Rloren

Well, I am thinking of getting out of the house, like I should more, and visiting the Louvre Museum and come home with some great photos of the artwork there. I must admit, I am only an occasional photographer who takes his DSLR on vacation and for my purposes shooting on auto and jpeg serves most of my purpose for outdoor. I do shoot on manual when I get on a roll but generally have to re-educate myself on using that mode.
I see that photography in certain areas of the museum is allowed but you cannot use flash. Am guessing even with flash it would make a mess with bounce back reflection.
I am looking for some advice on where to start with manual settings. Enough light will be a big concern of course and am thinking of shooting with raw and jpeg but especially raw for insurance. What do you think? I would appreciate any input....thanks.

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

If you have them, take a couple of fast prime lenses with you. Experiment to see how high you can comfortably push iso on your camera. Those will help frame the remaining compromises.

newsguygeorge Loc: Victoria, Texas

I respectfully suggest you check to see if the Louvre allows any photography. Then check for tickets. We were there in 2013 without the knowledge you needed tickets to get in and we had to pass on it.

Good luck.

Rloren

Apparently some areas allow photography from what I read and of course a ticket is needed.
I'm trying to research the whole thing before I go,...travel, hotels, points of interest, etc.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I made many images there. Use a 35 or 50 mm lens, 1/200 SS, 1.8 or 2.8 aperture and Auto ISO if you are shooting manual. Otherwise shoot auto. Hire a guide with a reservation.

Rloren

Thank you, but auto with no flash? Don't you have to hold the camera still for a long time?

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Yes...check the rules. The French seem to be particularly fussy about what they do and do not allow.

Now...a little of the "how." I shoot artwork in the Kimbell Art Museum all the time when I visit my friend who works there. And while I save both raw and JPEGs, it is possible to capture excellent JPEGs with a little preparation and care. I have found that I can do just fine using a fixed ISO of 1000 or maybe 1200. What is absolutely critical, though, is to understand the museum's lighting.

A good place to start is to set your camera's WB to 4000k. Many museums have moved to LED lighting at or very close to that temperature. If your images are too yellow, try a lower temperature. If too blue, move higher. Once you get that set correctly, you will also want to pay attention to your Picture Control settings. You will likely want to bump sharpness and saturation up a little bit from the factory settings. "Normal" may be too 'wimpy,' and "Vivid" will probably be 'too much.'

I use a D500 and D850 for this, because it's easy to make the necessary adjustments. Just learn how to do them in your camera.

Use your "normal zoom," and stand back as far as you can...it will help focus across the entire image. A lens with good IS or VR will be a big help. You can use automatic exposure, probably with Center-Weighted metering. Figure out the camera height that lets you hold your camera parallel to the canvas, which may not be parallel to the wall. And turn on Flicker Reduction, if your camera has it. It'll save you a lot of grief.

The hardest thing for me is making sure that I capture subtle ranges of tonality, like in faces. Still haven't mastered that to my full satisfaction.

One last thing...because paintings are displayed in forced low light situations, the result of a properly exposed and executed photographic image can be quite different from what you see hanging on the wall. That's a big part of the fun...revealing the true image.

Rloren

Thank you....

cdayton

According to the web.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Tickets in advance are a MUST!
For tickets see: https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tDP1TcwSU8pMmC0UjWoMDFPNTM3TLEwN7c0Nk8ySLMyqEiyNDdNS05LNLQ0SrMwSTHxYsvJLy0rSgUAu8oQNg&q=louvre&oq=lourve&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqFQgBEC4YChiDARivARjHARixAxiABDIGCAAQRRg5MhUIARAuGAoYgwEYrwEYxwEYsQMYgAQyDAgCEAAYChixAxiABDIVCAMQLhgKGIMBGK8BGMcBGLEDGIAEMhIIBBAuGAoYrwEYxwEYsQMYgAQyDAgFEAAYChixAxiABDIJCAYQABgKGIAEMg8IBxAAGAoYgwEYsQMYgAQyCQgIEAAYChiABNIBCDU2ODVqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

For the Louvre Museum's official site for answers to your question see: https://www.louvre.fr/en

We visited there pre-covid and photography was allowed, with NO tripods/flash.
It has 8 million visitors/year so it is very crowded.
Most importantly there are Many, MANY first-rate museums in that area.

If you stay at the Pullman Hotel, Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, 5 Av. Anatole France, 75007 Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower is within walking distance and the 9 PM light show may be easily photographed from in front of the hotel.
The "Hop-on Hop-Off" stop is at the end of the block from the hotel and stops at all of the points of interest.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Eiffel+Tower,+Avenue+Anatole+France,+Paris,+France/Louvre+Museum,+75001+Paris,+France/Pullman+Paris+Montparnasse,+Rue+du+Commandant+Ren%C3%A9+Mouchotte,+Paris,+France/@48.8516752,2.2756298,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66e2964e34e2d:0x8ddca9ee380ef7e0!2m2!1d2.2944813!2d48.8583701!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e671d877937b0f:0xb975fcfa192f84d4!2m2!1d2.337644!2d48.8606111!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e670352c6676c1:0xfca37244619d9d20!2m2!1d2.320393!2d48.8384551!3e0?authuser=0&entry=ttu

Bon Voyage get there safe and return to share your pics.
Smile,
JimmyT Sends


PS: Pick pockets/scammers are Everywhere there is a crowd in Paris.

Rloren

Rloren

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

No flash, no monopods or tripods, restricted exhibits, all typical of most museums. So are people taking selfies in front of an exhibit. As for shooting, I’m usually in “auto” or “aperture priority” at f/4 or so. Personally, dealing with reflective light is usually my challenge. White balance can also be a spoiler if you aren’t shooting “raw.”

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Take you iPhone and be happy!

billmck Loc: Central KY

You'll need to be shooting with a wide lens, and in the Auto mode the camera will adjust the ISO to get a reasonable shutter speed.

Bill