der neue 50-ml-Flakon passt praktisch in jede Tasche und ist ideal für nach dem Sport, bei der Arbeit oder auf einem Kurztrip. Perfekt in jeder Lebenslage.