Paris, France – Elevation of the Maritime Fountain

NIKON D300, Nikon 18-200 VR

Water fountains at night are special subjects for photography!    This was taken in Paris, France just down the street from the Arc De Triomphe and the Louvre.   I had photographed this during the day, but the night shots are where its at!  I had posted an earlier shot of this fountain…close up in HDR.  This is a more panned out shot.

It was taken with a 2 seconds exposure in order to give the water that flowing effect.  You can see the light from the Blue Eiffel Tower glowing in the upper section in the background.    On my next trip back, I will surely spend a little more time at fountains during the evening hours!  Enjoy!

Paris, France – Elevation of the Maritime – HDR

NIKON D300, Nikon 18-200 VR, HDR in Photomatix

Here is a picture in my favorite city and one of my favorite HDR’s.  Paris is amazing.   I’ll never forget this nite.  This was the evening the Eiffel Tower was in blue.  You can even see the blue beam of light from the top of the tower in this picture.   I had one evening here before I left for home and just had spent 2 hours at the Eiffel Tower taking tons of photos.  I then caught a cab and headed over to the Louvre for more night shots.   After another hour I walked back from the Louvre to my hotel on Champs Ellysees.   From the Louvre you can look directly at the Arc De Triomphe.  Its about a 2 mile walk.  Not Bad.   It was around 10:30 at nite and of course you always have to be careful.  It was late summer and even at this time of nite, Paris was still busy. 

On the way almost halfway from the Louvre to Champs Ellyssees is the Palace De La Concorde.    This is where the Obelisk is located.  On either side of the obelisk are fountains.  One is called Fontaine Des Mers the other is Elevation of the Maritime.  Both look a little similar.  At this time the streets were well lit, but the lights on the fountains were off…but luckily the fountains were still running.  Now here is a great story of why HDR is amazing! 

As there were no lights on the fountain how would I be able to take a picture of it and it come out like this?   I decided to give HDR a try!  Remember an HDR takes different exposures from dark to light.  This shot was 3 exposures (-1, 0, +1) using a tripod and cable release.   I had no idea what would happen.  When I got home and post processed in Photomatix…what a suprise!!  The light exposure (+1) brought out the colors wonderfully!  So to me this HDR is amazing and a favorite as I had no idea the power of HDR.  It brought light where there was no light.   I also enjoy the water effect  on the fountian, the details and the colors.   A shot like this would not be possible using standard methods.   So here is a kudos to HDR!   I hope you enjoy!