Understand Photography
Paris, France is an amazing and beautiful city. It’s my first visit here so the sites have been overwhelming and awe inspiring. I am here as a tourist, not a photographer. So I planned the trip accordingly.
Here are my four top tips for photographing as a tourist in Paris and vicinity:
Bring a small point and shoot or bridge camera. You may not want to carry your heavy DSLR around. We have been gone for about 12 hours a day. That’s a long time to carry a heavy load.
Batteries batteries batteries! Joe Fitzpatrick suggested I purchase an extra battery for my bridge camera. What great advice! The first day I used it, the battery only lasted about two hours! We were in L’Opera National de Paris and my first battery died. We also witnessed other tourists whose batteries died when we were on our bus tours. The small batteries just don’t last very long! Check out some of the pictures I would have missed out on if I hadn’t had an extra battery:
L’Opera National de Paris
L’Opera National de Paris
L’Opera National de Paris
Wide is better.
I brought the inexpensive kit lens with one of my cropped frame DSLR cameras so it wouldn’t be too heavy. This may have been a mistake. The kit lens is fairly wide 18-55mm, but on a crop frame camera, it’s more like a 29mm wide lens since the Field of View (FOV) is less on a crop frame camera. Everything is so close in Paris that I really needed a wider lens and/or a full frame camera. Good thing I knew how to stitch photos (see this article to learn how – it’s really easy). http://understandphotography.com/stitching-photos-is-so-easy/
Roseraie de Bagatelle
Learn HDR.
Since many of the photo opportunities were of beautiful architecture outside, knowing High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography really helped create some beautiful pictures. I used Photomatix software to process the images. If you decide to purchase it (price ranges from $39 - $99), get a 15% discount by typing in promo code UNDERSTANDPHOTO. We offer HDR workshops frequently and soon we’ll have online courses! Here is an article about HDR: http://understandphotography.com/hdr-another-tool-in-the-toolbox-by-joe-fitzpatrick/
Notre Dame in Paris
Pont Canal de Briare
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~Peggy Farren
Peggy in Paris by Isabelle Eaton
I like that last photo by Isabelle Eaton — stars above, angelic halo, and twin suns below!
I’m envious. Paris is one of my favorite cities, but in France you also should visit the Dordonge River region and then die at peace with the Universe.
Your photographs are stunningly beautiful. Thank you for sharing your photography tips.
Neil