Eiffel Tower at night

[SwissJon]

Ok, Well I'm here in Paris and on my wanders last night I came accross this huge monster pointing into the sky. I'll be posting some photos (for the first time ever) in SYS section when I get home, so those of you who haven't seen Paris can have a look. But I wanted to share this one with you and ask for some feedback.

It's a bit of a strange angle for the Eiffel Tower, but I thought I'd try to be different, not like the usual tourist. I liked this, angle, as I thought it made the tower look like a monster coming down to stamp on you, but I wanted your opinions..

Does the photo speak to you?
Is it any different than the standard touristy photos?
Do I need to darken the sky?
Should I perhaps have increased the ISO to try to freeze the people (To me their motion blur reminds me of bees in a hive.)
Is there anything you think I might need to do in PP to improve the photo?

OK, Here's the Exif:
Creation date: 09/03/2011 21:10
Camera: SLT-A55V
Lens: Minolta AF 20mm F2.8
Focal length: 11*mm*(equiv. 16*mm)
Aperture: F9
Exposure time: 2"
ISO speed rating: 100/21°
Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Auto
Image Stabilizer: Off
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode

[StarShark]

I've never been to Paris but have seen plenty Eiffel pictures. The sharpness and golden color of the structure is awesome. I doubt bumping the ISO would freeze the people underneath due to your 2" exposure time. I think the ISO bump would bring more light in and may cause unwanted noise. Have you tried taking the shot with the camera on the ground so that its much wider feel? A pano from your point of view would make me and hopefully everyone else feel we're underneath the building with you. Much wider angle lens would be sweet. The tower seems to lean to the right for me... Just an opinion.

[SwissJon]

I think I may have overstraightened the tower from a lean to the left.. I'll sort that out. The camera was 30cm from the ground on the lowest setting for the tripod.

I don't have a wider lens than 11mm I could have moved back a little but then I'd have got run over by the crazy Parisian drivers, who don't seem to care that the best photo is taken from the middle of the road. Anyway, I kinda like the fact that the monsters legs have got chopped off. In my mind it leaves the imagination to run wild.

I've other photos of the tower, and other things in Paris that I'll post in a series on the SYS section and on my Flickr for you all to see, I am just looking for feedback now because I'm still here, and if I messed up, I could fix it by going back. I'm off to the Louvre tonight to take photos of the famous glass pyramid, and the smiling lady!

[dvtldav]

Great shot. I had to look at it for a while to realize what I was looking at and then I realized it was from underneath.
It would probably have been better if it had been taken with a Nikon or even a Canon.
Looking forward to seeing more.

Dave

[StarShark]

Well then I stand corrected on the focal length LOL. My bad.

[SwissJon]

Damn you Dave.. My new Nikon arrived about 3 hours after I left.. But I don't have a Tokina 11mm for it, so it wouldn't look so good.

[dvtldav]

Originally Posted by SwissJon

Damn you Dave.. My new Nikon arrived about 3 hours after I left.. But I don't have a Tokina 11mm for it, so it wouldn't look so good.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist. I am not sure it would have been better w/the Nikon & aTokina 11mm because as they say it is not the gun but the gunner.

Which Nikon did you get?

[GlennD420]

Hi Swissjon, this will be my first post to the forums (although ive been reading and learning for months from them).

I really like the image, its got strong character, great tones and it almost feels quite intimidating. You stated earlier that you should have maybe tried to freeze the action of people walking underneath the tower, but this is were i have to disagree, the action and motion blur captured within the frame shows in a sense of how time passes by for us but stands still for buildings/landscapes.(what im trying to explain makes alot more sense in my own head right now hehe). i hope you get what im trying to say.

Anyway great shot

[Krusty79]

That's definitely not the typical tourist shot. I like the perspective. It feels like a giant mechanical monster is about to step on me. I wonder if you could brighten it a bit without blowing out the lights on the top section. I think darkening the sky would add to the contrast.

[2stroke]

I also like the motion blur on the people except for your watermark is stepping all over them. But, if you were to try and "freeze" the people, I would attempt to hit them with a flash and keep the long exposure.

I would like to see an option including the base of the legs but from your same camera perspective meaning stitched pano, but being a 11mm getting those "feet" on correctly may be impossible, IDK.

For post processing, I think it would be more striking if you can tweak it to get the sky a nice inky black.