When living abroad, it’s particularly nice to have family photos that showcase the place you’re living, both as a memory and fun way to share your experience with family and friends back home. So we were excited to collaborate on this post with Kati Photography to find the best places in Zürich city for family photos.
Note: This post was a collaboration with Kati Photography, in which we exchanged services. Kati is a Zurich based family photographer and filmmaker. She specialises in documentary sessions (including ‘A day in your life’ sessions), capturing families and their loved ones in a relaxed and unobtrusive way. See more of her work here.
Before our photo shoot, we did a little research, scouting out locations that not only include the most iconic elements of Zürich but also made sense for families that may need to move around a lot during the shoot, not just sit still and smile. This was a good fit with Kati’s documentary style, following your family around for a couple hours, capturing mostly spontaneous moments in your favorite places as well as some traditional posed portraits.
Honestly I was a little nervous how this was going to play out. We’ve never had professional family photos done before for several reasons. First, we’d always rather be hiking or having fun rather than standing around getting our photos taken. Second, choosing outfits and grooming my children (and myself) is not my forte and stresses me out. And third, posing for the camera feels a bit inauthentic and I wasn’t sure if it would really capture the magic of our family. Happily I was wrong.
With Kati, we just went for a family walk like we normally would and she came along. Everyone was much happier than they normally are during photo shoots and it definitely shows in the photos. I was so happy with the results and so thankful we’ve captured this special time in our family’s life. Check out Kati Photography for more examples of her family photography.
Zürich Photo Map
This map shows some of our favorite spots in Zürich city that we like for family photos. They are grouped together so you can easily visit a few of these spots within a short time and get some variety. Of course, there are many other pretty places we like in the city. But these are convenient for a 1-2 hour photo session. Below are some of the photos at these locations.
Obviously, it’s a busy city and some of these viewpoints can get very crowded, especially on weekends. We did it early on a Sunday morning at 8:30 and it was perfect! Very few people were out making it easier to have tourist free backgrounds in most shots. Early Saturday mornings might also work before the shops open, but avoid afternoons when the streets are packed with shoppers.
1. Sechseläutenplatz near the Opera house
This might be my favorite spot, so much to interact with. We took our own bikes but during summer season, you can borrow bikes for free from Zürirollt. See Sechseläutenplatz on the map.
2. Zürisee Waterfront
We often walk and bike along the lake promenades in all times of the year. Sometimes you have clear views of the alps, other times dramatic sunsets, sometimes just the same old cloudy Zürich skies. In any case, it’s a big part of our life here and definitely needed to feature in our photo shoot. You can easily skip over here from Sechseläutenplatz and get a few shots before heading deeper into the old town. See also my Zürich Lake Walk – East for more ideas on along this side of the lake. See this waterfront location on the map.
3. Münsterhof
This big pedestrian square next to the Fraumünster is a nice place for the kids to run around with a picturesque background. We brought a ball to play catch since our boys play baseball. If you need to bribe the kids with chocolate, stop by the nearby Teuscher chocolate shop. See Münsterhof on a map.
4. Walkways along Limmat river
There are so many nice settings along the Limmat promenade with distinctive bridges, lots of old buildings with cute shutters, interesting railings, clock towers, boats, etc. See this Limmat river location on the map.
5. Augustinergasse
This narrow winding street just off the Bahnhofstrasse is my personal favorite. I love how it packs in so much character without being super touristy. I can’t resist the old time feel with the cobblestone, classic street lamps, and bay windows. See Augustinergasse on the map.
6. Lindenhof
This is the classic tourist shot, a great place for a posed portrait with the most iconic view of Zürich. But this spot is also in a nice park with a swing set, giant chess sets and lots of room to run. So you can also get some nice casual pics of the family interacting here.
7. Schipfe along the Limmat river
There are several spots along the river where you can walk out on docks or get quite close to the water, giving a different perspective of the city. I like this particular spot near the Limmat rowing club and Schipfe restaurant, which has a beautiful yellow tree in fall. See Schipfe on the map.
8. Niederdorf Hirschenplatz
The Niederdorf neighborhood on the east side of the river has many charming little streets that would be nice settings for your photos. Hirschenplatz is particularly colorful and has some nice subtle elements like the old Zurich map painting on the wall in the photo below. See Hirschenplatz on the map.
9. Zwingliplatz
This square outside the Grossmünster church has so many possibilities, so many different angles that you could do the whole shoot within a two block radius of this spot. See Zwingliplatz on the map.
City Style
Lastly, the city has so much texture and varied backgrounds for interesting photos. Even if you don’t want any landmarks in your pictures, it’s just a great place for portrait photography.
This post was a collaboration with Kati Photography, a Zurich based family photographer and filmmaker., specializing in documentary sessions, capturing families and their loved ones in a relaxed and unobtrusive way. See more of her work here. We enjoyed working with her and definitely recommend her for family photos.
2 responses
Sweet video.
Thanks!