What Your Paris Photos Are Missing (And How to Fix It), Episode 601

Categories: Paris, Photography

Most people come home from Paris with hundreds of photos they never look at. Some are blurry. Some are flat. Most are just fine — but not the Paris they actually experienced.

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In episode 601, I talked with Bob Soltys, a black-and-white street photographer who has been capturing Paris for decades. He gets up at 5 AM and is out the door by 6 to catch the light on the Île Saint-Louis. His Paris photography tips for tourists come from real time in the streets, not from a camera manual.

Here is the hotel Bob recommends in this episode: Hôtel Abbatial Saint-Germain

The biggest mistake tourists make

Bob's answer was immediate: they buy a brand-new camera the week before the trip and have no idea how to use it. Or they pack a bag full of lenses and spend the whole time switching between them instead of actually shooting. His rule: one camera, one lens. Your phone counts. Know what you have before you board the plane.

Your phone is enough — if you use it right

The iPhone night mode shows a reticle — crosshairs — when the light is low. The trick is to hold the phone still until all four crosshairs collapse into two lines, one horizontal, one vertical. That's the phone telling you it's stable. Practice this at home in the dark before you leave. It sounds obvious. Almost nobody does it.

Portrait mode gives you the blurry background that makes a subject pop. Time lapse works beautifully inside the Louvre or anywhere there's constant movement. Panoramic is great for big architecture. These modes exist. Use them.

Night is better than you think

This is the most counterintuitive of Bob's Paris photography tips for tourists: stop treating daytime as your default. Paris at night is more dramatic, more romantic, and far less cluttered with other people's cameras in your shot. Pont Alexandre III, Pont des Arts, the Pyramide du Louvre — all better after dark. The Eiffel Tower sparkling in the background of a night shot establishes Paris without making the tower the whole point.

Where to go

Bob's go-to spots: the Île Saint-Louis, the banks of the Seine, Montmartre, cafes anywhere in the city, and the Christmas markets for night photography in December. His Eiffel Tower tip: shoot from the Trocadéro or Pont Alexandre III, where the tower sits in the background and real people doing real things are in the foreground. That's sense of place. That's not a postcard.

A few etiquette reminders

France has something called droit à l'image — you own the copyright to your own image. If someone holds up a hand or says no, put the camera down. Don't photograph children. If a market vendor waves you off, respect it and move on. Most people won't care at all — you'll end up in dozens of strangers' shots yourself — but when someone objects, that's the end of it.

Light is everything

Bob reminded me that the word photography literally means writing with light. Midday sun gives you harsh shadows. Morning and evening give you something softer and more interesting. And if you visit in winter, the golden hour is much easier to catch — you don't have to be up at 5 AM to get good light. Worth considering if you have flexibility in your travel dates.

Episode 601 is out now wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Categories: Paris, Photography