Bad Picture of the Eiffel Tower

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This is an undeniably bad photo of the Eiffel Tower, of the kind that millions of tourists obtain each year while visiting Paris. I put it here so that I can explain why photos of the tower turn out bad, and what can be done to avoid bad results. Compare this photo with my main photo of the tower to see the contrast between good and bad.

Anyway, the main reason that photos of the tower turn out bad is the weather, and unfortunately, you can't do much about that except to try to take your photos on a day with nice weather. If you photograph the Eiffel Tower on a gloomy, overcast day, you'll invariably get a photo such as the one above. The problem is that an even, thin overcast in the sky produces a featureless, bright white background, against which the tower is nothing more than a dark silhouette. Your camera will see the bright sky and will adjust for that, ignoring the darker tower; and so the sky will look a medium gray, and the tower will look nearly black, and the whole image will be quite colorless and lacking in detail.

There's no way to compensate for poor weather, so if you can, try to visit the tower on a sunny day. If you are only in Paris for a short time, especially in winter, there may not be any sunny days, so you're out of luck. But do try to wait for good weather and take advantage of it if you can.

Here are some other important tips:

Make sure the tower isn't tilting in the viewfinder when you take the picture! It's easy to overlook this, so check carefully.
Don't pose anyone directly in front of the tower; it will look as though the tower is growing directly from his or her head! Position your subjects to one side or the other to avoid the tower-from-the-head effect.
On a cloudy day, or if the sun is behind the people you are photographing, make sure the flash on your camera fires, or they may appear too dark in the final photo.
If you're an experienced photographer, be advised that the tower itself in its lower part is very close to a neutral gray in reflectance, or about 1/2 stop darker, in my experience (on sunny days).
The "standard shot" of the Eiffel Tower is from the plaza of the Palais de Chaillot, across the river (this photo was taken from that spot). Another popular shot is from the opposite end of the Champ de Mars park on the other side of the tower.
If you don't pay constant attention to your camera, wallet, purse, etc., it may be stolen, as this is a favorite spot for pickpockets and other crooks, so be aware.

Night shots of the Eiffel Tower introduce additional complications, which are too numerous to list in their entirety here (maybe some other time). One important thing about night shots is that you have to use a tripod for good results; even with very sensitive film, it's almost impossible to get any decent shots at night with just a handheld camera. Sometimes you can prop yourself or your camera up against something and get a so-so shot. The small portable tripods that you can carry in a backpack work very well, if you have one of those. Also, the lights on the tower will show up greenish on most films, and many digital cameras will try (unsuccessfully) to turn them white—this requires something like Photoshop to correct, if you have such a program and you know how to use it (or you can use filters when you shoot, but then you really need a tripod!).

Photographed in late December, 2003.