MIDDAY IN PARIS

Carmine Iallonardo
Apr 26, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Jan 6, 2021

Taking photos at high noon isn't much fun. The sunlight is harsh, the dimension is often lacking, and shadows don't fall quite right for most compositions. However, when you're in a city as beautiful as Paris, you take whatever chances you can get. The question is, how do you optimize when your schedule isn't optimal?

I've now been to Paris twice. For chronology's sake, let's take a step back to my first experience with the city several years ago. It consisted of aimlessly wandering through the Parisian streets to eat and drink during every hour of the day and night; just me and my wife in the city of romance. In fact, the first steps that we took outside of the hotel were to pick up wine, a warm baguette, and a triple-crème cheese then sit on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower, basking in the sights and flavors. We, of course, had a few plans in place for The Louvre, Rodin Museum, and Versailles, but everything was leisurely and on our time.

Late summer 2017, this shot was taken as the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Wisps of clouds painted violet and orange streaked a deep purple sky as the lights of the tower turned on. — Eiffel Tower Sunset 2017

Fast forward to several weeks ago. This second trip was a bit different. We were granted the opportunity to travel as guests on a hosted trip up the Seine River. This required constant movement through several towns and cities and consisted of far too many scheduled site tours, events, and pre-determined meals. There was one, sole day with several measily hours to spare for free time. While I'm nothing if not grateful, it certainly isn't my ideal way to experience a foreign city; especially as a photographer in search of golden, soft light and dimensional skies. No chasing could take place on this one.

Which brings me to my point, how do you take advantage of a few precious hours during the middle of the day, in the middle of what is arguably the most beautiful city in the world?

The Answer: You don't... sort of.

This masonry socle is one of four that provides counterweight balancing in support of the Pont Alexandre III bridge's arch over the Seine River. — A column of the Pont Alexandre III bridge.

At first, I fully intended to spend those hours revisiting The Louvre and hiding indoors from the harsh light of the midday sun, where it wouldn't matter. I remembered the layout well and wandering around a museum is always a good idea in my book. However, as I began making my way from Champs-Élysées to the museum, I got a little distracted by, well... Paris.

Despite wanted to avoid photographing anything outside at high noon, the city commanded my attention (even on this second go-around). Paris is a work of art, in and of itself. So, I let it happen. I didn't let my perfectionist brain stress about the lighting and color. Luckily, there were some voluminous clouds on the horizon which helped in several ways but, regardless, I didn't stop myself from lifting the camera in whatever direction my eyes lingered.

A few pointers to keep in mind while shooting:

Keep the ISO as low as low can go (I was mainly at 100 but even tried out going down to 50, which the Sony A7iii allows)
Shutter speed should be lightning fast if you want to achieve a shot with wide open aperture (if I went wide at f/2.8, I was at a min 1/1000 of a second shutter)
Seek angles with your back to the sun
Shoot from the shade to avoid glare (especially if you don't have a lens hood)
Wait for the a cloud to momentarily dim the sun's light if there is any celestial movement
Use Neutral Density filters on a tripod to darken the light a few stops and blur away distracting crowds (I recently picked up a Gobe ND Filter which provides 10 stops of light reduction)
As an after-thought, Black and White color grading in post can help balance out the final product; as well as bringing highlights wayyy down.

No matter what you're shooting with (phone, point-and-shoot, DSLR, or whatever), most of these principles can be applied to achieve a better shot. So, take a look at a few of the photos below for example and inspiration. Hell, you don't even need to shoot, just go check it out in person. Paris is its own museum. Mark these locations and take a slow stroll around!