Paris Nocturne

Translating to “Italy Square”, Place D’Italie marks the site where the old Roman road towards Lyon and Rome began; where taxes were collected for the goods entering Paris in the late 18th century. It’s currently comprised of mixed commercial and residential development situated with a metro station of the same name, providing easy access to the rest of the bustling city of Paris, France.

I took this VAST photo one evening after a full day of visiting some of the very sites in this photo during a trip with my wife in 2016. She found this studio apartment with the incredible view and I knew that I would have to attempt a long exposure panoramic stitch during that trip. Combining two passions of mine, traveling with my wife and photography sometimes intersect beautifully but sometimes they conflict. She is incredibly patient with my constant barrage of photos in every place we go but one can only wait around for so long when her partner is taking a “quick stitch”. This worked out as it was the end of the day and she was fast asleep while I spent nearly two hours on the balcony working to capture this image.

When traveling I prefer to use my Nikon D5500 rather than the “big guns” D800. While there are some tradeoffs between a consumer-level camera body and a professional body, technological advances have given consumer-level cameras incredible image quality if the user utilizes proper technique. Being half the size and weight makes them a much more viable option when walking around for hours on end with a backpack full of camera gear. Another advantage is the smaller sensor’s crop factor, that magnifies the telephoto reach of a given lens. The 200mm lens which I brought exclusively to take this image, turned into a 300mm lens on this camera body which brought the distant sites even closer.

The extra magnification topped with long exposures at night only make the need for a solid setup that much more important as any miniscule vibration will result in a blurred photo. Having to set my tripod in a precarious spot upon some chairs to achieve the view I wanted didn’t help! Each set of exposures included one at 30 seconds long and every photo had to be checked to ensure I had crisp images; often having to retake a photo when I found a gust of wind had shifted my awkward setup during the previous exposure. The last thing I wanted was to return home to find that the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame was a blur while the rest of the images were in sharp focus. The extra time paid off. I returned home with the photos on my memory card and my previsualized end image separated only by many hours of processing.

I love photos with all-encompassing views and this one is no exception. From the light trails of the cars to the city lights and the iconic views of Paris with its distinct architecture. One can see the Eiffel Tower with its unforgettable lighting at night, the Louvre, Pantheon, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur in the distance in this cityscape.