Burkley Loc: Park City

When asked by friends, I tell them to pick 5-10 things in the Louvre they want to see and then leave. The place is a maze to transverse with areas closed, blind hallways and moved or absent masterpieces. Paris is rich with other wonderful things to see. I agree with a Ste Chapelle visit. Spectacular. I have been alone there many years ago. It was considered a lesser site when you entered through the Ministry of Justice. Now I would suggest getting there at opening or at the days end. It is always crowded.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

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CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

If you just want pictures of the artwork, that's easy. Many here have explained how. But, this is an opportunity for something new and different. At the National Gallery in London two years ago I shot others looking at artwork as a way of showing what the whole scene looked like. Also I shot some shots so that I could display my own work in the National Gallery. These were planned shots. I waited for the people in the foreground to be in just the right position. Think of shooting something that everyone else won't get. I did lots of setups. The National Gallery lets you shoot everything. No flash or tripod of course. It made for a fun afternoon.

The real one.

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Mine on display (not real)

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The real one

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Another one of mine (not real)

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henryf Loc: Florida

We really enjoyed our 2017 visit to the Musee D'Orsay. It is an a repurposed railroad station almost directly opposite the Seine from the Louvre. Much less hectic than the Louvre and not as expensive. Many in the Louvre were preoccupied with photographing the Mona Lisa when we were there. The room was full of school kids. It was impossible to get a decent shot. If you are in the Mona Lisa room, turn to the rear wall and you will find a very large mural that would definitely make for some good photography.



Many many paintings from the late 1800's...Cezanne, Van Gough, Matisse and Seraut are some of the names that come to mind....I believe that they were all represented in one form or another.

Many Orsay paintings are dimly lit. Very difficult to get a decent shot using speed and aperture. Raising the ISO solved many problems.

On this trip I only had a D3200 and an 18-55 kit lens. My museum visit inspired me to purchase an 18-140 and, four years ago, I bought a used D7500. I am still learning the 7500.

The already posted pix in this thread are outstanding. My images are on another pc. If there is interest, I can post later.

Tote1940 Loc: Dallas

Most if not all Louvre holdings are available on line, just go and enjoy it!
Have wasted much time and film getting reflections and blurry photos there
Like the Met too inmense to capture even over a week of visits

Tote1940 Loc: Dallas

St Chapelle is worth visiting and photographing at different times, as light changes vitrailles are magic

henryf Loc: Florida

druthven

What he meant was to set the ISO setting on auto ISO not the camera. Set the camera on manual, select the most open F stop and select a shutter speed you feel that you can hold steady. Any lens below 100mm, 1/200th second should be more than fast enough. The camera will automatically adjust the ISO to give the proper exposure. Be sure to check the post concerning white balance.

Rloren

Very nice. Thank you.

Revet Loc: Fairview Park, Ohio

I was in Paris last April and went to both the Louvre and Musee D'orsay. I took my Nikon D500 with a fast prime lens to the Louvre and my Samsung cell phone to D'orsay. My daughter took her cell to both. Our cell pictures are just as good as the DSLR. In addition, I will probably never look at the photographs of just the artwork again since so many photographs can be found online. It is pretty hard to be artistic when photographing a framed piece of art. In contrast, I did get some interesting photos of artwork viewers and the museum itself as an architectural masterpiece. For those images, I was glad I had the DSLR.

jcboy3

We travel a lot, and like art museums and galleries a lot as well. They are good destinations when the weather is bad. I like photographing the artwork in museums; saves a lot over buying a book.

First thing, I carry a good white balance card or color checker, and put it in the light in each room (it captures the color cast in rooms that have different colored walls, as well as the temperature of the lighting itself). I hold it in the light, in front of a painting, and take a picture. I use it later for color correction. This is important, as auto WB is going to adjust based on the colors in the artwork, and that is not good.

Second thing, I use a mirrorless camera with excellent image stabilization. This lets me use slower shutter speeds, so I can keep the ISO (and noise) at a minimum. If you aren't using stabilized gear, then be sure to apply the appropriate shutter speed rules (such as 1/focal length for full frame). I usually use a shutter speed of 1/15 second, and will slow it down even more in really dark rooms.

You want an aperture that gives you good depth of field. This is important because you often aren't taking pictures head on to the artwork. And it ensures sufficient sharpness even if focus is a bit off. I use apertures from f/4 to f/5.6 equivalent. And, unless your lens is near peak sharpness wide open, you will want to stop down a bit to improve sharpness.

I use Auto ISO; just to keep the image preview bright enough to see. I shoot RAW, so ISO is generally not an issue. Usually around 200-400 but will let it float to 1000 if appropriate. ISO will vary due to the brightness of the artwork as well as the intensity of light. I adjust image brightness during post to consistent levels using the brightness of the walls.

Most of my images are taken at 50mm equivalent focal length, but larger artwork may require 35mm or wider. If the artwork is hung high, then you will want to step back and use longer focal lengths (I use up to 85mm), just to reduce the keystone effect and the required depth of field. Otherwise, the top or bottom of the art could be out of focus.

In post processing, I level and square up the images, adjust WB or correct color, and adjust brightness based on the brightness of the walls, and then crop to the edges of the frame. Sometimes the lighting is not very uniform, so I will even it out with graduated exposure adjustment.

If there is glare (especially a problem if the art is behind glass), I will take several images from different positions, and combine in post.

Sometimes, a polarizing filter is needed to eliminate reflections. I use magnetic filter holders so a CPL can be added quickly. Or just take from different positions and combine in post.

Sometimes I do a manual lens distortion correction to correct barrel distortion.

Most editing can be done in Lightroom. Except when I need to combine images, and then it's off to Photoshop.

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

I was there a long time ago and you couldn't take pics of the great masters - like Mona Lisa. Also, what is the point of taking photos of paintings? If you want to see them, you can simply search online and see them in the best way - shot by pros in pro conditions. You have little to gain by photographing them yourself.

jcboy3

But the same can be said about so many things. Why take pictures in Zion National Park; there are professionally shot books galore. And most of the art I see is not available online.

Ruthlessrider

I was there a few years ago on a Sunday. Entrance into the Louvre is free on Sunday.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Best advice to date!