A photography blog by our guides with plenty of information, tips and tricks to improve and inspire your photography.
It was with great sadness that we all watched Notre Dame. The near destruction of 100’s of years of world culture and a blow to the heart of Paris, a tragedy which struck at the literal and figurative heart of the city. It is hard to explain the importance of Notre Dame to the city. It is a beacon of the best of Paris. In a window of just a couple hours, that history nearly went up in smoke.
Read MoreWe've all been there before. You pack your camera and your tripod, and it isn't until you get to your destination that you realise you forgot your battery or your tripod plate and you find yourself scrambling for a camera store in a foreign country battling a language in which you can barely order a coffee. We have you covered with our comprehensive guide to Paris Camera Stores.
Read MoreThe road leading from Bastille to Nation, the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, is one of the oldest streets in Paris, and when I find myself on it, the history of this working-class neighbourhood is tangible. One of the delightful quirks of the area is the labyrinth of little streets, passages and public courtyards that sprout from the Faubourg.
Read MoreAs you travel across the far reaches of the Normandy countryside, where France meets the English Channel, the island that punctuates the skyline is one of the most instantly recognisable silhouettes in all of France. As you soak in the beauty of Mont-Saint-michel before your eyes, you continually wonder if you walked onto a film set or into a time vortex; it is so picture perfect that it is hard to believe it is real.
Read MoreGrowing up in Australia, snow is a big deal for me. It always has been. Before I race out the door, throwing myself down the stairs to try and be the first to catch a snowflake on my tongue, there are a few precautions I undertake. Follow my tips for shooting in the snow in Paris and join me on an adventure through a winter wonderland.
Read MoreConsidered the largest flea market in the world, the Marché Aux Puces de Saint-Ouen-Paris is an institution of the French capital. Just outside the border of Paris proper, the market, which dates back to the mid-1800s, is older than many of the antiques sold within it. I discovered the market with my camera, and got up close and personal with the people who make it tick.
Read MoreIt is challenging to think of Paris and not have the Eiffel Tower conger in your mind's eye. The structure is synonymous with Paris, but it is far from the only impressive site in the City of Light. Join me along the River Seine, and past the monument lined boulevards on a journey to what we think are the top 50 places that are not the Eiffel Tower.
Read MoreReflections are often unwanted, and glare will wash out an image. Polarising filters counter the reflective measures and will deepen blues and add contrast to skies, reduce or remove reflections from water and windows and increase contrast and saturation. Let us go through the steps to get the best out of shooting with a Polarising Filter.
Read MoreA picture tells a thousand words... and we are here to tell you a few more in our ongoing series A Thousand Words where we dig through the vault of talented photographers at Aperture Tours and get them to open up a little about some of their favourite images. This week we look at our Paris photographer Clara Abi Nader and her image "In the Oven".
Read MoreEven though the Sakura, Japanese Cherry Blossom, is in flower for a little over a week each year, it is a highly anticipated event. Walking along a river path, or catching the view from the metro window, they explode with colour, vibrant shades of pink drip from every tree, and you appreciate their brief but symbolic power.
Read MoreParis has been blanketed by a layer of snow now seen since 1987 and Aperture Tours photographer Clara Abi Nader was there, as always, with her camera primed to catch life in the capital in her unique way.
Read MoreNotre Dame and the Eiffel Tower are staples of any trip to Paris, but if you want to up your Instagram game, then you are going to need more than just a snap of the Iron Lady to make it stand out. I went through the back catalogue of the Aperture Tours' resident Paris photographers to find what was trending in their feeds.
Read MoreThe Palace of Versailles is simply the most opulent building ever built anywhere in the world. It is the palace that other palaces were based on. With a complex and rich history, it is hard to scratch the surface, but I have a few hand-crafted stories to tell that may be a little off-beat from what you might already know about the Château de Versailles.
Read MoreI have had a few people ask me to spill some of my secrets about shooting fireworks after seeing my Bastille Day images, so I thought I would divulge what I know to help you get the best from your fireworks wherever in the world you might be celebrating them. It is not an exact science, as every display is different, and even within the same show things will change, but I will set down the foundations from where you can start to play.
Read MoreIt does not host the Notre Dame or the Eiffel Tower, and it is not as flashy as Saint-Germain-des-Pres. There are no grand Haussmannian boulevards or any major Parisian monument, and it is exactly this reason that makes the Quartier Quinze-Vingts quintessentially Parisian.
Read MoreTaking a good photo is only one part of the photography process. An excellent image is often worked on in a digital darkroom to get the most out of the original image. Darkroom is not a new procedure, although the technique is different with computers, the principals are the same as a chemical darkroom. We have a little introduction to the power of RAW images.
Read MoreFor some of us, the artistic side can feel much more daunting, expressing yourself creatively may not come naturally, but much like the technical, knowing the rules and applying them is what takes our photography to the next level.
Read MoreLong before the Eiffel Tower dominated the Paris skyline, there was another building synonymous with the City of Love, Notre-Dame de Paris. The Medieval Catholic Cathedral is the city's most celebrated and photographed church buildings. But where is the best place to photograph of Notre-Dame? We've scouted the area to give you the best views from every angle so you are sure to get the best image of Notre-Dame.
Read MoreWhat would happen if we took one photo every minute, and then played them back at 25 frames per second? The result would be a magnificent hyper-realistic compression of time. We call this a time-lapse, and I've created a video that will explain all the steps you need to know so you can make your very own.
Read MoreFrom its beginnings as a medieval fortress protecting the Franks from the Vikings to being the residence of the King before becoming the largest museum in the world, the Louvre has had a fanciful history with many ups and down. With such an iconic building in front of you, it can be a daunting task to photograph. So, where does one start?
Read MoreAperture Tours offer private photography tours in Paris, Berlin, London, Melbourne, Milan, Singapore, Sydney, Verona and Venice. Come join us and discover your camera and our cities and make sure you take away stunning images.
