The Eiffel Tower is a pretty terrible place to view Paris from. After all you can’t see the most famous structure in Paris when you’re up there….. The Eiffel Tower itself. A much better option is the Montparnasse Tower in the 15th Arrondissement. For €15, you can take a lift to the 56th floor and enjoy a panoramic view of the City of Light.Two more flights of stairs will then bring you to the roof itself. Now to be perfectly honest, the Montparnasse Tower is a pretty ugly building. Frankly, the architect should have been made stand outside it in his underpants every day for the rest of his life for putting up such a monstrosity in the heart of Paris. Thankfully, when you are up there, you can’t see it. It’s viewing platform however, provides a unparalleled view of the much more attractive Eiffel Tower.
Sunburst Over Paris | Buy Print
Aperture: f16 | Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec & 1/5 sec | ISO: 100 | Focal Length: 24 mm | Lens: Sigma 24-70
The photo above was result of pure luck and opportunism. I was in the cafe, enjoying a glass of wine or three while waiting for night to fall. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the sun bursting through the clouds and bathing the city below in a beautiful golden light. I knew I hadn’t much time to capture this shot so I jumped out of my seat startling several Japanese tourists as I did so. I made for the stairs to the roof with my tripod flailing in all directions. I made it just in time by throwing several small children out of my way on the steps to the viewing platform. Amazingly, the beautiful sunburst was still there and I just about managed to capture it in all its glory before it disappeared. *
One problem with this type of scene is that the sky was significantly brighter than the city below. To overcome this, I actually took 2 photos. For the first one, I exposed for the city below. This meant that the sky was completely overexposed and washed out. I then took a second shot but this time, I underexposed by 2 stops. This allowed me to capture all the detail in the sky. I then blended the 2 exposures together in Photoshop.
*No children were (seriously) harmed in the making of this photograph.
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