P#6: Photographing the Eiffel Tower in a Light Rain

The Eiffel Tower at twilight

Jim Zuckerman: This is the photograph of the Eiffel Tower I was mentioning before that was done in the drizzle. It was taken with a 16mm wide angle lens on a full frame camera. (click the image for a larger version)

I shoot with a Canon 1Ds Mark II, and this is the 16-35mm wide angle lens. That's why the Eiffel Tower seems so dramatic. The perspective is exaggerated.

Notice how the pavement is all wet, and toward the top of the picture, that was all fog.

Remember that you don't really see that kind of blue. It's a little bit deceiving because our brains correct for the colors. The fog looked sort of white to me and it was reflecting off of some of the city lights.

But in the photograph, the way color temperature works just made that blue. That's why twilight is so spectacular.

Audri Lanford: That's such an unusual picture of the Eiffel Tower.

Jim Zuckerman: Well, thank you. I really love it. I had not been there for a long time. Actually, when I was there last year, I had not been to the Eiffel Tower since 1968, a long time ago. I had forgotten how magnificent it is. I forgot how huge it is. It's an incredible structure.

In summary

The perspective in this photograph of the Eiffel Tower is exaggerated with the use of a wide angle lens. The time of day and the weather conditions helped create the spectacular color.