P A R I S
The city of love, great wine and spectacular monuments. It’s also the most visited capital of the world. This place for sure had plenty to offer when it came to shooting architecture. Though, I did not seek photographs of some historic buildings such as the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame or Sacré-Cœur. Instead, I just walked through the little streets of Paris capturing whatever crossed my view. The result was a mix of Gothic and French Renaissance architecture, minimal city scenes and modern interior design.
“Paris is always worth it“
To be fair, I was only shooting for about 1.5 days since part of being in Paris is about enjoying the city lifestyle and I didn’t want to take 27 pictures of drinking coffee at a pâtisserie. That being said, I enjoyed observing French people chitchat for lunch or dinner while I was busy editing my pictures. It still amuses me how little English many of the Parisians speak. Then again, my French language skills aren’t solid either (I apologize to my French teacher in High School). Anyways, everyone in Paris – from underground metro security, hotel staff to the cute french-japanese couple I met in a corner café – was surprisingly friendly when I approached them with my limited French to greet them but asking whatever I needed to know in English.
| Impressions |
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| Shooting in Paris |
This was my first time traveling to Paris or to France in general. I remember having high expectations but also not quite knowing what to expect. The worst thing that could have happened during my 3-night-stay were clouds, wind and rain since it was already late October. Luckily though, it was the best late summer weather I could have asked for with temperatures reaching 29 degrees Celsius. Therefore, I had a blast walking through sunny Paris playing with light and shadow in some of my photographs. Some places I visited include:
Parvis du Sacré-Cœur for a sinking house photograph
Galeries Lafayette, Sainte-Chapelle and Bibliothèque Nationale de France for indoor architecture and art installations
Louvre Pyramids for symmetrical shapes
The most difficult task of shooting in Paris is to find the sweet spot of not having too many tourists walking through your framing while, at the same time, keeping the image alive. To achieve that, I prefer having one or two people in my photographs to make the viewer alternate between the blank architectural context and the vivid human element.
| Featured Photograph |
My featured photograph of the Paris trip accomplishes this combination by having a symmetrical and iconic background with two Louvre pyramids as well as a passenger who seemingly stops time through his motion. It has been officially featured by @passionpassport as part of a #PPDetails challenge. Getting the perfect moment took about 2 hours including a little walk around the glass pyramid after getting frustrated for a second. The framing itself wasn’t too complicated besides making sure my symmetrical eye is pleased. Being inside the museum hall gives a nice natural vignette contrasting the outside center. The bright white sunlight adds a great shadow line to the passenger. Speaking of the stranger, this was a matter of about 3 seconds until he ultimately passed by giving me no chance for a second shot. It was a moment of luck having no crowd entering the hall or people taking their own pictures in front of the glass pyramids. However, if you look closely to the Before-and-After comparison you will notice that a small detail was changed. Check out the original photograph as well as the Caption for this Instagram post below.
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“The Louvre’s glass pyramid is made solely of glass and metal and is now one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. If you walk through the Louvre museum and look at each painting for about 30 seconds each, you would need 100 days to finish your tour. Too bad I only had 4 days in Paris.”
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| Gallery |
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