Paris at Night

When photographing a subject that has been the subject of millions of previous efforts, it is advisable to try for a slightly different take than the usual fare. Otherwise, your resulting image may fail to attract the attention of jaded viewers.

I was in Paris last week and, like hundreds of others, decided to capture some night images of the Eiffel Tower. Most of my fellow shooters had no tripod, so that gave me a number of options not available to them. For Image 1, I positioned myself on the Ièna Bridge on the west side (Right Bank) of the River Seine. I set the camera for a long time exposure that would trace the taillights of vehicles traveling toward the Tower. This image was exposed at f/16 for 15 seconds. One of the advantages of such a long exposure is that pedestrians walking by tend to fade into a ghostly blur, an effect that heightens the sense of motion suggested by the traces of the vehicle lights.

The second image was taken about 150 yards from the first. There is a small carousel at the edge of the Place du Trocadero. Although a time exposure of an illuminated carousel is a common technique, with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, I couldn’t resist. This image was exposed at f/16 for 1.3 seconds. The starburst effect with the two street lamps is a side effect of using a small aperture such as f/16.

Both images were shot using a Nikon D-700, a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, and an ISO set at 200.