Take your camera to Paris in Winter. 10 reasons for taking a Photography Workshop or Tour in Paris in January.

Most people decide to visit Paris in the spring or early fall which is indisputably gorgeous but winter can be absolutely stunning.  Fares are much cheaper, and hotels and apartments often reduce their prices to attract the visitor.  You also have an excuse to warm up at regular intervals with a chocolat or vin chaud, and it’s easy to book a good restaurant. For photography I have made a list that both amateur and professional photographers should bear in mind.

Firstly, Paris is full of trees and without the leaves you can see it’s beautiful monuments so much better.  Use the starkness of the bare branches of the trees to make different pictures to the ones you usually associate with Paris.

We often have cold and sunny days that are beautiful and can lend themselves to superb colour photos.

Some days are misty and offer different moody images that can look spectacular in B/W.

Sunrise is much later than in summer, around 8.00/8.30 am, actually allowing you to sleep and not miss the shot! Also, it rises in a different place, more to the north.

Sunset is early, between 5.00 and  6.00 pm and can be seen over the Seine River, whereas in winter it lies further west. 

In winter you will find Parisians, no hoards of tourists to spoil your photographs.

If you want to photograph the interiors, there are fewer queues and no one will bother you.

Many high buildings such as the Institute du Monde Arab and the terrace of the Printemps are open in time for you to get a panoramic view of Paris at sunset and twilight, a photograph not to be missed. 

The fashion is different, winter coats and hats can be very photogenic and can sometimes allow you to photograph people without identifying them, thus avoiding possible contentious issues for those wishing to publish some images.

The streets are often still decorated with fairy lights, sometimes into February, a chance to catch up on the Christmas scene if you missed it.

In addition to all the above, you will still see the café society that Paris is so famous for.  The terraces are heated and there are people outside.

Tempted?  Come and enjoy Paris and make it a photography tour that you will remember as something completely different to the city as you know it.