Weekend in paris ***HELP NEEDED***

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#13

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Richard
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i have booked a weekend away in Paris for my GF its not until mid Jan but its her Xmas present, time frame for sight seeing ect is from 1200 Friday and all day Saturday, fly back on the Sunday morning

While we are out there we will obviously visit the well known attractions, such as the Eiffel tower, arc de triumph, Notre dame and the louvre and more

I want to go up to the top of the Eiffel tower and hopefully take a nice panoramic, here's where I run into my first problem, I have no idea how to do such a shot, so hoping you guys could help me out on this one.

planning on getting night shots of the Arc de triumph, Eiffel tower and Notre dame, maybe a long shutter speed as to get the light trials ect, but again I have never attempted these kind of shots before, so ANY guidance would be massively welcomed

want to get these shots right as i wont be going back for a long while so want to make the most out of it

anyway, my Kit -

Canon EOS 450D
EFS 18-55mm IS Lens
EFS 55-250mm IS Lens
tri/monopod

Thanks for taking the time to read through, and offer any advice to get some good shots while we are there, will be sure to post the results up!

#13
 
Definitely take a tripod for what you're planning! For long exposures, the monopod will still leave you with a bit of a blurry picture. You might want to invest in a remote release as well to further minimise camera shake.

For the panoramas, if you've got photoshop or similar (and I think there might be free ones out there that'll do it), you can easily stitch together the photos to make the panorama. Just take them, make sure there's a reasonable overlap, and the software should be able to do the rest!

As for the long night exposures, set to shutter priority, chose your time, and go! Do search for 'light trails' and see what settings people use (it's something I'm only about to start trying, so I'm no expert!). I'm only just getting started at this myself, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be able to help more!

Chris
 
heres a tip: make sure she doesnt kill you when she finds out you are going to be paying more attention to your camera than her :)

and one other tip: beer was about £6 a pint when i last went, so with the 30% change in the exchange rate its going to be £8 now!

I'll leave the photography tips to the experts :)
 
Sorry to spoil your fun but the top of the Eiffel Tower has a cage all the way around it, and it's a small grid cage at that. Gonna be a nightmare trying to crop that out of your phots? (That's why you don't see many of this type of photo about).

The Arc de Triomphe makes for some interesting low light photography (the roundabout is mental during rush hour). Set the shutter speed at 2-4 seconds and see how it goes. Depending on how busy it is you might need to take a few and overlay them in photoshop later.

The Champs Elysee is also good for low light shots, try a longer exposure here, maybe 10-15 seconds.

Plenty of Paris is lit up at night so it shouldn't be hard to get some great shots once you sort the exposure time.

Oh and one other thing, even though you'll be using a tripod i recommend using the cameras timer to make sure that you don't get any shake at all.

As stated above, beer is very expensive in Paris, the clubs will be charging double figures easily, and it regularly gets below freezing during the day at this time of year so make sure that you pack the thermals!
 
I *think* I'm right in saying the AdT and Eiffel Tower are quite sensitive when it comes to cameras on tripods.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that they have the same sort of restrictions as Trafalgar Square, so it might be worth being careful where you get the tripod out.
 
Went to Paris a few weeks ago and the weather was very poor not much light. If you go up the tower go up about 9.30-10 PM as it very quiet and you can get some good night pictures. Some great street photography in Paris and you get some interesting people to shoot on the metro but also be careful. Here is a few from when I was there.





 
For panoramic - I think you still get canon photostitch on the CD witht he camera. If not:
http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Hom...US/Features/Creative_Software/photostitch.asp

http://www.paris-tourist-information.co.uk/

is helpful. I suppose iconic places are the louvre, Notre-Dame, pompidou centre (well the outside), Arc de triumph and Pigalle is worth a visit in the evening.

Realistically - don't try to do too much or plan it around photography too much else your girlfriend will be really upset. It's the city of romance so enjoy it ;)

Beer prices - pah! Drink wine
 
Useful phrases

Combien - said with a surprised accent when you find out how much something is.

Je ne comprends pas - when the local plod ask you to move your tripod - just don't forget they have guns
 
A wander round the markets will give you plenty of colour and Parisian flavour. Also I would bother to go right to the top of the ET to get you panoramas of the Paris skyline. It is pretty impressive even for the first level...... and Notre-Dame looks impressive from one of the river boats.
 
cheers for the replys guys, we fly out this Friday hopefully get a few nice shots while were out there

so any more advice/tips?
 
Remember the Eiffel Tower has quite strict copyright restrictions about the tower at night.

None in daytime though.
 
Take plenty of money, Paris can be really expensive, I mean REALLY EXPENSIVE! Wayne
 
Some of the best and most unusal shots i got when i went to Paris were in the business district - La Defense. The buildings are stunning and not that many people take the time to walk down through there. Personally, i loved it!

Enjoy!!
 
nice pics snapper....i got qiet a few thats the same...but **'s is better

on the eiffel tower...u can rest ** camera on the ledge (make sure ** strap is around ** neck). That way u dont get the fence in ** shot and can use longer shutter speeds. Most prob will have to straighten it in PhotoShop.
 
badgerbaiter said:
heres a tip: make sure she doesnt kill you when she finds out you are going to be paying more attention to your camera than her :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I'd agree with BB on this one BIG TIME!

Joxby also for some bizarre reason seemed to be on the same wavelength as me...

And Snapper, those three shots are superb, I particularly like the second one - thats really damned nice!
 
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